Resources on the Internet
78s and cylinders78 Collectors Photo Directory This site lists the e-mail addresses and eBay IDs of some collectors. From it you can link to a page with information on Bubble Book records as well as to a site that has links to some of the early record catalogues and monthly supplements of the Victor Talking Machine Company. English only. 78-C This is a discussion group for those interested in buying, selling or trading early vintage sound recordings. Features include sale listings, auction notifications, trade offers and want lists. An archive of prior message postings is maintained on the site. 78-C is a member of Yahoo! Groups. To participate in this site you must register for a Yahoo! ID and password. English only. 78-L 78-L is a discussion group created for those interested in music and recordings of the pre-LP era. Discussions can cover all music, recordings, recording history and similar topics of this era. To subscribe to the list you must register. English only. The 78rpm Record Home Page 78rpm is an informative and thorough site. Visitors can locate places to buy and sell 78-rpm records, equipment and supplies; find general discography sources; and read articles on topics ranging from repair and cleaning to stories and histories of 78s and record companies. The site also offers an extensive selection of label pictures, and there is a game page where you can test your knowledge. For sites covering topics of similar interest try the list of links at the bottom of the home page. English only. 78tours.com 78tours.com is a site geared toward collectors of 78 records, antiques and memorabilia. Primarily a "swap site" for the exchange of items, it is also a good resource site, covering topics of interest to collectors. It offers a brief chronology of inventions from 1857 to 1957, as well as graphics, tips on playing and preserving records, a section on the value of records and a list of record sellers. There is also a collectors' forum where visitors can communicate their share their "passion for music and 78-rpm records." A French site, with French and English titles. Birgit Lotz Verlag: 78rpm Discs and Books Europe's leading 78-rpm mail-auctions specialists, they publish discographies (notably the German National Discography) and they offer online discographies to be downloaded from the Internet. English only. Cylinder Discussion Group A member of Yahoo! Groups, the Cylinder Discussion Group is for those interested in discussing, preserving and buying or trading cylinder records. Those who are interested in participating in the site must register. English only. Helmut Weber's Gramophone Hobby Page Helmut Weber's Gramophone Hobby Page provides scanned photographs of 78-rpm and cylinder labels, sound clips and information for dating 78-rpm recordings. The highlight of this site is the excellent list of links covering topics from general history of sound recording to discographies and scientific research. Potential users should note that it takes considerable time to upload the home page and the links page. English only. Nauck's Vintage Records "The world's premier 78-rpm and cylinder record auction company." This site is primarily for those interested in buying 78-rpm/cylinder recordings. In addition to the auction, there are book and machine sales. For those interested in books on vintage records, wind-up phonographs and antique radios, this site has an extensive booklist. English only. Tyrone's Record and Phonograph Page Tyrone's Record and Phonograph Page, created by Tyrone Settlemier, provides articles, entire recordings, a collection list and a comprehensive set of links on 78s, cylinders and 45s. Whole records are available to download in .wav format and there are scanned images of labels and records. Tyrone provides a list of his personal collection available for research as well as articles by him on records, record companies and record collecting. The highlight of this site is the extensive, well-organized, links page. English only. UCLA Music Library: Gennett Collection For those interested in Jazz music, particularly music that was recorded under the Gennett label, the UCLA Music Library Special Collections holds an extensive collection of the Gennett label within their 78-rpm holdings. Although the 1 036 Gennett discs (2 072 sides) in the collection are not in a searchable database, the complete contents are listed online for browsing. Among these are early recordings of Louis Armstrong, Hoagy Carmichael and Duke Ellington. English only. www.tinfoil.com. Excellent links to 78-rpm/cylinder history, collectors, dealers, and similar sites. There are photos and sound files of antique phonographs and cylinders. This site also offers an overview of 78-rpm/cylinder maintenance and history. English only. General history of sound recordingSound recording An overview of sound recording technology at the Canada Science and Technology Museum. French and English. Austrian Academy of Sciences' Phonogrammarchiv Founded in 1899, the Phonogrammarchiv, an institute of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, is the oldest sound archive in the world. At the website, visitors can learn about the Wiener Archiv-Phonograph, which was developed in the Phonogrammarchiv in 1901. There is a brief comparison