Music
The First Artificial Skating Rinks Looked Pretty But Smelled Terrible
Before the technology to reliably freeze water existed, the first rinks used pig fat and salts
This Catalan Folk Singer Refused to Bow to Oppression
The director of the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage recognizes the lifetime work of the singer activist Raimon
The MP3 Format is Music History's Latest Casualty
The Institute that licenses MP3 tech recently stopped, but the format that began the digital music era may live on indefinitely
Listen to This First 1920s Recording By One of the Kings of Jazz
Sidney Bechet was one of the first big jazz soloists, and brought the soprano saxophone into the jazz fold
Songwriter Irving Berlin's Interfaith Marriage Caused 1920s Gossip
The songwriter made headlines when he and writer Ellin Mackay got married against her millionaire father's wishes
Study Challenges the Supremacy of Stradivarius Violins
A French researcher set out to solve a long-standing fiddle riddle: do these infamous violins project sound better than new ones?
The Eurovision Song Contest Rocks Europe This Week. Here’s How It All Got Started
It was the idea of the European Broadcasting Union, who wanted to put the relatively new technology of television through its paces
Music or Animal Abuse? A Brief History of the Cat Piano
In the early 1800s, the katzenklavier was hailed as a treatment for distracted people
Latest National Report Card Shows Little Student Improvement in Music and Art
This is the third time that the National Center for Educational Statistics has assessed eight-graders in music and visual arts
This 1000-Mile Long Storm Showed the Horror of Life in the Dust Bowl
In the American history of extreme weather events, ‘Black Sunday’ sticks out
This Feminist Psychologist-Turned-Rock-Star Led a Full Life of Resistance
Naomi Weisstein fought against the idea of women as objects in both the fields of psychology and rock 'n roll
Never Mind Her Stellar Jazz Career, Young Ella Fitzgerald Just Wanted to Dance
The preeminent vocalist didn't actually start out as a singer
N.W.A., NPR Among This Year’s National Recording Registry Inductees
The latest class of 25 also includes Judy Garland and Vin Scully
Bob Dylan Will (Finally) Collect his Nobel Prize for Literature
But the songwriter won't be delivering a Nobel Lecture at this time
How Chuck Berry’s Cadillac and His Guitar, Maybellene, Came to the Smithsonian
Curator Kevin Strait from the African American History Museum details the day he met the great musician
The First Saxophone Was Made of Wood
The instrument was invented by–you guessed it–Adolphe Sax
Did Catherine Parr Write a Propaganda Song for Henry VIII?
'Gaude gloriosa Dei mater,' purportedly penned by the king’s sixth wife, will be performed in London for the first time in more than 470 years
This Medieval Knight’s Manor Houses Over 350 Mechanical Musical Instruments
From tiny music boxes to the bus-sized Orchestrion, Siegfried’s Mechanical Music Cabinet in Germany's Rhineland is the perfect musical detour
Lou Reed’s Papers Have Found a Home
The vicious Velvet Underground frontman will live on at the New York Public Library
Finding Music Behind Prison Bars
At the Louisiana State Penitentiary and at a maximum-security prison in Malawi, the benefits of music are far-reaching
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