Subject librarians
About the Sound Recordings and Sound Studies collection
Recorded sound dates back to 1857. We can help you with the nuances of different formats, discovery, access, and historic technology. Our support focuses on Archive of Recorded Sound collections but will incorporate materials across the Stanford Libraries and beyond.
Sound studies have traditionally focused on acoustics and sound design. More recently, sound studies has emerged as an interdisciplinary field in which researchers from the humanities and social sciences address sound as a cultural phenomenon. We can help you navigate the sound studies literature and find recordings of environmental sounds, bird song, political speeches, and more.
Featured collections
Issei Oral History Project in Watsonville Collection
View the finding aidThe Issei Oral History Project in Watsonville was created by historian Kazuko Nakane in preparation for the book Nothing Left in My Hands : The Issei of a Rural California Town, 1900-1942. Interviews were conducted by Nakane from 1978 to 1983 with fifteen Japanese American residents in Watsonville, California. The collection contains the original audiocassettes of these interviews and their transcripts in English.
Non-Commercial Disc Collection
View the collectionAn inventory of the Archive of Recorded Sound’s Non-Commercial Disc Collections (ARS.0033), with rare and unique recorded material.
Ambassador Auditorium Collection
View the finding aidThe Ambassador Auditorium Collection contains the files of the various organizational departments of the Ambassador Auditorium as well as audio and video recordings. The materials cover the period between April 1974 and May 1995, when the Ambassador Auditorium was fully operational as an internationally recognized concert venue.
Further resources
Quick links
- Discography of American historical recordings
- Discogs - crowdsourced database
- Music (related subject)
- Music industry data
- Oxford and Grove music online
- WorldCat / FirstSearch