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Sound Beat is a daily, 90 second show highlighting the holdings of the Belfer Audio Archive. The Belfer is part of the Syracuse University Library, and with over half a million recordings, is one of the largest sound archives in the United States. Each SB episode focuses on one particular recordin…

Syracuse University Library


    • May 2, 2022 LATEST EPISODE
    • monthly NEW EPISODES
    • 1m AVG DURATION
    • 543 EPISODES


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    Latest episodes from Sound Beat

    New York Blues

    Play Episode Listen Later May 2, 2022 1:30


    Christian Friedrich Ludwig Buschmann was, perhaps, one of music's great inventors…and, probably, one of 19th-century Germany's worst neighbors.

    That’s Stovepipe No. 1, If You Please

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 27, 2022 1:30


    Feel Like Going to Town?

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 19, 2022 1:30


    The Harlem Hamfats...born at the wrong time.

    12th Street Rag

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 12, 2022


    Few today recognize the name Euday Bowman, yet during ragtime's heyday Bowman's 12th Street Rag was one of the most well-known tunes around.

    Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop!

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 8, 2022 1:30


    You're listening to Lionel Hampton and his Orchestra with Herbie Fields on sax.

    The Colonel Bogey March

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 1, 2022 1:30


    One of the most famous, and best-selling, marches of all time.

    Il Miserere

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 23, 2022


    Giuseppe Verdi: revered by music lovers, his countrymen and...the bearding community.

    I Could Cry

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 10, 2022


    You're listening to Jim Reeves with I Could Cry, an Abbott 45 from 1953, and…   Gentleman Jim Reeves had 51 top ten hits in a career cut short when a small plane he was piloting crashed in 1964. For your next Morbid Trivia Night: He was taught by the same man who taught Randy Hughes, Patsy Cline's pilot, who of course had met the same fate a year earlier. But Reeves' records kept on coming. RCA Victor continued releasing unpublished songs, mixed with previously released tracks, and people kept buying them. Of those 51 top ten hits we mentioned, 19 came posthumously. And there was a Jim Reeves single on the charts every year from 1970 to 1984, nearly 2 decades after his death.

    Harry Wills the Champion

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 7, 2022


    "Harry though they drew the color line, you're a champion just the same."

    Beethoven vs. Napoleon

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 4, 2022 1:30


    Beethoven initially considered Napoleon a kindred spirit; indeed, they were more or less the same age, grew up in modest households, and neither had to stoop to pass through doorways.

    Keep Your Options Open

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 3, 2022


    No matter what your line of work..it's always good to have a back-up plan. Just ask James "Kokomo" Arnold.

    Swan Song Surprise

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 2, 2022


    You're listening to Julius Larosa with 1955's “Let's Stay Home Tonight” and…

    Wreck of the Old ’97

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 22, 2022


    Vernon Dalhart, one of the founding fathers of country music, got his start in...New York City opera halls?

    Cash For Your Trash

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 18, 2022


    The original hipster.

    The See See Rider Blues Girl

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 15, 2022


    How do you know when you've pretty much nailed a song? Earning a nickname from it is usually a good indication

    Love, Here Is My Heart…Right Here, On My Sleeve

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 14, 2022 1:30


    You're listening to “Love, Here is My Heart” sung by Reed Miller and…

    Mairzy Doats

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 11, 2022


    What do mares and does have in common?

    Love and Marriage

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 10, 2022


    It's ironic that celebrity marriages command such attention, when all seem to be made up of the same three key ingredients: Glitz, glamour and short life spans.

    A Capitol Idea

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 9, 2022 1:30


    You're listening to “I Found A New Baby”, recorded in 1942, and…

    The Lost Chord

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 7, 2022 1:30


    Arthur Sullivan was one of Britain's most important composers, one half of a little theatrical team known as Gilbert and Sullivan.

    The Legend of Wyatt Earp

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 3, 2022 1:30


    Famed lawman Wyatt Earp has been the subject of nearly a dozen movies, but his role as on-set advisor for westerns would have a major impact on film history.

    Danza Number 5!

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 31, 2022 1:30


    You're listening to Johannes Brahms and the Banda de Estado Mayor de Mexico. That's right, a Hungarian danza by a Mexican banda. You're on the Sound Beat. Brahms composed 21 danzas, basing them on Hungarian folk themes. Mostly…in fact, he thought this one, number 5, was based on a folk song, but that song turned out it to be an original composition by Béla Kéler. You may have heard it in the Charlie Chaplin film “The Great Dictator”, in which Chaplin shaves a man to the tune. Brahms himself was cleanshaven until his mid-30's. And, by the way, described as “Herculean”. Though A late-comer to the no-shave game, he ended up with a magnificent specimen towards the end.  

    Ozymandias

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 10, 2021


    John Gielgud reads Ozymandias, from Columbia's 1939 “Voices of Poetry” collection.

