Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

The Grammy In Mathematics

Posted by kdawson on from the woodie-rides-again dept.

An anonymous reader writes "A mathematician will receive a Grammy award for restoring the only known recording of a live Woody Guthrie performance — a bootleg someone made in 1949 using a wire recorder. Guthrie's daughter, who had never heard her father perform in front of a live audience, oversaw the restoration. The article links very cool before and after clips."

14 of 150 comments (clear)

  1. Title of story wrong? by Mushdot · · Score: 5, Informative

    The title of the article says the mathematician was norminated for a grammy, yet the article itself says the recording was put forward, which sounds more plausible.

    1. Re:Title of story wrong? by Guanine · · Score: 3, Informative

      No, the title of the article is correct, this recording did indeed win a Grammy (it won in the category of "Historical"). See more at the Grammy website.

  2. Only known what? by PopeRatzo · · Score: 2, Informative

    Wait, there are lots of recordings of Woody Guthrie. I don't know where the claim that this was the "only known recording" comes from.

    He was on a weekly radio show in the 40's and I've heard tapes of that, too. Hell, you can go to Wikipedia and listen to a streaming recording of Guthrie.

    It's not the only "live" recording in front of an audience, either.

    You think I'm gonna spend the time to read TFA to see what their actual claim is? No friggin' way.

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.
    1. Re:Only known what? by Spad · · Score: 5, Informative

      It's poorly phrased, but they mean the only known live recording of *that* performance.

    2. Re:Only known what? by Stooshie · · Score: 3, Informative

      TFS actually says:

      ... the only known recording of a live Woody Guthrie performance ...

      In 1949, recordings of live concerts were extremely rare. Live performances were rarely recorded. They were transmitted on the radio or TV and that was it. Call it short sighted but people really thought back then that TV and Radio were never going to catch on.

      --
      America, Home of the Brave. ... .and the Squaw.
    3. Re:Only known what? by hcdejong · · Score: 2, Informative

      Call it short sighted

      Why call it shortsighted? In 1949, recording technology was neither mature nor inexpensive. TV and radio had nothing like the budget they enjoy today, so there often simply was no money to archive broadcasts. Hell, the BBC (not what you'd consider an insignificant or poorly-funded organization) was plagued by this well into the '60s.

    4. Re:Only known what? by danzona · · Score: 3, Informative

      Here is what Wikipedia has to say:
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wire_recorder

      Didn't you ever watch Hogan's Heroes? Newkirk had one in his sewing kit. The thread in the kit was actually wire. And the Germans never figured it out!

  3. Re:aif file not working in Helix player on Ubuntu by simcop2387 · · Score: 4, Informative

    plays fine under mplayer

  4. For those of us who don't know Mr. Guthrie by ale_ryu · · Score: 2, Informative
    From wikipedia:

    Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie (July 14, 1912 - October 3, 1967) was an American songwriter and folk musician. Guthrie's musical legacy consists of hundreds of songs, ballads and improvised works covering topics from political themes to traditional songs to children's songs. Guthrie performed continually throughout his life with his guitar frequently displaying the slogan "This Machine Kills Fascists". Guthrie is perhaps best known for his song "This Land Is Your Land" which is regularly sung in American schools. Many of his recorded songs are archived in the Library of Congress.
    --
    Check out my blog!
  5. Re:The difference is negligible .. by NekSnappa · · Score: 4, Informative
    Okay, where to start?

    Yes there is less hiss in the background, but to say that the vocals are unchanged is wrong. I don't know what you were expecting here, but the point was to get it to sound as close as possible to hearing him playing live. The tone and pitch is correct, the high nasal voice is common in folk music, and that is how other Guthrie recordings sound.

    If you read TFA you would know that they used different mathematical approaches to compensate for kinks, and breaks in the original wire recording media, and various slow downs, and speed ups during recording which change the pitch when played back.

    And I have to say... Banjo? WTF! If you can't tell the difference between a banjo and an acoustic guitar you have no business commenting on this article.

    --
    I want to shoot the messenger!
  6. Er, but... by sm62704 · · Score: 3, Informative

    My dad had an album, late 50s or early 60s, called ICRC, either The Weavers On Tour or The Weavers Live at Carnegie Hall. It had such great folks songs like "Drill, ye terrier, drill" and "So Long, It's Been Good ta know ya".

    Woodie Guthrie and Pete Seeger were both on this album.

    After my folks were divorced in 1976 (the year I got married) it wound up being mine. Sadly the copy was stolen along with my killer stereo and most of my other albums.

    Unlike what they call "stealing music" these days I no longer have my copy of the Weavers. Furthermore, it's out of print and I can't get a new copy. It should be in the public domain and I should be able to at least get a good SHN of it.

    In USSA, copyright steals from ME.

    -mcgrew

    --
    mcgrew's razor: Never attribute to stupidity that which can be explained by greedy self-interest
    1. Re:Er, but... by penguinchris · · Score: 2, Informative

      Both albums were recorded and released after Guthrie stopped performing, so I think you must be remembering incorrectly. It is possible and maybe even likely that Guthrie played with The Weavers, and though there are Weavers live recordings from as early as 1950-1951, he's obviously not on them if his own daughter and the researchers who worked on this restoration could not figure that out.

      Sources:
      http://www.amrhome.net/contents/sepdsc.txt "The Weavers on Tour (1956-58)" "The Weavers at Carnegie Hall (December, 1955)"

      Guthrie stopped performing sometime before 1954 according to Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woody_Guthrie#Deteriorating_health

      Also, while indeed the album you're referring to (The Weavers On Tour) is out of print, The Weavers Live at Carnegie Hall is available on CD: http://www.amazon.com/Weavers-at-Carnegie-Hall/dp/B000000EFX. There is a Guthrie-penned song on there, which might be the root of your mis-remembering.

  7. Re:In other news... by audubon · · Score: 4, Informative

    The 4-frame-per-second video recordings were made on 78-RPM lacquers by John Logie Baird in 1927 and 1928. Don McLean performed the restoration.

  8. CoralCDN mirror by TubeSteak · · Score: 2, Informative

    TFA: http://www.sciencenews.org.nyud.net/articles/20080209/mathtrek.asp

    http://www.sciencenews.org.nyud.net/articles/20080209/Guthrie1.aif
    http://www.sciencenews.org.nyud.net/articles/20080209/Guthrie2.aif

    --
    [Fuck Beta]
    o0t!