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GRAMMYs

Emile Berliner

Photo: Hulton Archive/Getty Images

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Technical GRAMMY Award: Emile Berliner

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Paul Charosh pays tribute to the audio pioneer behind the gramophone and microphone
Paul Charosh
GRAMMYs
Dec 2, 2014 - 4:06 pm

(In addition to the GRAMMY Awards, The Recording Academy presents Special Merit Awards recognizing contributions of significance to the recording field, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, Trustees Award and Technical GRAMMY Award. In the days leading up to the 56th GRAMMY Awards, GRAMMY.com will present the tributes to the 2014 Special Merit Awards recipients.)

Emile Berliner was born in 1851 in Hanover, Germany, emigrated to the United States in 1870, and settled in Washington, D.C. During this decade a number of inventions of lasting importance were patented, including the telephone and the phonograph. Berliner's restless, inventive mind focused on these devices and he devoted his energies to improving them. 

His initial concern was with the telephone. Berliner wanted to develop a more efficient transmission and reception process and make the telephone a practical means of communication. He is known to his biographer, Frederic Wile, as "the maker of the microphone" and today an award with this title is offered annually by the Berliner family. During the 1920s modified versions of the microphone became routinely incorporated into the recording process.

Berliner's interest in sound recording prompted an attempt to improve upon Edison's phonograph and in 1887 he received the first of several patents. At this time those working with the phonograph believed it could become a voice transcription device useful in business offices and did not see its potential as a means of home entertainment.   Sound waves were cut vertically into revolving wax cylinders. These objects were fragile, difficult to store, and subject to attracting mold which rendered them unplayable. No method of reproducing copies of a specific cylinder existed. If a cylinder holding sound that was worth preserving was rendered unplayable, one had to record another one.

Berliner recorded on a disc, and sound waves were cut laterally, thus eliminating a source of sound distortion intrinsic in the vertical-cut process. Discs had a center hole and were held in place by a spindle in the center of the turntable on which the disc rested. His discs did not deteriorate with time, were easy to store, and if not abused, sound today as they did when recorded and sold during the 1890s. Berliner's device also allowed for the creation of a master disc from which many identical copies could be made. Berliner also understood the value of the gramophone as a source of entertainment and in 1895 he procured capital from a group of businessmen to found the Berliner Gramophone Company, which was instituted to manufacture Berliner's sound discs and the gramophone that played them. 

Though he passed away in 1929, Berliner's vision encouraged the development of the modern record industry, dependent through most of the 20th century on profits accrued from the sale of identically recorded discs distributed in mass quantities.

(Paul Charosh is a widely published researcher of historic sound recordings and 19th century American popular music. A retired educator, he taught for many years in the Sociology and Computer Information Science departments at Brooklyn College. In 2012 he published Berliner Gramophone Records In America: A Discography (Denver: Mainspring Press), a reference for archivists and advanced collectors.)

GRAMMYs

Ennio Morricone

Photo: Michael Gottschalk/Photothek via Getty Images

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Trustees Award: Ennio Morricone

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A tribute to one of film and television's most prolific composers
THE GRAMMYs
GRAMMYs
Dec 2, 2014 - 4:06 pm

(In addition to the GRAMMY Awards, The Recording Academy presents Special Merit Awards recognizing contributions of significance to the recording field, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, Trustees Award and Technical GRAMMY Award. In the days leading up to the 56th GRAMMY Awards, GRAMMY.com will present the tributes to the 2014 Special Merit Awards recipients.)

Hear that whistling? That's not just the haunting sound of the theme to the 1965 classic spaghetti Western For A Few Dollars More, that's the signature sound of composer Ennio Morricone. And that theme was just the prelude to one of the most classic and enduring movie themes of all time: Morricone's theme to the 1966 follow-up film, The Good, The Bad And The Ugly. The series of iconic Sergio Leone-directed Clint Eastwood movies (that also included A Fistful Of Dollars) and their moody soundtracks full of kitschy instrumentation had such a powerful impact on film buff-turned-filmmaker Quentin Tarantino that decades later Morricone would score Tarantino films such as Inglorious Basterds and Django Unchained.

