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Mixed Materials; Photos, Drawings, Prints; Sound Recordings

Local centers/global sounds: historic recordings and Midwestern musical vernaculars

Available as: Online
Summary: The Mills Music Library and the Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures, along with many partners at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, are pleased to present a growing collection of un...

The Mills Music Library and the Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures, along with many partners at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, are pleased to present a growing collection of unique, historic, regional and endangered sound recordings with related documentation. These include 78-rpm recordings produced for immigrant, ethnic, and indigenous audiences by American companies in the first half of the 20th century; and more than 700 hours of original field and home recordings from the 1950s through the 1990s featuring the Upper Midwest's culturally diverse traditional musicians. Captured in kitchens and parlors, in churches and halls, amidst festivals and in professional studios, this online collection presents dance tunes, ballads, lyric songs, hymns, laments, political anthems, and recitations, together with extensive interviews of many performers. The collection offers: Full audio streams, whenever possible, Photographic images, Field notes, Tape Indexes.