

R.I.P. Les Paul  - jamesbritt
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090813/ap_en_mu/us_obit_les_paul

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cpr
I heard a great story about Les Paul's invention of multi-tracking in an old
(long ago defunct) basement coffee shop in Harvard Square called Passim,
featuring Guy van Duser (guitar) and Billy Novick (whistle, vocals).

Guy is a local Boston guitar phenomenon, playing stride guitar with 3+ parts
at times. (Rounder Records carries his stuff--highly recommended.)

Anyway, Guy told the story of growing up adulating Les Paul, struggling for
years to learn to play some of his recordings, until he got it right. He
finally got to meet Paul, told him of his admiration, and showed Paul his
licks. Paul's jaw dropped as he told Guy, "I double-tracked that recording!"
Of course, that left Guy floating on air...

~~~
jacquesm
there ought to be a place to save little gems like this. Thank you for that!

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jamesbritt
This man was phenomenal. Not just a great musician, but a real hacker,
inventing the solid-body electric guitar and multitrack recording.

And he loved what he did, and kept doing to the end.

~~~
dzlobin
A real hacker indeed, at least he lived a long fulfilling life.

~~~
aaronblohowiak
At least? What more could anyone ask for?

~~~
madebylaw
To live forever?

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boundlessdreamz
Remembered something by Tolkien. "Death was a gift to men. Though elves did
not die, as they aged they became more sorrowful". [paraphrased]. I don't
think that living forever is a good thing.

~~~
rms
Living forever is only hell if you remain human. By the time I turn one
million I will be an entity of nearly infinite wisdom, more powerful than the
God of the Christians.

~~~
derefr
A nice (though hella-long) follow-up to this thought:
<http://lesswrong.com/lw/xy/the_fun_theory_sequence/>

~~~
rms
I've read it. I wish more people were asking the questions asked by Eliezer.

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rfrey
God will be switching the angels over from harps within a week.

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rewind
This is the kind of seemingly non-hacker RIP post I love seeing. I didn't know
much about him before seeing this post, but the comments made me read more
about him and I'm glad I did. Great stuff.

~~~
daeken
If he isn't a hacker, I don't know who is. Multitracking was innovative and
early multitracking was a straight up hack. The first solid-body guitar was
made out of a 2x4 mounted into an acoustic guitar. He may not have hacked
computers, but he was a great hacker.

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mwmanning
Les Paul has been a personal hero of mine since I was a kid. It's really sad
to see him go, but at least we can continue to enjoy all of the wonderful
creations and creative spirit that he brought into the worlds of music and
engineering.

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bigwill
Though less well known than Les Paul, Tom Dowd
(<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Dowd>) was another amazing recording
industry hacker. If you're interested in the Les Paul story, you might also
like the documentary about Tom Dowd: _Tom Dowd and the Language of Music_.

~~~
jamesbritt
I watched that a few months ago. Quite good.

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cmgarcia
I can't even count the ways his innovations shaped my life and how I express
myself.

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paddy_m
I live in New York, I heard that he used to play here every week, as recently
as a year ago. I regret that I never saw him play. I regret even more that I
never took my fater to see him play.

~~~
flooha
They were talking about this on the Bob & Tom show this morning and apparently
he played as recently as June 1, '09 and did so every Monday. They told a
story about how Jimmy Buffet sat in and Les was cracking jokes...great stuff.
I hope to have so much spunk should I make it that far.

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edw519
From the CNN report:

 _Paul is enshrined in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Grammy Hall of
Fame, the Inventors Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame._

 _"I had to build it, make it and perfect it," Paul said in 2002._

 _"I learned a long time ago that one note can go a long way if it's the right
one," he said in 2002, "and it will probably whip the guy with 20 notes."_

A hacker if there ever was one. Most of us still enjoy the output of his
output. RIP.

~~~
ErrantX
_"I learned a long time ago that one note can go a long way if it's the right
one," he said in 2002, "and it will probably whip the guy with 20 notes."_

A sentiment proven time and again by Status Quo (the 3-chord band) :)

A serious hacker. RIP.

~~~
bmelton
I think recently, another interesting proof for this is the Joker's note.
Watching the Dark Knight behind the scenes commentary, Hans Zimmer talks about
how he thought the most chill-inspiring theme for Joker wouldn't be an
intricate composition, but one slightly sour note played at length. Other
sounds and effects were layered upon it to fit with the soundtrack, but the
effect is amazing, simultaneously warning the audience of the joker's presence
and inspiring suspense at the same time.

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flooha
...and just when I was thinking about buying that black-to-blue sunburst Les
Paul I saw recently...I bet the price tag has already been changed. ;) RIP
Les, you were a Legend long ago and always will be.

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kjell
I watched an old documentary about Les Paul the other week. He's really
fantastic. (<http://www.mininova.org/tor/2607255>)

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russss
I think it's interesting that so many people on HN recognize Les Paul - it
shows how many hackers are music lovers as well, which is definitely a curious
data point.

RIP Les.

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jazzdev
I got to hear Les Paul at the Iridium when I was in New York in April. So glad
I got hear him live at least once. Thanks for the music and the inventions.
Play on!

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justin_vanw
What does Les Paul have to do with Erlang?

~~~
SwellJoe
He invented concurrency in music recording.

