Phonozoic, Patrick Feaster's website "dedicated to the history of the phonograph and related media," is an amazing collection of information about historic recordings. Not just early recordings, however, but also
experimental "eduction projects": the "automatic 'playing' of primeval inscriptions of sound."
[more inside]
posted by litlnemo
on Dec 30, 2011 -
1 comment
Soundmaps are field recordings of the unique audio ecology of a particular place and time. Often they are cities:
New York,
Berlin,
Montreal,
New Orleans,
Barcelona,
London (previously),
Madrid, and
many others. Sometimes they move through space:
Ramallah. Sometimes they are
mixable (probably my favorite, from Portugal). They might be of entire countries (
Spain, the
United States (previously), the
United Kingdom, or continents (
Africa, while on a bike!). Sometimes they cover the
entire world:
aporee (you may prefer the map interface). Some attempt to
preserve sounds that are in danger of being lost. And sometimes soundmaps are of the
deep ocean.
Most of the sounds are, appropriately, licensed under Creative Commons.
posted by Bora Horza Gobuchul
on Sep 6, 2010 -
8 comments
The Jazz Loft Project - From 1957 to 1965, celebrated photojournalist W. Eugene Smith made 4,000 hours of surreptitious recordings and took 40,000 photographs in a loft in Manhattan's wholesale flower district where Roland Kirk, Thelonius Monk, Hall Overton, Charles Mingus and other jazz greats jammed until dawn. Archived in the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University, the project is now accessible via a book, a traveling exhibit, a
10-part Jazz Loft series on WNYC,
NPR's Jazz Loft Project Sights & Sounds, and an interview with
JLP author Sam Stephenson, which includes some images from the book. Via a
Grain Edit post, which also has some great images.
[more inside]
posted by madamjujujive
on Jan 3, 2010 -
21 comments
Classical Music at the European Archive. Free and legal lossless downloads of out-of-copyright recordings. Formats include WAV, FLAC, MP3 & Ogg.
posted by Gyan
on Mar 9, 2009 -
36 comments
Government Releases Detailed Information on 9/11 Crashes Complete Air-Ground Transcripts of Hijacked
9/11 Flight Recordings Declassified
Washington, DC - August 11, 2006 - The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) this week released full transcripts of the air traffic control recordings from the four flights hijacked on September 11, 2001, and meticulous Flight Path Studies for three of the flights, in response to a Freedom of Information request by the National Security Archive. The studies provide the most detailed technical information available to date related to the hijackings, and the transcripts of the aircraft-to-ground communications are the first complete government disclosure of each flight's air traffic control recordings.
posted by Unregistered User
on Aug 11, 2006 -
59 comments
Arcade Sounds. We recorded video games from 1982 until 1988. Fortunately I managed to save all fourteen audio tapes of video game sounds and arcade ambience which were recorded from a variety of locations in the US. Most of the recordings are from Ithaca, NY, Albany, NY and Ocean City, MD.
posted by rxrfrx
on Nov 1, 2005 -
46 comments
The latest additions to the
National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress
have just been announced. This year's additions of "culturally, historically or aesthetically important" works include "Swanee'" by Al Jolson, Edward R. Murrow's radio reports from London during WWII, and "Fear of a Black Planet" by Public Enemy. View the full registry
here, selection criteria and nomination information
here.
posted by me3dia
on Apr 6, 2005 -
17 comments
If you don't know much about contemporary music, there's some good edumacating here: Cuff the Duke, Dirtbombs, Interpol, LIARS, Manitoba, Spiritualized, Stars, Ween, Amon Tobin, Decemberists, Controller.Controller, Heavy Blinkers, Peaches, Gentleman Reg, Calexico, Ted Leo, D.O.A., Blonde Redhead, The Constantines, Hayden, The Notwist, C'Mon, Sea & Cake, A&C, Do Make Say Think, Royal City, Oh Susanna, Death From Above 1979, White Stripes, Tobin Sprout, TV On the Radio, Add n To (X)... some of the stellar bands with streams at CBC Radio's
Just Concerts:
Live and
Studio recordings.
{All the recordings I tried were top-notch quality. Unfortch, the streams are Real, but definitely still worth checking out.}
posted by dobbs
on Sep 19, 2004 -
34 comments
Getting back into the groove : In the corner of a California university laboratory, two men are battling against time to perfect a machine that will read old recordings - using special microscopes to scan the grooves - and software that can convert those shapes into sound. Their work could bring history to life.
posted by starscream
on Jul 26, 2004 -
15 comments
365 Days re-launched - UbuWeb is pleased to announce the re-launch and permanent home of The
365
Days Project. This legendary project, in which an MP3 a day - of mostly
outsider, novelty, and oddball recordings - was made available for the
public to download over the course of 2003. Briefly taken offline, it
is now
presented here in its entirety, complete with images and vast
commentary on
each selection. The 365 Days Project is part of UbuWeb's redesigned,
newly-named and much-expanded Outsiders section.
via the Rumori list
posted by 2sheets
on Jun 24, 2004 -
16 comments
Fake bongs for conspiracists with time on their hands... But can square-jawed MeFites figure out what happened
here? Remember, Captain Scarlet is indestructible...
posted by klaatu
on Jan 5, 2004 -
23 comments
The President Calling: American Radioworks (MPR) explores the secret phone tapes of Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon. AFAIK, the content is all previously available, but online, they've
packaged and annotated it for ease of use. It's not exhaustive, but the moments picked out are often illuminating, showing "how each man used one-on-one politics to shape history."