In between, Morricone scored more than 500 films and TV shows, won a 1987 GRAMMY for Best Album Or Original Instrumental Background Score for his work on The Untouchables, has been nominated for five Oscars and received an honorary Oscar in 2006 for his contributions to film, and became a towering institution in the film scoring world.

The son of a jazz trumpeter, Morricone was born in Rome in 1928. His musical gifts developed early. He was composing by age 6. In the late '50s he found work as an orchestrator and assistant to leading Italian film composer Nascio Nascimbene. Morricone himself began writing film scores in the early '60s, and early on connected with Leone's Westerns. It was during this time he began to cultivate his unique style, incorporating whistling, flutes, electric guitars, Jew's harp, and wordless choruses (with occasional vocal grunts) into his music.

He would go on to compose scores in various styles, earning Oscar nominations for Days Of Heaven (1978), The Mission (1986), The Untouchables (1987), Bugsy (1991), and Malèna (2000).

Prolific barely describes an artist who in just one year, 1969, racked up 22 different composing credits, and whose more than 500 film and TV scores since 1960 works out to more than 10 projects a year.

The wide appeal of Morricone's music and respect for the man resulted in We All Love Ennio Morricone, a 2007 tribute album featuring artists as varied as Celine Dion, Metallica, Roger Waters, and Yo-Yo Ma.

So the next time you find yourself whistling "The Good, The Bad And The Ugly" — which fellow arranger/conductor/composer Hugo Montenegro took to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 with a sleek version in 1968 — know that you're quoting the work of a true master.

GRAMMYs
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Your Ultimate GRAMMY Viewer's Guide

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Get ready for Music's Biggest Night with this handy guide to all the action taking place at GRAMMY.com
Crystal Larsen
GRAMMYs
Dec 2, 2014 - 4:06 pm

What does music unleash in you? Maybe it's the urge to get up and bust a move on a bus, like Macklemore & Ryan Lewis did in New York. Or the urge to bust a move in front of a donut shop, or at the gym. Whatever it may be, we can all agree that human beings have natural, sometimes uncontrollable, visceral reactions to music — laughing, crying, dreaming, or dancing.

With Music's Biggest Week in full force, we have a natural, uncontrollable desire to share with you all the GRAMMY Week action. So, we've created this Ultimate GRAMMY Viewer's Guide to ensure you don't miss a thing, without even leaving your couch.

GRAMMY Live
Beginning at 12 p.m. ET/9 a.m. PT on Jan. 26, GRAMMY Live will deliver exclusive GRAMMY coverage you won't want to miss. From exciting recaps of private GRAMMY Week events and live interviews from the red carpet beginning at 3 p.m. ET/12 p.m. PT, to the backstage action at the 56th GRAMMY Awards and the official GRAMMY wrap-up show, GRAMMY Live is the best second screen in the biz.

Pre-Telecast Ceremony Live Stream
Tune in to GRAMMY.com/live beginning at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT to watch as some of your favorite artists accept the first GRAMMY Awards of the day. Approximately 70 GRAMMY categories are announced during the Pre-Telecast.

GRAMMY Live-Blog
The GRAMMY live-blog is the only authentic complement to Music's Biggest Night. Beginning at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT, join us for one hour of exclusive red-carpet coverage as the stars arrive in style for Music's Biggest Night. Then, as you tune in to the telecast beginning at 8 p.m. ET on CBS, join our official GRAMMY.com live-blog for up-to-the-minute commentary on the telecast, breaking news and reactions on this year's GRAMMY winners, the only live updates you'll find anywhere from the GRAMMY "mosh pit," and to share your thoughts during the performances and as winners are announced.

Photos
If it's true that a picture is worth 1,000 words, you'll have a lot to say about our one-of-a-kind GRAMMY photo galleries. Beginning Wednesday, Jan. 22, visit the Photos section of GRAMMY.com for exclusive snapshots from GRAMMY Week events, including the star-studded Producers & Engineers Wing event honoring Neil Young, Clive Davis and The Recording Academy's Pre-GRAMMY Gala, and more. Then, on Sunday we'll bring you up-to-the-minute photos from the red-carpet arrivals to GRAMMY performances and backstage as winners embrace their GRAMMY gold. 

