Listen: 140 Years of Recorded Sound

Listen 140 years of recorded sound the British Library

Sound. Take the time to explore it.

Just how important have the sounds of the past 140 years been to our lives? Dive into the British Library sound archive in a free exhibition looking at the significance of sound since the phonograph was invented in 1877.

Step into your own listening booth to hear an eclectic mix of sounds from the archive including many rare and unpublished recordings. See a signed disc of James Joyce’s reading of Ulysses alongside a selection of playable stamps issued in Bhutan. And meet 16-year-old Alfred Taylor, whose ‘Wireless Log’ in 1922 can be compared to a modern-day vlog.

View items from the rarely-seen collection of players and recorders. Immerse yourself in a specially-commissioned audio installation by composer Aleks Kolkowski. And follow the timeline to learn more about key moments in the history of recorded sound.

Human. Machine. Animal. The exhibition tell’s a story of sound recording and explores the importance of sound in capturing history, how radio transformed society in the 20th century and how the way we listen has changed as new technologies have emerged and old ones become obselete.

Duration 06 October 2017 - 13 May 2018
Times 09:30 - 20:00
Cost Free
Venue British Library
Address Great Russell Street, London, WC1B 3DG
Contact 020 7323 8299 / information@britishmuseum.org / www.britishmuseum.org

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