- Box 1. 1 Bing Crosby
- One of the first "crooners"
- Vocal style based on nuance and intimacy
- Used the power of the microphone to sing very gently
- As if he were right in the ear of the listener
- Gentle baritone (low register) voice
- Thirty-eight number one hits in his career
- Charted 396 records
- Recorded "White Christmas"
- First true popular music superstar
- Kraft Music Hall network radio variety show
- Replaced Al Jolson as host in 1936
- 50 million listeners each week
- Movie star: top box-office attraction (l944—1948)
- Likeable everyman image was very successful
- Career was a model for many singers turned movie stars
- Frank Sinatra
- Elvis Presley
- Will Smith
- Box 1. 2 Recording Technology
- Magnetic recording tape systems invented by Germans in WWII
- Military purpose to protect Adolf Hitler
- He made radio speeches
- Speeches were recorded and played after he was gone
- Made it impossible for allied forces to catch up with him
- The technology was quickly introduced into radio after Germany was conquered
- American radio programs before 1945 preserved on sixteen-inch "transcription discs"
- Box 1. 3 Les Paul, Electric Guitars, and Multitrack Recording
- Les Paul was one of the leading guitarists during the big band era
- Formed a musical duo with country singer Mary Ford in 1949
- Guitarist and arranger for Les Paul and Mary Ford Duo
- Used his inventions in their records
- Arrangements showcased Paul's big band harmonic textures
- "How High the Moon" (1951)
- "I'm Sittin' on Top of the World" (1953)
- Inventor of the solid-body electric guitar in 1941
- All electric guitars were thin hollow body design
- Paul wanted clearer tone
- Electric pickups received too much vibration on hollow body guitars
- Solid body concept delivered much clearer tone
- First design was made out of a railroad tie
- Licensed the design to Gibson in 1951
- Leo Fender designed solid body guitars at the same time
- First model was the Broadcaster
- Changed name to Telecaster
- In the mid 1950s he designed the Stratocaster
- The Gibson "Les Paul" model and the latter two Fender models are still in production
- These three guitars are the most used electric guitars in rock music history
- Inventor of the multitrack tape recording process
- Developed a way of recording on top of existing recorded sound on disk
- Tedious and difficult
- In event of a mistake in playing, the process had to be started over from the beginning
- Developed a tape machine synchronization system so there could be "re-takes"
- Developed "half speed recording" technique (used in "Chipmunks" cartoon series)
- Guitar track recorded at half speed
- When played back at full speed the parts are higher
- Also faster
- Beatles used these techniques in their Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album