Video
We'll be on the ground with our cameras in hand during GRAMMY Week, so keep checking the Video section of GRAMMY.com for interviews and other footage from GRAMMY Week events.

News
Keeping checking back as we announce more GRAMMY performers and special segments soon. Also, stay here for all the GRAMMY winners news after the telecast on Sunday.

Polls
Who do you think GRAMMY voters are going to choose in categories such as Album Of The Year, Record Of The Year and Best New Artist, among others? Cast your votes and tell us what you think.

Blogs
Visit the Blogs section of GRAMMY.com all week for exclusive coverage of GRAMMY Week events, including the private MusiCares Person of the Year gala honoring Carole King; the Special Merit Awards Ceremony & Nominees Reception where artists from the Beatles to Kraftwerk will be honored; and the GRAMMY In The Schools Live! concert featuring performances from current nominees Tig Notaro and Vampire Weekend and the GRAMMY Camp — Jazz Session.

Winners List
Why wait until after the show to see a complete list of winners? We'll be updating our list all day as winners are announced, beginning with the Pre-Telecast Ceremony, which will be streamed live at GRAMMY.com/live starting at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT.

The 56th Annual GRAMMY Awards will take place live on Sunday, Jan. 26 at Staples Center in Los Angeles and will be broadcast in high-definition TV and 5.1 surround sound on the CBS Television Network from 8–11:30 p.m. (ET/PT). The telecast also will be supported on radio worldwide via WestwoodOne, and covered online at GRAMMY.com and CBS.com.

For GRAMMY coverage, updates and breaking news, visit The Recording Academy's social networks on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

GRAMMYs

Maud Powell

Photo: Courtesy of The Maud Powell Society for Music and Education

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Lifetime Achievement Award: Maud Powell

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Rachel Barton Pine pays tribute to an iconic violinist
Rachel Barton Pine
GRAMMYs
Dec 2, 2014 - 4:06 pm

(In addition to the GRAMMY Awards, The Recording Academy presents Special Merit Awards recognizing contributions of significance to the recording field, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, Trustees Award and Technical GRAMMY Award. In the days leading up to the 56th GRAMMY Awards, GRAMMY.com will present the tributes to the 2014 Special Merit Awards recipients.)

Every industry needs its pioneers and the recording industry found one in legendary American violinist Maud Powell. She stood for the highest achievement in the art of violin playing and radiated an unbounded spirit of adventure. 

In 1904 Powell stepped into a recording studio to play into a recording horn and helped launch the science and art of recording the violin. She became the first solo instrumentalist to record for the Victor Talking Machine Company's Celebrity Artist series (Red Seal label), and for the first time, violin recordings entered into the Victor Red Seal catalog.  

Recognized as America's greatest violinist and ranked among the preeminent musicians in the world, Powell was known for breaking barriers. Her magnetic personality, brilliant artistry, scintillating technique, and versatility were unequaled and she used them to introduce classical music to countless new audiences at a time when few performers dared to face the uncertain concert conditions and hardships of travel in North America. She championed music composed by women and by Americans alongside the music of Europeans. She fathomed the depths of the Tchaikovsky and Sibelius violin concertos, giving them their American premieres when other violinists balked at their difficulties. She was among the first white instrumentalists to integrate the works of composers of African descent into recitals and recordings.

Powell recognized recording technology's potential to aid in her mission to bring the best in classical music to people everywhere. She recorded prolifically from 1904 until her untimely death at 52 in 1920, making more than 100 acoustic recordings. Powell mined the phonograph's potential to elevate the public's musical taste as she recorded only music that met the highest artistic standards. Through her recordings of short classical works and condensed versions of longer works, her artistry helped to revolutionize music appreciation. 

Powell's musical heritage is preserved by Naxos in four meticulously remastered CDs of 87 of her recordings. Even now, her playing as captured by the recording horn sets the standard by which today's classical recording artists are measured. 