between fieldwork equipment then and now, and information on archiving, technical safeguarding, preservation and re-recording. At present, the archive holds approximately 5 000 items including sound documents, videos and audio clips. There are samples that may be downloaded. English and German. Edison National Historic Site Provides an in-depth look at most aspects of Thomas Edison's life, including some MP3 files. Steps are being taken to make all the recordings at the Edison National Historic Site available as digital sound files on the Internet and the label information available through a database. English only. Henry Burr Art Makosinski has dedicated this site to the Canadian performer, Henry Burr. It provides a brief biography of the artist and access to a list of over 830 Burr recordings held in the Henry Burr Research Project's possession. Note that this list is in PDF file format (read with shareware Acrobat Reader) and is available for downloading. English only. Le Musée des ondes Émile Berliner The website of the Quebec museum dedicated to Emile Berliner features a photographic tour of selected items in the museum's collection. Also available are archived exhibitions as well as biographical information on Émile Berliner. French and English. The National Inventors Hall of Fame: Invent now For those interested in the minds behind the recording/sound technology, this site provides biographical and invention information. One is able to access this information by inventor, invention name and invention date. The site includes a short biography on Emile Berliner with photo and his invention information. English only. Nipperhead Antique Phonograph Site A good resource site for those interested in phonographs (or in Nipper). This site includes a brief history of the phonograph, a list of topical books, RealAudio files for disc and cylinder recordings and related on-line resources. Note: Parts of the site may require Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator versions 4 or greater. English only. Tim Gracyk's Home Page This site provides both basic and specialized articles about phonographs and old recordings for the beginner or advanced collector. The online resources tend to emphasize collectors' pages. English only. Thomas Edison's Home Page This one-page site contains a brief history of the phonograph, a biography of Edison, a list of his inventions, RealAudio files of cylinders and links to similar resources. Due to its size, the main page takes rather long to download. English only. Societies and associationsThe American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers ASCAP is an American performing rights organization representing more than 110 000 composers, songwriters, lyricists, and music publishers. It represents a broad scope of works, from Irving Berlin to Garth Brooks, George Gershwin to Madonna. Their website offers information about the society, and information, stories and opinions about the music business. Playback, the society's magazine, is available online. The highlight of the site is the online ASCAP Clearance Express Database, "ACE on the Web". A useful resource, it contains compositions in the ASCAP repertory. Information includes song titles, names of writers, performers and publishers, with links to related information in the database. English only. Association for Recorded Sound Collections The website of the Association for Recorded Sound Collections is most useful to those looking to join this association. English only. Broadcast Music Inc. BMI is another American performing rights organization. The company represents more than 250 000 songwriters, composers and music publishers from many different genres. The BMI website has many features including BMI information pages, MusicWorld News and Top 10 lists. The highlight of the site is the "BMI HyperRepertoire Internet Song Title Database." Researchers can access information on BMI's repertoire including song titles, names of writers, publishers, and artists, along with links to related information in the database. English only. Canadian Antique Phonograph Society The website of the Canadian Antique Phonograph Society (CAPS) offers photographs, Internet resources and publications relating to the phonograph and record collector. Subscriptions to CAPS' bi-monthly publication, Antique Phonograph News, or a membership in the Society can be initiated here. English only. Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency CMRRA is a non-profit agency representing music copyright owners in Canada. Visit the site to learn about licensing music or to search their music database. The majority of the site is in English, however pages describing CMRRA are in both English and French. The City of London Phonograph and Gramophone Society The City of London Phonograph and Gramophone Society was created in 1919, from various independent pre-WWI societies. A booklist is available on their site as well as a number of excellent links to Internet sites of similar interest. English only. International Association of Sound and Audiovisual Archives This association publishes the IASA Journal, sets standards and offers membership. Information bulletins from international members are online. English only. Michigan Antique Phonograph Society Page A relatively