    My Hawaiian Evening Star

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 9, 2021


      Instrumentation in the past century of recorded music has been dominated by guitars, drums, horns, and, more recently, keyboards and synthesizers. But some instruments have left their unique mark on the recording industry, distinguishing songs from the rest of the pack and in some cases, establishing inextricable connections between the ear and the mind. For example, what does this song remind you of? Palm trees swaying in the breeze? Pristine waters, hula dancers, etc? That's all thanks to the Hawaiian steel guitar. You're listening to the Waikiki Hawaiian Orchestra with My Hawaiian Evenin' Star, an Edison Blue Amberol cylinder released in 1926. The easy, breezy sound translated into a big hit for Santo and Johnny Farina with their 1959 hit “Sleep Walk”, probably one of the most popular instrumental pop songs of all time. Curiosity piqued? Check out more on the Hawaiian steel.   Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/people/junnn/  

    Calling Most Birds!

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 8, 2021 1:30


    Explaining The Blues

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 7, 2021


    Who better to explain the blues than the woman who named them?

    Astronaut Insurance

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 6, 2021


    What's an aeronautical adventurer got to do to get some coverage?

    Pistol Packin’ Mama

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 30, 2021


      The pioneers of Country music just sound Country, even by their first names. (Roy, Hank, Gene). Which is why Clarence Albert Pointdexter simply had to go. So how do you get from Clarence to country? Some call Dexter the father of honky tonk music, which can be a bit confusing without musical accompaniment. You see, there's blues piano honky-tonk, a rollicking bridge between ragtime and boogie-woogie. But as you can hear, this is the other honky-tonk…another bridge, from Western Swing to what we now call “Country”. (Pencil scribble effects courtesy of mckinneysounds via http://www.freesfx.co.uk/sfx/scribbles)

    Peter and the Wolf

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 29, 2021


    In 1936 Natalya Sats commissioned Sergei Prokofiev to compose a piece for Moscow's Central Children's Theatre. The goal: to introduce children to the principals of the symphony. Somewhat ironically, the Orchestra went unnamed in this 1938, 3-disc RCA Victor recording. And while the initial reaction was lukewarm, Peter and the Wolf has introduced generations of youngsters, and probably some oldsters, to the various instruments of the symphony. More than one critic has viewed the piece as allegory for Soviet and world politics of the time. After all, it can't be a mistake that the greatest Russian folk hero is…Peter the Great. For a reading of the Wolf as the Nazi threat, click through!

    Young Blue Eyes

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 19, 2021


    It's funny to think it, but even Ol' Blue Eyes had a first hit.

    Cinderell-y Man

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 18, 2021


    As far as boxing names go, there are lots of “Sugar Rays”, plenty of “Golden Boys”…but only one Cinderella Man.

    Swingmatism

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 17, 2021


    Jay McShann gave birth to the “Kansas City Sound”, but this song has gone down in history as a beginning of another sort.

    Dark Was the Night…

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 16, 2021 1:30


    ...cold was the ground.

    You Are My Sunshine

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 11, 2021


    Jimmie Davis is regularly credited as creator of the classic “You Are My Sunshine”, heard here from 1941. But…if that's true, then how did the Rice Brothers record it in 1939?

    All She Wants to do is Rock

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 6, 2021


    Who says bluesmen aren't poets? "Mr. Blues" himself with a nod to an early 20th century British modernist poet. And, a fair bit of double entendre.

    The Foggy, Foggy Dew

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 4, 2021


    Those young drifters; Seems they'd use anything to get a fair maiden to their bed.

    Love In The Stacks

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 3, 2021


    Casanova: rakish seducteur, suave, dashing… librarian?

    The Battle on the Ice

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 26, 2021


    The film Aleksandr Nevsky is a recounting of a 13th century prince's rise to national hero-dom. But parallels to the storyline echoed through the USSR in the 1930's.

    The Fisk University Jubilee Singers

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 20, 2021 1:30


    You're listening to the Jubilee Singers of Fisk University sing Peter on the Sea, from 1927,

    Bedtime At The Zoo

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 18, 2021


    A glimpse into…the zoo: after hours.

    Ding-Dong!

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 15, 2021


    Wicked author Gregory Maguire did much to elicit sympathy for the Wicked Witch of the West.

    The Coffee Cantata

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 7, 2021 1:30


    Two keys to any good marriage: understanding and coffee.

    Beautiful Texas

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 5, 2021


    Not all press is good press.

    The Human Bird

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 1, 2021


    You're listening to The Human Bird, Joe Belmont, with Byron Harlan.

    Hunting Wolves

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 30, 2021


    “The Hunting Wolves”, an Edison cylinder recording made by Ernest Thompson Seton in 1920.

    The Old Man of the Mountain

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 24, 2021


    “Born” about 20,000 BC and “died” May 2, 2003. Well, he had a good run.

    Sitting On Top Of The World

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 21, 2021 1:30


    GRATEFUL ROOTS: Sittin' On Top of the World

    Somewhere Beyond La Mer

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 17, 2021 1:32


    A man as prolific as Charles Trenet (850 songs published over a 60 year career) probably doesn't rest much, even on the train.

    If a Table at Rector’s Could Talk

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 10, 2021 1:30


    There's "hungry" and then there's "Diamond Jim Brady hungry".

    If a Table at Rector's Could Talk

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 10, 2021 1:30


    There's "hungry" and then there's "Diamond Jim Brady hungry".

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