Alan Lomax’s entire multimedia archive being digitized — 17,000 tracks for free in February

Alan Lomax’s entire multimedia archive being digitized — 17,000 tracks for free in February:

Alan Lomax’s contributions to music and culture have been extraordinary — he was single-handedly responsible for recording and cataloging a huge swath of traditional music, not just in the US, but around the world. Lomax’s brainchild, conceived long before the internet, was a “global jukebox” built to spread the 5,000 hours of sound recordings (plus the 400,000 feet of film, 3,000 videotapes, and 5,000 photographs) that he put together during his time as an archivist. Well, The New York Times reports that people have already started digitizing Lomax’s entire collection, and about 17,000 tracks are going to be available free for streaming online by the end of February.

La primera mención de Alan Lomax que leí fue por el álbum “Play” de Moby, quien tomó samples de sus grabaciones para varias canciones.

Toy fatigue

Toy fatigue:

This is the same problem I have with digital photography. The potential is always remarkable. But the medium never settles. Each year there is a better camera to buy and new software to download. The user never has time to become comfortable with the tool. Consequently too much of the work is merely about the technology. The HDR and QTVR fads are good examples. Instead of focusing on the subject, users obsess over RAW conversion, Photoshop plug-ins, and on and on. For good work to develop the technology needs to become as stable and functional as a typewriter.