SwingDJs

Posted: **Sat Nov 19, 2005 8:40 am**

Jon Noring writes "The Department of Special Collections at the University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB) Davidson Library recently placed online, with free access, over 5000 sound recordings as part of its Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project. These recordings date from the 1890's to the 1920's, all transfered from Edison cylinders using state-of-the-art equipment. The restorations are first-class, using CEDAR tools. Besides MP3 and streaming audio, the raw transfers are also available for diy'ers to try their own hand at audio restoration. For those who like their music 'hot', there's not much there since most of the cylinders predate the start of the Jazz Era (ca. 1917), but there is some early 'mouldy fygge' dance-type jazz, like 1920's 'Peggy' by Lopez and Hamilton's Kings of Harmony Orchestra."

Pretty cool!

Posted: **Sat Nov 19, 2005 12:43 pm**

Very nice. If anyone is interested, check out "Stomp and Swerve" for a history of "hot" american music from the pre-civil war period to the beginning of the Jazz Era. Not long and a very easy read because it's not a pure academic book, but more of an extended essay according to the author. It's pretty accessible to a casual audience since he's knowledgeable and makes frequent comparisons to modern contemporary music.

Posted: **Mon Nov 21, 2005 12:42 pm**

Very cool.

Posted: **Mon Nov 21, 2005 1:16 pm**

Nice project, though I wonder what type of usage it will get even now and even more so as the years roll by? Little or none?

Even people from the 30s and 40s are being forgotten now.

What of artists from almost 100 years ago?

Posted: **Mon Nov 21, 2005 9:16 pm**

I had a nice long listen to a lot of these recordings. Very interesting. Especially some of the recordings of minstrel routines, you can practically hear the blackface.

SwingDJs

5000 Cylinder Recordings Placed Online

5000 Cylinder Recordings Placed Online