small site, the Society lists its members, including links to their home pages. English only. ArchivesL'audiovisuel à la Bibliothèque nationale de France This site provides a detailed description of the audio-visual collections and collection procedures at the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BNF). The BNF has a substantial collection of 78-rpm discs (320 000). These audiovisual items can be accessed through the BNF online catalogue (www.bnf.fr/pages/catalog/opaline.htm). French language site with English summary. Belfer Audio Laboratory and Archive, Syracuse University Library Syracuse University plans to have networked access to Historical Sound Recordings that will provide links from bibliographic records to digital sound and image files, and a powerful search engine. Presently, only a demonstration page of this engine exists. A recording technology history with pictures and Internet links by Steve Schoenherr is online. This promises to be a very exciting site. English only. Bibliothèque nationale du Québec This is a good site for those interested in Quebec's published heritage. BNQ has musical scores and sound recordings as part of its special collections. Its multimedia catalogue IRIS allows on-line access to collections of books, prints, artists' books, posters, postcards, maps, and sound recordings. IRIS has bibliographic notes and some include images and sounds (RealAudio is required for these). French language site with English summary. The British Library Sound Archive The British Library Sound Archive is one of the largest sound archives in the world. It holds over a million discs, 185 000 tapes, and many other sound and video recordings. The collections come from all over the world and cover the entire range of recorded sound from music, drama and literature, to oral history and wildlife sounds. They range from cylinders made in the late 19th century to the latest CD, DVD and minidisk. The Archive is updated daily. At present the on-line catalogue does not enable you to listen or download sounds to your computer but you are able to order copies of recordings. Please note that charges and copyright restrictions apply to this service. English only. British Library Public Catalogue The British Library Public Catalogue (BLPC) is a web interface to the main British Library catalogues. It is a free service providing simple searching and ordering of documents from the Library's extensive collections. There are many catalogues available including those on humanities, books, and journals. Of particular interest are the "music (Pre 1981)" and "music (1980-)" catalogues. Information that may be found in these two catalogues includes title, composer, collaborator, and publication information. English only. The Cyber Hymnal On this site you can find comprehensive information on Christian hymns and gospel songs from many denominations. The site provides lyrics, scores, MIDI files, pictures, history, and more. Search results are well laid out and informative. English only. The Finnish Institute of Recorded Sound The Finnish Institute of Recorded Sound collects all Finnish records made before the 1981 introduction of legal deposit of sound recordings in Finland. Their website has a collection of record labels, a catalogue of Finnish records from 1901 to 1945, and a list of artists and the records that their work appeared on from 1902 to 1945. An excellent feature of this site is the well-organized and informative database of Finnish music that can be browsed by title, original title, artist, composer, lyricist, label, and album title. From the database page, visitors can connect to a page with links to online record shops (www.yle.fi/aanilevysto/firs/) English and Finnish. Library of Congress: Recorded Sound Reference Center This site provides general information about the sound recordings in the Library of Congress (LC) and directs interested parties to the American Memory websites that are a part of the LC sound collections, which include audio bites. The sound collections without audio bites may be searched through the Library of Congress catalogue, LOCIS. English only. The New York Public Library Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound For those interested in the 78-rpm recordings held in this archive, the Rigler Deutsch Index (RDI)* 1 is suggested as a means to access them. Recordings that have been catalogued after 1979 may be accessed through CATNYP, the on-line catalogue of The New York Public Library, although it is noted, "many non-book, special collections material will not be found here." "Selected Recorded Sound Resources on the Internet" is worth perusing. English only. Public Domain Music The Public Domain Music website offers MIDI and text files of music from a small number of composers, and from song eras and styles of the late 18th to early 20th centuries. Along with sound and lyrics, there are brief biographies (some with pictures) of each composer. The site can be searched or browsed for information. English only. ScreenSound Australia ScreenSound Australia, the National Screen and Sound Archive, collects, preserves and shares Australia screen and sound heritage. ScreenSound makes the collection available through this website with a searchable online text database listing over 385 