You might want to start here.
posted by soyjoy
on Nov 20, 2003 -
5 comments
701 78s. A huge set of "old-time" music recordings from 1924-1946, made available in RealAudio format by honkingduck.com. Not high sound quality, but an invaluable collection for anyone with any interest in early recorded bluegrass, folk, country, blues, etc.
posted by staggernation
on Nov 10, 2003 -
23 comments
"Now What a Time": Blues, Gospel, and the Fort Valley Music Festivals, 1938-1943 Approximately one hundred sound recordings, primarily blues and gospel songs, and related documentation from the folk festival at Fort Valley State College (now Fort Valley State University), Fort Valley, Georgia. The documentation was created by John Wesley Work III in 1941 and by Lewis Jones and Willis Laurence James in March, June, and July 1943. Also included are recordings made in Tennessee and Alabama by John Work between September 1938 and 1941.
Audio Title IndexThe John and Ruby Lomax 1939 Southern States Recording Trip Folk singers and folksongs documented during a three-month trip through the southern United States.
Audio Title IndexCalifornia Gold: Northern California Folk Music From the ThirtiesMaterials from the WPA California Folk Music Project Collection, including sound recordings, still photographs, drawings, and written documents from a variety of European ethnic and English- and Spanish-speaking communities in Northern California. The collection comprises 35 hours of folk music recorded in twelve languages representing numerous ethnic groups and 185 musicians.
Audio Title Index
(As Always, More Inside)
posted by y2karl
on Apr 14, 2003 -
12 comments
The Quiet American provides glimpses of other cultures via phonographs: snapshots of sound. (The
field recordings in Vietnam are beautiful and evocative.)
Vagabonding also conveys the wonders of travel. What other sites allow non-travelers to experience other parts of the world?
posted by jdroth
on Mar 5, 2003 -
5 comments
AntsMarching.org, a Dave Matthews Band fan site, posted almost 500 high-quality audio files of live recordings of the band's concerts to their website after Christmas. When previously only those who were of technical-mind and knew where to look could download shows, AM dumped every fan with the ability to click a hyperlink into the mix. Today, the band
updated their tape trading policy, saying that any trading actions that don't promote fan interaction, specifically posting audio and video files on websites, are strictly forbidden. While it is my assumption that AM.org is the major player in provoking this move, my question is this: Is it wise for bands who credit their success to tape trading and word of mouth, and encourage fans to record and trade shows, to essentially ban the practice from the internet? Is it fair that you either trade through the mail or don't get to have live recordings when the internet has so much potential? Is it impossible for digital music trading to foster community?
posted by tomorama
on Jan 13, 2003 -
19 comments
Government plans to use Flight 93 cockpit tapes in Moussaoui trial "Additional recordings would be played from the cockpit of an executive jet that tracked Flight 93 on Sept. 11"
"An official for NetJets, a company that sells shares in private business aircraft, confirmed that the plane tracking Flight 93 belonged to the company.
The official, who asked not to be identified by name, said the company was asked not to comment on the Sept. 11 flight but would not say who made the request."
Finally someone admits that there was a plane up there when Flight 93 crashed. But who was it and why?
posted by bas67
on Aug 10, 2002 -
15 comments
Alan Lomax , the legendary collector of folk music who was the first to record towering figures like Leadbelly, Muddy Waters and Woody Guthrie, died yesterday at a nursing home in Sarasota, Fla. He was 87.
Mr. Lomax was a musicologist, author, disc jockey, singer, photographer, talent scout, filmmaker, concert and recording producer and television host. He did whatever was necessary to preserve traditional music and take it to a wider audience. (NY Times- Registraion Required)
And...
Additionally... And
this.
Also...
posted by y2karl
on Jul 20, 2002 -
26 comments
Hearing Voices Fascinating stuff... Sights, sounds and stories; a photo-audio-essay, with excerpts from Scott Carrier's Harper's article and ambient recordings of the streets, songs and prayers of the Afghan people.
posted by zeoslap
on Mar 20, 2002 -
3 comments
Initial audio from the WTC. Police, fire, etc. "Please note that these files can be disturbing to listen to..." If your tired of political commentary about this but are hooked none the less, you too can be an audio voyeur (audeur?).
I really only post this for historical reasons.
posted by a_green_man
on Oct 4, 2001 -
5 comments
