Sounds of the early 1900s

As I have been working on this manuscript, in my mind I can often hear the music that played on old Victrolas around the turn of the century. In those days, before flat wax and ceramic discs, music was reproduced from live performances via cylinder recordings. Typically they have been difficult to even listen to now because of differences in the cylinders and how they needed to be played. But thanks to an effort by the Department of Special Collections at the University of California, Santa Barbara, all you need is your computer.

Have a look at their web site. There are over 6,000 recordings archived there, some of which never made any commercial release. You can hear everything from the Edison Military Band in 1906 to Elizabeth Spencer in 1916. All recordings are in multiple formats (MP3 and WAV) and are in the public domain (no copyright restrictions).

My iTunes media player software is going to be busy.