The pedal steel guitar, long a staple in American country music, has been heard and enjoyed in many diverse musical forms. Where – and how – did this unique instrument come into being?

Credit for inventing the first steel guitar is generally accorded to Hawaiian Joseph Kekuku in 1885. The early versions were acoustic instruments with the strings elevated above the fingerboard. Held on the lap and played horizontally, the strings were plucked with the fingers. As the strings were already tuned to a chord, changes in pitch were made by sliding a short steel bar up and down along the strings. This, then, was the basic instrument. It wouldn’t remain so for long.

The electric guitar was invented in 1931 by George Beauchamp who added electric pickups to a standard guitar so that the instrument could be connected to an amplifier and used for larger audiences. This concept was further developed by several others including Adolph Rickenbacker, Leo Fender and Les Paul.

Les Paul is credited with proving that a playable electric guitar could be made from a solid piece of wood. When that same concept was applied to the steel guitar it began to take the shape of the instrument as we know it today. I first heard one on the 1940s weekly radio show, “Hawaii Calls,” hosted by Webley Edwards and broadcast live “from the beach at Waikiki.”

With increasing popularity, improvements to the steel guitar continued apace. Greater chord variations were made possible with the addition of foot pedals to adjust the tension of individual strings at will, thus the name “Pedal Steel Guitar.” The first I ever saw was on an Arthur Godfrey TV broadcast in 1952. Invented by Rico Turchetti in 1940, Rico’s instrument was supported by four legs and featured multiple pedals for an extremely broad range of major and minor chords.

Modification followed modification. The number of strings increased with some instruments having as many as ten. Some specialized instruments had two or more fretboards.

The first pedal steel I ever met “in person” as it were, was owned by Eddie Davis, a musician I met while on active duty in the Air Force. The second was an instrument hand-made and played by Julian “Winnie” Winston in a recording session here in the studio in the early 1980s.

The pedal steel guitar in all of its variations can be heard in nearly every musical form there is. A recent album of American standards sung by Bob Dylan featured a pedal steel guitar instead of violins and cellos. The effect was magical, and served as perfect support for the songs.

After all these years, the instrument I remember most was on the radio broadcast from Hawaii. The haunting sounds carried me far away to places even more exotic than a small boy’s tiny home on a narrow street in West Philadelphia.

There has been no live recording here in nearly two years due to the threat of infection by the Covid-19 virus and its assorted variants.

Now that there are vaccines and effective facemasks, it seems time to move forward and return to the music.

The studio is now available for a limited number of sessions with vaccinated songwriters, musicians, singers, poets, narrators and voiceover artists. Masks may be removed when at the microphone.

The greater Delaware Valley fairly teems with talent, and I look forward to hearing what’s new with you!

All other studio services have continued without interruption and, I’m happy to say, business has been brisk. Thank you for your continued support!

• Do you remember vinyl records? If you’re not aware of old-fashioned records and record players, you will be soon – they’re currently making a comeback. In more than one hundred years of recorded sound, the humble disk record remains the most stable, the most durable form of capturing and reproducing voice and music ever invented.

As writer and producer, Stan had enjoyed a couple of hits on vinyl in the 1980s. Just recently a producer in California expressed interest in releasing the same mixes again. As the original tapes were no longer available, what could Stan use as a source?

The records he sent me were from his personal collection and had never been played. The surfaces were clean, pristine and undamaged from wear. However, since all vinyl disks have minor imperfections resulting in occasional ticks, snaps, crackles and pops in the sound, it was necessary to use original noise reduction techniques. Done in two stages, the results were as noise free as a new compact disk.

Returned to the client as standard compact disks and mp3 files on flash drive, Stan’s music can now be reproduced in any quantity and in any format. His very danceable tunes will be enjoyed by those having no idea that the “new releases” they’re moving to were created so long ago!

• In another example of durability, a client in New England sent me a 78 rpm acetate recording of a storyteller. Acetates look like normal records, but are recorded individually on aluminum disks coated with black cellulose nitrate. This one was from more than 80 years ago, and not in the best of shape. Still, with original noise reduction techniques and a little care, the entire story was recovered and transferred to digital disk – thanks to the durability of the original record.

When a perfectly made digital disk refuses to play, I remember the old record of the storyteller and wonder if, maybe, the old ways were better.

Wanting to cut selected portions from her six-hour VHS videotape, the client was short on time and not able to collaborate personally on the editing. What to do?

 I began by digitizing the entire tape. Since that can only be done in real time, it took most of the day. Then, after dividing the large file into sections, I made three two-hour DVDs for the client to review at home.

