Sound and technology
Acoustic discs improved in reach but still rewarded compact, projecting ensembles.
Explore 1910s through technology, music industries, regional scenes and representative recordings—and hear why this decade differs from those around it.
The recording market expanded and early jazz moved through urban entertainment circuits, migration routes and the growing record trade.
Acoustic discs improved in reach but still rewarded compact, projecting ensembles.
Migration connected southern musical practices with northern theatres, clubs and recording centres.
Follow how the same tune changes when it moves between a local ensemble, a stage arrangement and a record.
Musicians followed work and family networks to cities such as Chicago and New York. They brought ensemble practices, blues languages and regional dance music into new clubs, theatres and recording networks, where local musicians reshaped them.
Genre and region are combined; only options with recordings from the 1910s are shown.