Music

Adolphe Sax made this alto saxophone in 1857, long after he had switched to brass. The sax is still a woodwind instrument, though.

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

Frescoes inside the Brömserhof, the building where Siegfried's Mechanical Musical Instrument Museum is housed.

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 graffiti in France is a reminder of the rock star's international infuence.

Lou Reed’s Papers Have Found a Home

The vicious Velvet Underground frontman will live on at the New York Public Library

“Music is a way of looking at someone in a different way,” says ethnomusicologist Ben Harbert. “You see them as a singer, not a prisoner.”

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

Playing the flute isn't easy even for some humans, but in the 18th century, inventor Jacques de Vaucanson figured out how to make a machine play it.

This Eighteenth-Century Robot Actually Used Breathing to Play the Flute

It was one of a trio of automata that had functions like living creatures

The Original Dixieland Jass Band included cornetist Nick LaRocca, trombonist Eddie Edwards, clarinetist Larry Shields, pianist Henry Ragas, and drummer Tony Sbarbaro.

The First Jazz Recording Was Made by a Group of White Guys?

A century ago, a recording of the startlingly novel "Livery Stable Blues" helped launch a new genre

Interior of Historic RCA Studio B today.

Play Paul Simon's Piano or Croon Into Elvis' Mic at These Seven Historic Recording Studios

Take a tour through Americana music history

Now on display in the museum’s “Musical Crossroads” exhibition, the boombox is a striking symbol of the early years of hip-hop.

The Ballad of the Boombox: What Public Enemy Tells Us About Hip-Hop, Race and Society

Thirty years after Public Enemy's debut album, the group's sonic innovation and powerful activism resonate powerfully today

Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield

The Soprano Who Upended Americans' Racist Stereotypes About Who Could Sing Opera

Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield was in many ways the nation's first black pop star

In the summer of 1946, Holocaust survivors lent their voices to the "Henonville Songs," which psychologist David Boder recorded on this wire spool.

Spool of “Holocaust Songs” Found in Mislabelled Container

The “Henonville Songs” are being heard for the first time in 70 years

Vera Lynn performing a lunchtime concert at a munitions factory in 1941.

WWII Songstress Croons Her Way to Age 100 With a New Album

Dame Vera Lynn "the Forces' Sweetheart" will make the history books with the release

Paul Robeson, photographed by Alfredo Valente in 1940.

Remembering Paul Robeson, Actor, Sportsman and Leader

Among other things, Robeson transformed one of history’s most famous showtunes into a protest song

Synesthesia, or the entangling of the senses, may be much more common than once thought.

One in Five People May Be Able to "Hear" a Flash of Light

Once thought to be a rare condition, some forms of synesthesia may be fairly common

Smithsonian Artifacts and Music Legends Share the Stage in Tonight's Star-Studded Television Program

Notable African-American performing artists commemorate the opening of the National Museum of African American History

Abstract artist Wassily Kandinsky, who may have been a synesthete, once said: "Color is the key. The eye is the hammer. The soul is the piano with its many chords. The artist is the hand that, by touching this or that key, sets the soul vibrating automatically."

Feel the Music—Literally—With Some Help From New Synesthesia Research

How one artist created a show inspired by the neurological experience of synesthesia

Singer-songwriter St. Vincent performs with color guard team Field of View.

A New Documentary Conceived by David Byrne Explores the Wonder of the Color Guard

The dazzling offshoot of the marching band gets its moment in the spotlight

A Sonic Boom drum major dashes across the field.

March to the Joyous, Raucous Beat of the Sonic Boom of the South

College football seasons come and go, but the joyous thunder of Jackson State's iconic marching band rolls on

The word “jazz” was first used in print in California sportswriting around 1912.

This Is the "Jass" Record That Introduced Millions of Americans to a New Kind of Music

The record that introduced millions of Americans to a new kind of music

The song made its debut 205 years ago—in a boat.

Why Do We Play 'Hail to the Chief' for the President?

A Scottish rebel features prominently in the anthem

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