An eight hour PBS documentary, ‘On Record: The Soundtrack of Our Lives,’ is in the works for broadcast in the fall of 2010. The enormous multi-media project, about the history of recorded music and it’s impact on society, is under the guidance of the legendary Sir George Martin.
Martin is working with PBS and Wildheart Entertainment, who created the project. As you might guess, it will have many archival performances by hundreds of musical artists from every genre of music imaginable. PBS also plans a variety of media to accompany the project including a companion website on pbs.org, a radio show, a CD and DVD box set and books. A number of educational outreach programs are also planned.
Sir George Martin was selected not only for his work with The Beatles, but mainly because his legendary career has spanned half of the history of recorded music. Think about that for a moment. Sound recordings began at the start of the 20th century and Martin started recording in 1950, halfway through recorded audio history. I can’t think of anyone more qualified to take on a multi-media project of this magnitude.
Can you imagine the impact the first records had? The first time people could hear music on their own terms, previously recorded and captured on a disc instead of going out to hear live music, must have been fantastic! Martin has bookmarked that a significant milestone in music history.
I can’t imagine a day without music in some form. On my iPod or computer, from my radio or stereo, at home, in the car, or even out shopping. We’re certainly looking forward to this exciting project. Audio recording, it’s history and impact are fascinating subjects of enormous significance in our culture.
Of similar interest…we’ve previously posted about another sound project going on…this one at the Library of Congress. The National Recording Registry is archiving sound recordings that are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant, per the National Recording Preservation Act of 2000.
Read more and view the full registry at…
www.loc.gov