000 items, spanning 100 years of Australia's film, television, radio and recorded sound heritage. Visitors can submit a research enquiry using a reference enquiry form and request copies. Users note: Conditions and fees apply. As well, the database is not available between 11:00 p.m. and 3:00 a.m. Australian Eastern Standard Time. Some early version 3 web-browsers are unable to view the collection. English only. Stanford Archive of Recorded Sound This site provides a general description of the archives collections and archives use policy. It should be noted that holdings are largely not catalogued and cannot be found on the Stanford University Libraries' online public catalogue, Socrates. However they state that the Rigler and Deutsch Record Index (RDI) provides access to most of the Archive's 78-rpm recordings. The "Sound Bytes from the Archive" page (www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/ars/collections/sound.html) offers samples from the collection. Visitors note: The audio examples are supplied in AU format. If you are unsure about your capability to hear the sound clips, there is a section for help with AU Audio Players. English only. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign: Sousa Archives for Band Research The Sousa Archives holds the collections of: John Philip Sousa; Herbert L. Clarke; former directors of band at the University of Illinois Albert Austin Harding, Mark H. Hindsley and Harry Begian; and University of Illinois alumnus and Sousa Band Member Richard E. Kent. Their website contains biographies and collection information. The site offers links to view composer/title listings of manuscripts in the Sousa Archive Collection. English only. Phonographs, gramophones and mechanical musical instrumentsAustralian Collectors of Mechanical Musical Instruments "ACMMI is a group of dedicated enthusiasts interested in collecting and restoring all kinds of mechanical musical instruments." People who are interested in player pianos (pianolas), reproducing pianos, fair-ground organs, music boxes, gramophones/phonographs, and automata can view pictures of the instruments, as well as download sounds from the various machines. Note that RealAudio 3 or later is required. English only. Edison Phonograph Museum This site offers information on the museum, as well as links to other museum sites, and sites of similar interest. A highlight of the site is the selection of phonograph, gramophone, and accessory catalogue images from 1898 to 1912. There is also a collection of more than 200 different cylinder phonographs. French and English. Radio Museum Rottenburg Although not all parts of this site are up and running, visitors will find various digitized images of radios from the 1920s to the 1960s, tubes and test sets. There is a links page, categorized into radios, gramophones and records, tape recorders, and tubes. The highlight of this site is the Radio Market page. This is a place where those interested can offer devices, spare parts, circuit diagrams or other related items, as well search for items needed or wanted. English and German. Music from 1900 to 195020s to 50s Pop Music A discussion site, 20s to 50s Pop Music is, like it suggests, dedicated to pop music of the period from the 1920s through the mid-50s. Note: This site is a member of the Yahoo! Groups and those who are interested must register to be a member. English only. Indiana State University Library, Kirk Collection: Popular Song Index The Kirk collection can be searched by title of the work or by keyword in the online catalogue LUIS. There is bibliographic information on the band sets, country music holdings, and other printed sheets and scores of other popular music forms in the collection. These are found through the "QuickLinks" page, where information can be browsed, rather than searched. Full records on these items are not in the online public access catalogue. English only. Song - Composer Listing: Charles Anderson & Cal Owen This site comprises a list of tunes (generally jazz tunes from the early half of the 20th century), their composers, and dates. The list is searchable by song title, and is a good resource for those who wish to correlate tune titles with authors and dates. English only. UCLA Music Library: Louis B. Shcnauber/Film Music Society Collection This collection focusses on orchestral music for silent films. It consists of 2 111 complete sets assembled by Louis B. Schnauber between 1910 and 1927. The collection can be searched through alphabetized name/title index and title index. Information found in the collection includes titles, composer and arranger names and dates, and publication place and dates. English only. Sheet musicDuke University Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library: Historic American Sheet Music This is a collection of over 16 000 pages of sheet music from 3 042 pieces published in the United States between 1850 and 1920. The pages have been digitized and made available over the Internet. The database may be searched or browsed and the information accompanying the images can include title, first line, publication date, and names of the composer, lyricist and illustrator. The site also includes background information about the music, and information on dating sheet music and preservation. For