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Re: Les Paul



At 9:41 AM -0800 11/23/02, Mark Landman wrote:
>I remember seeing Les Paul on the Mike Douglas show, circa 1970, do 
>a "live looping" performance.
>
>Les started vamping on the guitar, then with a press of a button on 
>the body of his guitar, would overdub another line. Though I had no 
>interest in looping at the time, I was wowed by his guitar playing 
>and the sound he built up.
>
>After his song, I remember him explaining that the device was called 
>the Les Paulverizer, and that it was backstage, controlled remotely 
>from the guitar.

At 4:47 PM -0800 11/23/02, Chris Richards wrote:

>He also uses it for recording parts while playing live...He plays a 
>guitar lick, then has the Les Paulverizer repeat, while he overdubs 
>a bass line, then a melody part, and ... After a bit, he laughs, 
>says "I'm only foolin'"


And so myths are born...

I have it from a reliable source that Les Paul's "Paulverizer" was 
nothing more than a Nakamichi cassette deck controlled by a 
Play/Pause button mounted on the guitar. All the playback material 
had been recorded in advance, so when he'd demonstrate the "live" 
overdubbing he'd perform the passage that he'd already recorded in 
advance, play back the tape and play a new part along with it, and so 
on. He was pretty slick about it so most people never caught on, but 
there was one performance where he sang along with the guitar parts 
and when he played it back it was Bing Crosby's voice!
-- 

______________________________________________________________
Richard Zvonar, PhD
(818) 788-2202
http://www.zvonar.com
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