The annual Grammy Awards were presented earlier this month at a gala event also known as the biggest night in music to honour the music artists and their compositions.  But the Recording Academy is not done presenting awards.

Though the name Henry Diltz may not be a household name, his work can be found on numerous music albums, magazines, and at festivals.  Henry Diltz is a photographer who has been creating album covers since the ‘60’s.  He has also covered the original Woodstock in 1969 and Monerey Pop.

But before he became an award winning photographer, Diltz was the co-founder of the band Modern Folk Quartet.  The band itself was short lived but a hobby of bringing cameras to alleviate boredom went far beyond a hobby to morph into a very successful career.

His album covers include “Morrison Hotel” by The Doors, the debut album for Crosby Stills and Nash, “Sweet Baby James” by James Taylor.

The Recording Academy is honouring DIltz with a special Merit Award.

Stax Records creator Jim Stewart and auto-tune creator Dr. Andy Hildebrand are also being awarded a special Merit Award by the Recording Academy.

Fiddler and country music afficionado Jim Stewart originally named his Memphis recording company Satellite Records but after a California company by the same name filed a suit, Stewart changed the name to Stax Records. 

Defining the R&B sound of the south, Stax did for southern artists what Mowtown did in Detroit.  Defying the southern norm of segregation, Stax Records had an integrated studio filled with songwriters, house band, and a studio.

Stax began in 1957 with Country and Rockabilly artists; it was later that added R&B which Stewart said was “like a blind man who suddenly gained his sight.”  Stax Records artists included Booker T. & the M.G.’s, Otis Redding, the Staples Singers, Sam & Dave, and Carla and Rufus Thomas.

Thanks to the invention of Dr. Andy Hildebrand, numerous people have been made to sound much better than they would have otherwise.

But since its invention 25 years ago, auto-tune users have found some very creative ways to add to their recordings.

The former geophysical engineer, mathematician, and seismologist returned to school and took up music school in the late ‘80’s to focus on compositions with synthesizers.  Not liking the inorganic sounds that emanated from the instruments, Hildebrand created a new audio-processing algorithm that used digital signal processing technology.

Founding his own company Jupiter Systems that later became Antares Audio Technologies, he began creating his own instrument sampling software.

A question posed at lunch during a NAMM conference launched Hildebrand’s next project.  He asked “what needs to be invented?”  A woman answered jokingly, “why don’t you make a box that let me sing in tune?”

And as they say…the rest is history!  He used the geophysical algorithms to create the auto-tune.

In 1998, Cher brought the discovery to the forefront when she used the auto-tune on her smash hit song “Believe”.  Today the technology is widely used in recording studios the world over.