Countless individual lives have been inspired and enriched by Maud Powell. Jascha Heifetz, Fritz Kreisler and Yehudi Menuhin considered her to be one of their musical heroes. Leading concert artists today include her repertoire in their programs. Students are inspired by her high ideals and mission to enrich the lives of everyone through music.

Maud Powell is the violinist I most admire. Dedicated to her art, brave in her repertoire choices, nurturing of young artists, tireless in utilizing music to break down social barriers and elevate society, her example inspires me every day.

(American violinist Rachel Barton Pine is internationally renowned for her interpretations of great classical works that combine her gift for emotional communication and her scholarly fascination with historical research. She is the music editor and advisor for Maud Powell Favorites, a collection of Powell's transcriptions and music dedicated to Powell, and in 2007 she released a best-selling recording of these treasures: American Virtuosa: Tribute To Maud Powell.) 

GRAMMYs

Lexicon's 960L Digital Effects System with LARC remote control

Photo: Brian Twede

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Technical GRAMMY Award: Lexicon

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Multi-platinum producer Brian Malouf honors the magical sounds of the esteemed audio equipment manufacturer
Brian Malouf
GRAMMYs
Dec 2, 2014 - 4:06 pm

(In addition to the GRAMMY Awards, The Recording Academy presents Special Merit Awards recognizing contributions of significance to the recording field, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, Trustees Award and Technical GRAMMY Award. In the days leading up to the 56th GRAMMY Awards, GRAMMY.com will present the tributes to the 2014 Special Merit Awards recipients.)

It was the first thing you noticed, even before the iconic console upon which it was often perched (sometimes on its own special plexiglass shelf) — that magical remote control known as the LARC (Lexicon Alphanumeric Remote Control). The off-white, fader-driven controller of the awesome digital reverb hidden away in the machine room that announced that the studio you were in was firmly entrenched in the new, modern digital age of reverberation.

It was in the control room of the studio I was taught in — the place where I learned to be a recording engineer — and it was the most fun and challenging of all the devices I stayed up nights learning how to use. I'm still employing those wonderful sounds today, and making new presets all the time.

The Lexicon 224 Digital Reverb was the most advanced and versatile digital processing device of its generation and a pioneering and mind-boggling way to enhance with echo, delay, time shift, and reverberation any source you cared to feed into it, and in the most convincing of ways. It gave engineers vast new powers of controlling the ambience in which to spatially place the elements of a recording in the bold new automation-driven mixdown suites of the early '80s. It was the predecessor of the 224XL and the 480L, those monster Lexicon digital reverbs against which all others have since been compared.

It was intoxicating. In addition to the superb reverb algorithms there were six delay taps in the delays section, all with individual control over high and low pass filters, depth of oscillation, time and panning. With this singular device, Lexicon products were vaulted into the stratosphere of the elite, must-have audio effects that the most demanding artists on the planet had to see (and hear) used on their tracks. We never had it so good.

From the humble beginnings of the first Lexicon Delta digital delay, to the Prime Time I — Lexicon's unique digital delay device with detent knobs that selected only prime numbers as possibilities for delay times — to today's PCM96, which allows an engineer to control all the parameters of a very sophisticated standalone reverb device from a Digital Audio Workstation and reset it with each new session and offers the range of reverb plug-ins that faithfully reproduce the algorithms of the reverb programs that made the company famous in the first place, Lexicon has remained a prime innovator and thrived in an era of almost unimaginable change in the processes associated with sound recording. The company and the designers behind these products have remained relevant to recording engineers working out of their bedroom or in the most serious recording studios in the world, and all the employees in every department at Lexicon are the most deserving recipients of the 2014 Technical GRAMMY Award.

(Brian Malouf is a multi-platinum producer, engineer and mixer who has worked with artists such as the Dave Matthews Band, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Pearl Jam, Queen, and Stevie Wonder, among others.)

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Some of the content on this site expresses viewpoints and opinions that are not those of the Recording Academy. Responsibility for the accuracy of information provided in stories not written by or specifically prepared for the Academy lies with the story's original source or writer. Content on this site does not reflect an endorsement or recommendation of any artist or music by the Recording Academy.