Finding Sound Recordings
Sound Recording Database | Library Catalogue | Recordings Online | Other Collections
Sound Recordings Database
The Sound Recordings Database is an inclusive index for our compacts discs, vinyl discs, and audio cassettes. Check the call number prefix to distinguish locations and formats.
| CD | = Compact Disc, ask at the Loans Counter |
| B | = Vinyl Disc, ask at the Loans Counter. |
| No prefix | = Vinyl Disc, shelved by the library windows. |
| CC | = Audio Cassette, shelved in the Video Room. |
Searching - by Composer, Title and/or Genre
- Composer Search.
Enter the composer surname in the Composer Search box. An optional first name may be included using the following syntax : Mozart, Leopold. To check the spelling of the composer name, try an AUTHOR searchusing the library catalogue.
- Title Search.
Enter a significant word of the title of the musical work in the Title Search box. For example, search by "Figaro" alone rather than including the words "marriage" or "nozze" where there will be variations.
- Genre / Instrument Search.
Use the pull-down list to find recordings of works for particular genres or instruments and combinations of instruments. Also use this pull-down list for finding works of particular countries. See the alphabetical list under "Ethnomusicology".
Searching - additional options
Use the pull-down lists beside each search box to vary your searching to other fields of the database.These may be used alone or in the various combinations you choose. Options include:
- Conductor - use surname alone, or with optional first name.
- Soloist - use surname alone
- Ensemble - use significant terms, e.g. Detroit Orchestra . Be aware also of acronyms, e.g. BBC
- Librettist (or poet) - use surname alone, or with optional first name, e.g Byron, or Shakespeare, William
- Disc Title - use only if the disc has a significant name, e.g. Norton Anthology of Western Music
Please contact us for further assistance.
The Library Catalogue
Use the Library Catalogue to search for sound recordings in ALL University of Melbourne Libraries including treh Lousie Hanson-Dyer Music Library and the Victorian College of the Arts Library Collections.
When searching for sound recordings use:
- KEYWORD
search.
This option allows you to search the catalogue by using a combination of terms including composer name AND words in the title of the work. Be aware that the titles of musical works vary, even for the same work. If in doubt, use the composer name and significant word(s) in the title, i.e.
Beethoven AND Concertos AND Violin
- Then LIMIT
your results
Select SOUND RECORD from the "Material Type" drop-down menu. Click "Search".
Further tips - Uniform Titles
A musical work may be printed with titles that vary depending upon the language of the country of publication, or particular wording used by the publisher. For example:
- The well-tempered clavier
- Das wohltemperierte Klavier.
- 48 preludes and fugues
To bring all these different titles together a distinctive or Uniform Title is created according to fixed rules. Familiarity with these rules enables more successful searching. The following online guides provide useful summaries and the library catalogue examples and hints apply to our own catalogue:
- Making the most of the library : using uniform titles is available at the Cook Music Library, Indiana University at: http://theme.music.indiana.edu/collections/uniform/intro.html
- Principles of Music Uniform titles : a brief introduction by Matthew W. Wise, Music Librarian, New York University.
Other Collections
To verify and check availability of sound recordings, it can be useful to check the holdings of other collections. You can confirm the existence of recordings and compile lists and discographies. Start with National Libraries, usually supported by legal deposit requirements, they offer online catalogues to historical collections. Some even offer limited digital audio online. Some examples are:
- The Australian National Film and Sound Archive
A collection spanning over 100 years of Australia's film, television, radio and recorded sound heritage.Search the Collection using either Easy Search, Advanced Search or the Browse A-Z options.
Collection Spotlights
"Many digitised works from the National Collection are available for online listening and viewing. Designed for easy use, Spotlights are simple guides that provide everyone with direct access to the Collection via digitised works."
- British Library: Sound Archive Catalogue
"One of the largest catalogues of its kind, covering both published and unpublished recordings in all genres from pop, jazz, classical and world music, to oral history, drama and literature, dialect, language and wildlife sounds".
- British Library: Archival Sound Recordings
"The British Library has made 28,000 rare recordings available free online... Featuring unique field recordings, live performances and out-of-print commercial releases, this latest addition to the JISC-funded Archival Sound Recordings website provides a sample of musical traditions across the globe - offering a glimpse of cultural experience around the world." Press Release (04/09/09)
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SONIC Recorded Sound Catalog - Library of Congress
"Sound ONline Inventory and Catalog for searching a portion of the Library of Congress Audio Collection. The Library of Congress Recorded Sound Collection contains some 2.5 million published and unpublished recordings, contained on a variety of physical formats representing the history of sound recording from late nineteenth century cylinders and discs to the latest digital files, include radio broadcasts and spoken word, as well as vocal and instrumental music."
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Union Catalog of France (Catalogue collectif de France/CCFr)
"The Union Catalog of France (Catalogue Collectif de France/CCFr) is one of the most powerful online bibliographic and document research tools in France. Its main purpose is to provide a single search interface for the three major French catalogs:
- the Catalog of Digitized Municipal Library Collections (Catalogue des Fonds des Bibliothèques Municipales Rétroconvertis/BMR);
- BnF catalogue général ;
- and the University Documentation Catalog (Catalogue du Système Universitaire de Documentation/Sudoc).
- Centre Acanthes - via the gateway for contemporary music resources in France.
A listing of contemporary music held by the Centre Acanthes. Includes concert performances and talks and interviews with major composers (some analyzing their works). On the internet, one can listen to an excerpt of up to three minutes and on the Acanthes premises to the full recording.
- IRCAM
Multimedia Library, Centre Pompidou.
Includes catalogue, contemporary composer files, articles, online sound recordings, internet links, etc.
- Canadian Historical Sound recordings - The Virtual Gramophone
"A growing multimedia website devoted to the early days of Canadian recorded sound. With a database of images and digital audio recordings, as well as biographies of musicians and histories of music and recorded sound in Canada, The Virtual Gramophone provides researchers and enthusiasts with a comprehensive look at the 78-rpm era in Canada".Listen "Selected recordings in the Library and Archives Canada collection of 78s, chosen for their Canadian content, were digitally reproduced for this site".
- National Libraries Catalogues Worldwide
"National libraries are responsible for collecting all publications issued in their respective countries. For this reason, the catalogue of a national library is the best guide to publications issued in the country in question, and anyone wanting information on the publications of that country should make the catalogue of the national library the starting point of their search."