While most composers like to handwrite their sheet music, over the years there have been all types of machines invented to help print music. Perhaps one of the coolest is the Keaton Music Typewriter. First patented in 1936, it definitely doesn’t look like an ordinary typewriter. Robert H. Keaton from San Francisco, California created the machine, which has now become something of a rare collector’s item.
The original patent was for a 14-key typewriter, which was then upgraded to 33 keys in an improved 1953 patent. Marketed in the 1950s and sold for about $255, the machine has a distinct look thanks to its circular keyboard. In creating his design, Keaton was looking to create something that would be able to print characters precisely on a staff and indicate exactly where the next character would be printed to ensure accuracy.
Over the past few years a general nostalgia for the 1980s has infiltrated music, film, and television. I deeply love those gated reverb drums of the ’80s – you know that punchy percussive sound popularized by Phil Collins and Prince? So for my second episode of Vox Pop’s Earworm I spoke with two Berklee College of Music professors, Susan Rogers and Prince Charles Alexander, to figure out just how that sound came to be, what makes it so damn punchy, and why it’s back.
Singing with others is a powerful form of expression. That’s why the composer Eric Whitacre started the Virtual Choir; an experiment that connects singers from every corner of the globe. In this episode, we hear how a choir can unite people from different backgrounds to achieve a common goal – creating beautiful music.
For decades, Alan Lomax traveled across America, the Caribbean and Europe, with a recorder and a camera in hand, trying to document traditional folk cultures before they disappeared.
Lomax was, in fact, the most famous American folklorist of the 20th century — the first person to record blues greats Muddy Waters and Lead Belly, the man who took down the oral histories of Jelly Roll Morton and Woody Guthrie, the chronicler of religious rites in Haiti and “ring shout” rituals from the Sea Islands off the Atlantic coast.
In his notebooks, Lomax documented his encounters with performers, his extensive travel and his collaborations with famous figures such as Pete Seeger, Zora Neale Hurston and his folklorist father, John Lomax. The Lomax family, friends and colleagues transcribed many of the performances and interviews he undertook during his years of fieldwork — including his stint as a Library employee from 1937 to 1942.
Jennifer Jenkins from the Duke Center for the Public Domain writes, “January 1, 2020 is Public Domain Day! Works published in 1924 are entering the US public domain. They include George Gershwin’s ‘Rhapsody in Blue’ and ‘Fascinating Rhythm,’ silent films by Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd, and Thomas Mann’s ‘The Magic Mountain,’ E. M. Forster’s ‘A Passage to India,’ and A. A. Milne’s ‘When We Were Very Young.’ These works were supposed to go into the public domain in 2000, after being copyrighted for 75 years. But before this could happen, Congress hit a 20-year pause button and extended their copyright term to 95 years. See what will (finally) be open to all!”
As many of you know, I am a huge fan of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. I had been meaning to watch this movie for a long time, but when The Man Who Invented Christmas (IMDB) appeared for free viewing on the Kanopy service (available via the LA Public Library and others) it was a perfect opportunity and time of year to settle in with some coffee and cookies, nurse my Christmas cold and enjoy.
The movie is quite good and you hear some of the best lines in the book as it shows Dickens’ characters helping him create the story. Dickens’ real family and real history also become part of the story as he struggles with his own past and own issues as he writes. The movie stars Dan Stevens from Downton Abbey fame and Christopher Plummer delivers a great performance as Ebenezer Scrooge.
This is the story of the magical journey that led to the creation of Ebenezer Scrooge (Christopher Plummer), Tiny Tim and other classic characters from A Christmas Carol. Charles Dickens (Dan Stevens) mixed real life inspirations with his vivid imagination to conjure up unforgettable characters and a timeless tale, forever changing the holiday season into the celebration we know today.
Nominated for Achievement in Visual Effects, Best Adapted Screenplay and Achievement in Make-Up at the Canadian Screen Awards.
“A surprisingly fresh movie about a story we all know very well.” – Peter Howell, Toronto Star
* A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs ** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it out! † Available from the LA Public Library
Mixed Chorus with orchestra; “Christians, Awake !” – “Oh, Little Town of Bethlehem” – “God Rest You, Merry Gentlemen” – “The First Nowell” – “Silent Night”.
Digitized at 78 revolutions per minute. Three stylii were used to transfer this record. They are 2.3mil truncated conical, 2.8mil truncated conical, 3.3mil truncated conical.
* A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs ** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it out! † Available from the LA Public Library
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