Over the next few days, she reviewed each disk carefully. Using the time display on her playback system, she was able to make detailed notes as to exactly – to the split second – where she wanted the cuts made.

When the disks were returned here, I made new digital files of each and then, using her time references, made the necessary cuts – also to the split second, exactly as requested. Video by the numbers!

The request seemed simple enough: make two copies of a home-made DVD. It wasn’t that simple.

The disk had been recorded in some exotic format I’d never seen before and, for several hours, it stubbornly resisted my best efforts.

Finally, when all standard methods and protocols had been exhausted to no avail, I resorted to old-fashioned trickery, deceit and deception – I lied to the computer! Several hours later the desired result was achieved. Whew!

So much for the popular perception that anything done with computers will be completed quickly with the press of a key or the click of a mouse. It ain’t so!

A favorite archival recording is of Meghan and Margie in performance at a California coffeehouse. Called on recently to edit some of their music, I was taken back to an earlier, gentler time when voices and acoustic instruments were all that were needed to warm the heart, engage the mind and energize the spirit.

The warmth and sincerity of their voices, both solo and in duet, lent true meaning to the lyrics they sang. Their warm blend of vocal harmonies in songs ranging from gentle ballads to topical satire resonated powerfully with their appreciative and responsive audience. Expert guitar accompaniment on superb instruments provided me a vivid reminder of why musicians are willing to pay so much for hand-made, unwired, acoustic guitars.

One day I received a request to transfer vintage movies from VHS videotape to DVD. The client had been unsuccessful in finding the DVD versions online at reasonable prices.

First, I had to explain that copying copyrighted material was a no-no. Then, out of curiosity, I asked what the titles of the movies were. With that information, I offered to go shopping on the client’s behalf.

One of the secrets of online shopping is knowing how to phrase questions. Having become semi-expert at this, I was able to find all of the client’s chosen titles for substantially less than the cost of transfers – and without breaking any laws. After adding a little something for my time, the client received four original movies on DVD for an average of $18.00 each.

What do you need that you can’t find? Call 610-647-4341.

A:Well, for openers, restoration orders aremuch larger than they used to be. In preserving recorded personal and family histories it’s not unusual for someone to bring in a dozen or more original recordings – either audio or video.

For example, a Main Line client delivered more than sixty standard audiocassettes, then followed up a couple of years later with two dozen microcassettes.

Another client who lives on an island in the South Pacific has mailed in more than a hundred and seventyoriginal live recordings of his concert band – at least so far. This, by the way, is a testament to the dependability of our overworked Postal Service. In making a round trip of more than fourteen thousand miles, not one of those recordings was lost! Complain about the Postal Service if you want to; I don’t!

A: The studio acoustics really aren’t suitable for amplified music – rock n’ roll. The room works just fine for acoustic guitar, folk, bluegrass, string quartets, light jazz, electronic keyboard, small choruses and narration. Much of the work in recent years has been with solo songwriters, and a lot has been done with spoken word – poetry, meditation, narration for industrial video, radio commercials, audiobooks, a three-hundred page novel, whatever. Done this past summer was an instructional video on guitar basics.

From 1964 to 1981 The Main Point Coffee Cabaret reigned supreme as the Main Line’s premier entertainment venue for young people of all ages.

Beginning with solo acts such as Tom Paxton, Joni Mitchell, James Taylor and Buffy Saint Marie, we gradually expanded our attractions to include one-act plays, jazz, blues, poetry, comedy and rock acts such as Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. Over time we entertained more than one million music lovers.

I say “we” because, for ten of those magical years, I served as general manager and emcee. Now, two of our former customers have decided to preserve memories of the Main Point by producing a documentary featuring interviews with former staff members and customers. Are you one of them?  If so, please call me today at 610-647-4341. Don’t let your voice be left out!

The remarkable quality of an original 35mm color slide, made it possible to scan, enlarge and print it as an 8” x 10” with no noticeable loss in clarity.

Thanks for reading my newsletter. I enjoyed writing it, and I hope you found it interesting.

Over the last fifty years, writing has become a passion with me, resulting in the following selection of original articles on a variety of topics. Are any of them of interest to you?

I don’t know, but I’d like to find out. Order a FREE sample and let me know what you think.

Pick any title and let me know where to send it – street address, please, as I send hard copy.

     Volume 1  What Happened to my Job?

     Volume 2  Fireproof

     Volume 3  Fond Memories

     Volume 4  Great Expectations

     Volume 5  Time Moves on