those interested in digital imaging, there is a technical information section. English only. Eastman School of Music, Sibley Music Library: Charlotte Stafford Collection This collection consists mainly of sheet music, both vocal and piano, and anthologies of dance tunes. Most composers of popular song from the early decades of the 20th century are represented; the bulk of the music dates from 1910 to 1927. Visitors can browse the collection online. English only. Georgia Southern University, Special Collection: Sheet Music Collection This is an online collection of nearly 2 000 pieces of sheet music from the years 1910 to 1950. The collection can be searched or browsed by composer name. English only. Johns Hopkins University, Milton S. Eisenhower Library: The Lester S.Levy Collection of Sheet Music The Lester S. Levy Collection of Sheet Music contains over 29 000 pieces of music and focusses on popular American music from 1780 to 1960. The collection can be browsed or searched. Catalogue descriptions will be retrieved and if the music was published before 1923 and is in public domain an image of the cover and each page of music will be retrieved as well. English only. Library of Congress, American Memory: Music for the Nation: American Sheet Music, 1870-1885 An online collection of over 47 000 pieces of American music registered for copyright during the years 1870 to 1885. The collection includes popular songs, piano music, solo instrumental music, method books and instructional materials, and music for band and orchestra. The database is searchable by keyword, or can be browsed by author, subject or title. Please note there are images available in this collection and although no special viewers are needed, to read images with smaller text it is suggested to view the image in TIFF format. TIFF images are also recommended when printing hard copies. English only. Sheet Music from Canada's Past This site is a source of sheet music published in Canada before 1921, selected from Library and Archives Canada's historical collection. This database presents the portion of the collection that has been digitized. The online collection may be keyword searched by title, name or subject as well as browsed by a score or musical recording. Specific periods such as First World War era or Pre-Confederation era can be searched. Smithsonian National Museum of American History: American Music Collections: Sam DeVincent Collection of Illustrated American Sheet Music The Sam DeVincent collection contains approximately 130 000 pieces of American sheet music from the 1790s to the early 1980s. Most of the sheet music is either solo piano or piano/vocal arrangement. Although there is no search engine provided, the collection does have a composite index and this will lead researchers to the information. Useful information found includes song titles, names of composers and lyricists, dates, and some graphic samples of sheet music. In addition to sheet music, visitors can learn the history of Sam DeVincent as well as the history of the collection. There are ephemera files that contain lists of sheet music, correspondence, DeVincent's notes on indexing his collection, and other miscellaneous items. English only. University of New Hampshire Library: Alvah Sulloway Sheet Music and Theatre Program Collection 1772-1978 This online collection contains sheet music, theater programs, clippings, photos and other show business materials. The bulk of the collection consists of sheet music from World Wars I and II, and dance music from the early 1900s to the end of World War II. The theater programs are from 1899 to 1975 mostly from Boston and New York. Of special interest are additional pieces of sheet music, many of which honor Charles A. Lindbergh. A great deal of information can be found on the site, including composer, lyricist, performer, and publisher names, publication dates for the sheet music, program, theater and director names, and stars of the theater programs. English only. University of South Florida: NationsBank African American Heritage Music Collection This is a collection of nearly 10 000 pieces of sheet music documenting the contributions of African Americans to the nation's musical heritage. The collection ranges in date from the first published music by an African-American composer in 1818 to the present, and includes music from spirituals to jazz. The emphasis is on popular music rather than instrumental pieces. Represented are works by African-American composers and lyricists, works performed by African-American musicians and singers, and works portraying African-American life. The collection can be searched alphabetically by title or name of individual. English only. Classical MusicAndrew Lamb's European Light Music This site focusses on European light classical music and musical theatre. Visitors will find general information on music categorized by country of origin, composer profiles, feature articles, and links to other sites of similar interest. English only. MusicWeb This site is primarily concerned with British classical music; however, there is some non-British information on the site. Visitors will find news and announcements of upcoming events, CD reviews, information and links to various music societies, a chat room, and a bulletin