Les Paul, the electric guitar pioneer, has been celebrated on his 96th birthday by one of Google's most complex doodles – a playable and recordable 'guitar'.
Les Paul had one of the most colorful and diverse careers in the history of the entertainment industry. During his 80 years on stage and screen and in the studio, Paul was a solo performer, jazz bandleader, big band guitar chair, virtuoso sideman, pop tunesmith, radio personality, TV star, engineer producer, six-string eminence and inventor. In the latter role, the solid body guitar model that bears his name, multi-track recording and the harmonica holder are among his best-known creations.
In 1915, Les Paul, one of the most influential guitarists in pop music history, was born in Waukesha, Wisconsin. With his wife Mary Ford, he had a string of hits in the late 40's and early 50's including, "Mockin' Bird Hill," "How High the Moon" and "The World is Waiting for the Sunrise." Those recordings were among the earliest to use multi-tracking.
Paul also designed guitars which were marketed by the Gibson company and became the favourites of pop, rock and country musicians. He also built the first eight-track tape recorder, which helped pioneer multitrack recording. And he invented "sound-on-sound" recording, which has since become known as overdubbing. Paul was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2005. He died on Aug. 13, 2009 of complications from pneumonia at age 94.
The Google doodle in honour of Les Paul is playable by hovering the cursor over the doodle.
Google has now become more frequent with animated and interactive doodles. Of the last 10 Google doodles, five included animations or were interactive.
The Google doodle had first gone interactive in May 2010 to celebrate the 30th birthday of the popular Pac-Man game.
For a dozen years, Google has been occasionally swapping its everyday logo for a doodle. The Google doodles, an artistic take on the Google logo, have gained immense popularity over the past few years and the Google doodle team has put out commemorative doodles on numerous events of international or national importance, ranging from news events, civic milestones, birthdays, death anniversaries and important dates in history.
Google estimates it has created more than 900 doodles since 1998, with 270 of them running in 2010. Some appear globally, and others are tailored for local markets.
In 1915, Les Paul, one of the most influential guitarists in pop music history, was born in Waukesha, Wisconsin. With his wife Mary Ford, he had a string of hits in the late 40's and early 50's including, "Mockin' Bird Hill," "How High the Moon" and "The World is Waiting for the Sunrise." Those recordings were among the earliest to use multi-tracking.
Paul also designed guitars which were marketed by the Gibson company and became the favourites of pop, rock and country musicians. He also built the first eight-track tape recorder, which helped pioneer multitrack recording. And he invented "sound-on-sound" recording, which has since become known as overdubbing. Paul was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2005. He died on Aug. 13, 2009 of complications from pneumonia at age 94.
The Google doodle in honour of Les Paul is playable by hovering the cursor over the doodle.
Google has now become more frequent with animated and interactive doodles. Of the last 10 Google doodles, five included animations or were interactive.
The Google doodle had first gone interactive in May 2010 to celebrate the 30th birthday of the popular Pac-Man game.
For a dozen years, Google has been occasionally swapping its everyday logo for a doodle. The Google doodles, an artistic take on the Google logo, have gained immense popularity over the past few years and the Google doodle team has put out commemorative doodles on numerous events of international or national importance, ranging from news events, civic milestones, birthdays, death anniversaries and important dates in history.
Google estimates it has created more than 900 doodles since 1998, with 270 of them running in 2010. Some appear globally, and others are tailored for local markets.
