On November 18, 2021, Doc Chatters used their ears to explore the history of recorded sound. 

A weekly series from NYPL's Center for Research in the Humanities, Doc Chat pairs an NYPL curator or specialist and a scholar to discuss evocative digitized items from the Library's collections and brainstorm innovative ways of teaching with them. In Episode Thirty-Eight, Jonathan Hiam, Curator of Music and Recorded Sound at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, and Jon Samuels, audio engineer and owner of Recorded Legacy, analyzed the Mapleson Cylinders, featured in the Library's newly opened The Polonsky Exhibition of The New York Public Library's Treasures. Hiam and Samuels discussed the preservation and restoration of the many historical audio formats held by NYPL.

A transcript of this episode is available here.

Below are some handy links to materials and sources suggested in the episode.

Episode Thirty-Eight: Primary Sources

Listen to excerpts from the Mapleson Cylinders on NYPL's website. 

Episode Thirty-Eight: Readings and Resources

"Early opera recordings on wax cylinders," NYPL Digital Exhibition, 2021. 

Andre J. Millard, America on Record: A History of Recorded Sound (Cambridge University Press, 2005). 

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Doc Chat episodes take place on Zoom every Thursday at 3:30 PM. Check out upcoming episodes on NYPL's calendar,  and make sure you don't miss an episode by signing up for NYPL's Research newsletter, which will include links to register. A video of each episode will be posted on the Doc Chat Channel of NYPL's blog shortly after the program. There you can also explore videos and resources for past episodes. See you at the next Doc Chat!