board. The "Seen & Heard" section of the site is a live music review site featuring 30 to 40 reviews each month. Of interest to researchers is the "Composer Profiles" section. There are profiles of British composers, British light-music composers as well as an increasing number of non-British composer profiles. English only. Operissimo Operissimo is devoted to operas, opera performers and opera houses, and is a good resource for current information. Visitors to the site can search or browse for information on performers and conductors, including biographies, photos, audio or video clips. The highlight of the site is the "Opera Houses" page. Operissimo lists more than 300 opera houses in 41 countries with their addresses, seat capacity, calendars of events, information on their productions, and links to their websites. English only. MiscellaneousA Catalog of Music Rolls for the Wurlitzer Military Band Organ Style 165 A highly specialized but informative site on music rolls created for the Wurlitzer Military Band Organ in a format known as style 165. The site offers a comprehensive catalog that attempts to list all known style 165 band organ rolls, including rolls known only from catalog or roll labels. Each roll listing shows -- to the extent known -- title, stage revue or motion picture featuring the tune, composer name, date of first publication, type of composition, and original issue date. The site also provides information and the history of roll music, in particular, the Wurlitzer style 165 band rolls. English only. Americana Resources Americana Resources Inc. Is an antiques and collectibles organization headquartered in Maryland, U.S.A. This site showcases their large collection, which is organized into various catalogues. The catalogues can be browsed, or the visitor can perform a search for the items they seek. The diverse collection includes several music-related catalogues of piano rolls, records/cylinders, and sheet music. Although orders are not placed directly through the site, they can be made via email. English only. Audio Restoration This is a good site for those interested in audio restoration. Graham Newton restores master recordings for CD re-issue by major record companies, and offers services to transfer and restore old phonograph records or tapes to digital media. The site offers information about audio restoration, sources for restoration, and links to sites of similar interest. English only. La Chanson du Québec et ses cousines The focus of this site is to give an overview of the historical development of the popular song in Quebec. There is some discussion of the recording industry, with references to cylinders, 78-rpm discs and the Berliner Company. French only. Disc-o-Logue Disc-o-Logue is a Web-accessible database containing information on close to 90 000 French-language pop-music sound recordings sold in Canada between 1955 and 1985. English and French. Indiana University, Center for the History of Music Theory and Literature, Doctoral Dissertations in Musicology-Online DDM-Online supplies bibliographic records for dissertations in musicology, music theory, ethnomusicology, as well as in related musical, scientific, and humanistic disciplines. Containing more than 10 800 records, DDM-Online can be searched by author or keyword, or browsed by category and an index of authors. Please note: It is only the bibliographic records that are available online; however many of the dissertations may be available for purchase. English only. MC Productions Vintage Recording Page MC Productions is dedicated to preserving and making available the recordings of the 78-rpm era, focusing on the Jazz Age (1925 - 1935). Audiocassettes of 78-rpm recordings from jazz to blues and classical are available for purchase. One may download the MC Production Catalogue as well as Mickey Clark's 24 000 song title database. For similar websites try the links page. English only. The Online Antique Phonograph Gallery An online gallery of phonographs, exhibits by collectors and some antique audio samples are found on this site. A bibliography and online references are provided for those wishing to learn more about phonographs. English only. The Phonograph Ring This site acts as a links page for phonograph-related websites. There are over 194 member sites dealing with early recorded sound (recordings earlier than 33-rpm and 45-rpm vinyl records.) Visitors can browse or search the detailed list of sites. Some topics of the member sites include 78-rpm and other early disc records, cylinder records, discographical information, artists, collections, sales and auctions, and dealers. English only. The Record Collector's Guild This site is designed for all record collectors and enthusiasts. It is part of Yahoo! Clubs and those interested must register. Members can participate in discussions, make announcements, post wanted items, or items for sale or trade. English only. The Shellac Shanty This site maintains a jukebox of 78-rpm recordings, focussing on "older jazz." All sound bytes are in streaming RealAudio format. English only. 1. RDI is available on microfiche at various library locations or through RLIN (Research Libraries Information Network) via the Internet using Eureka or Z39.50 compliant Zephyr. Note that RLIN is not a free on-line service. |