A collection of DIY home recordings, transferred from blank and repurposed brown and black wax cylinders, dating back to the early years of widespread phonographic technology, between the late 1800s and early 1900s. Recordings courtesy of The David Giovannoni’s Collection of home cylinder recordings housed at the University of California, Santa Barbara cylinder audio archive.

1.Excerpt from brown wax home recording of humorous talk and singing 00:30
2.Black wax home recording of woman singing hymn 04:37
3.Brown wax home recording of “Bring back my kitty to me” sung to the tune of “My bonnie lives over the ocean” by acapella children’s chorus 01:57
4.Brown wax home recording of Mother and Father trying to get “Billy out of bed, followed by whistling solo 03:23
5.Black wax home recording of brass solo with dog howling and man whistling and calling Muggsy 02:10
6.Brown wax home recording of woman reciting French language lesson 02:14
7.Black wax home recording of Ralph Sunderland singing unidentified song 02:22
8.Black wax home recording of brass solo and duet 02:41
9.Brown wax home recording of dogs barking, with comic introductions 01:10
10.Black wax home recording of whistling and singing duet 01:36
11.Brown wax home recording of squealing of pigs and other barnyard sounds; occasional muffled speech in background 01:50
12.Brown wax home recording of whistling over commercial recording of Afterwards, by Professor Wormser 02:22
13.Brown wax home recording of flute solo, variations on Rock-a-bye baby 02:15
14.Brown wax home recording of unidentified guitar solo 02:06
15.Brown wax home recording of women talking, singing, and laughing 02:11
16.Brown wax home recording of family gathering at home of W. H. Greenhow, Hornell, New York, November 16, 1901 03:08
17.Brown wax home recording of male singing in French 02:28
18.Brown wax home recording of child singing All alone 02:02
19.Brown wax home recording of organ solo, January 23, 1896 03:04
20.Brown wax home recording of group singing with zither accompaniment 02:44
21.Brown wax home recording of baby crying; male speaking in French; child singing Welcome to winter 02:31
22.Brown wax home recording of Psalm 23 recited by Morgan Parsons followed by Master Louis [?] Tupper [?] Parsons, toddler, talking on November 29, 1900 01:37
23.Brown wax home recording of train imitation with whistle, and joke with laughing 01:55
24.Brown wax business dictation recording 07:54
25.Brown wax home recording of a meeting of the Wreckers Club 02:23
26.Black wax home recording of banjo duet 02:24
27.Black wax home recording of indistinct talk by Donald 02:29
28.Black wax home recording of man and woman singing yodel song in German with zither 02:33
29.Black wax home recording of singing and harmonica music 04:44
30.Black wax home recording of boys attending Nazareth Hall boarding school, Nazareth, Pennsylvania, April 1, 1914 02:08
31.Black wax home recording of man delivering religious speech 04:20
32.Black wax home recording of woman singing Oh! what a beautiful dream 03:01
33.Black wax home recording of woman singing The curse of an aching heart ; a dialog about a wedding; and man singing Shall we ever be able to fly?, August 27, 1915 02:08
34.Brown wax home recording of man singing You’re a million miles from nowhere 01:41