What a wonderful discussion!

I fully agree with those who find the tampering with the work of deceased artists abhorrent.   Like Don Quixote, I hate the negative changes that new technology is having on those parts of the world that I like the best.

Still most modern (and granted, uneducated) listeners will not tolerate the variations that appear in a one pass field recording.   Their aesthetic demands a certain studio-polished sound for a recording to merit a legitimate listen. It may be sad, but nonetheless true, that Almeda Riddle's only chance to reach a new audience lies in the ability of Rounder's engineers to "clean up" her vocals into a more "polished" form without losing the unique authentic quality that makes the original recordings of her work so important. It would be horrible, if the new sound of her recordings devalues or obscures the originals. Unfortunately, it is probably also inevitable.

Given their unquestionable appeal, I do believe that the old Lomax field recordings can never be completely lost to the general listener. Still I can envision a time when the original, imperfect, recordings are of interest to a few academically inclined musicians, and touched-up versions the only things easily available. This is definitely not a good thing, but it's not automatically bad. If the modernization of old recordings helps keep the music a part of the current culture, maybe even a popular part of the culture, that would be good.

As irritating as this fact is, many people under age 30 see the sound-sampling engineer as much a contributing musician as the singer, guitar player, or violinist. The attitudes of the young always prevail over those of the old; that's in the rules we were forced to sign up for. Many young electronic musicians believe that recorded sound belongs to us all. Each of us has the right to incorporate it into our own artistic expression. It time, this attitude will prevail.

This brings up a recurring Mudcat discussion: copywrite and entering the public domain. Using some formula, like 70 years after your death, your work will enter the public domain. By that time, anyone who wants to can use any recording you leave behind for any purpose they like. You are unlikely to notice this. (Here I am depending on other assumptions, of course.) If the rule were something like "10 years after the works origin", you would be more likely to get to enjoy this revision of your music. This is something to factor into you ideas about fair copyright protection.

Let me finish with a marginally related comment. The above is one reason why I admire Bruce Philips so much. His attitude towards his music has always been to let it be free. Once shared, it's no longer his. It's easy to say this, but harder to live it. I sometimes don't know how he can stand this loss of control over his art, but he does. I hope all of us that perform his songs remember this generosity, and express our thanks in a tangible way.   


Dan