Virtual Gramophone is a multimedia website devoted to the early days of Canadian recorded sound, providing an overview of the 78-rpm era in Canada. The database contains information for 78-rpm and cylinder recordings released in Canada from 1900 to 1950, as well as foreign recordings featuring Canadian artists and/or compositions. Each database record provides information about an original recording, such as its title and performer, relevant dates, and details about the label and disc.
Subscribe to our
RSS feeds, organized by subject. Themes include:
- Holiday and seasonal music
- Featured performers
- Military music
- National and International music
- Classical music
- Children's music
- Dance music
- Comedy and musicals
- Folk music
- Other musical selections
Videos
See the
videos of early sound recording and playing devices: Cremonaphone, Phonograph and Gramophone.
Podcast interview
Listen to this
2014 interview with Gilles Leclerc, Archival Assistant, and Gilles St-Laurent, Head Audio Conservator as they discuss the different aspects of the Recorded Sound Collection and bring to light some incredible stories about maintaining the collection for future generations.
History
Biographies of prominent Canadian performers
The selected 81 biographies of prominent Canadian performers include photographs and reference sources of information.
History of Recorded Sound in Canada
Learn about the early days of
recorded sound with a timeline of events and the essay "Turning Points" a short history of sound recording and record players, from the first "Talking Machine" to digital recording.
History of Canadian Record Companies
Explore the first
Canadian record companies: Berliner Gram-o-phone Company of Canada and the Compo Company Limited.
History of Music in Canada
The
History of Music in Canada section includes articles on the First World War era music in Canada, opera's history in Canada, and the music scene in Quebec from 1915 to 1920.
Resources
Educational resources
Educational resources explore music from Canada's past and gives students the opportunity to use sound recordings from this website.
Internet resources
The
Internet resources page provides an annotated list of external websites dedicated to historic recordings, sound archives, sheet music and related information.
Technical notes
The
Technical notes page describes the process used to digitize the sound recordings on this website.
Bibliography
The
Bibliography page includes some of the main printed reference materials that were used in compiling the information for this website.
Glossary
The
Glossary contains common English and French terms used on the Virtual Gramophone website.
Further information
Reference Services
Library and Archives Canada
550 de la Cité Boulevard
Gatineau, Quebec J8T 0A7
Email:
BAC.reference.LAC@canada.ca
Telephone:
613-996-5115![]( "Call: 613-996-5115")
or
1-866-578-7777![]( "Call: 1-866-578-7777")
(Toll free in Canada)
TTY:
613-992-6969![]( "Call: 613-992-6969")
or
1-866-299-1699![]( "Call: 1-866-299-1699")
(Toll free in Canada)
Fax:
613-995-6274![]( "Call: 613-995-6274")
For copyright or source information on the material featured in this project, click on the link directly below the item.
Before reproducing material and graphical elements from Library and Archives Canada's website, please read the additional copyright information found on the
Terms and Conditions page.
The historical materials on this site reflect the viewpoints of the creators and the times in which they were published, and their inclusion here does not represent an endorsement of the content by Library and Archives Canada.
Dedication
This website is dedicated to
Edward B. Moogk, pioneer Canadian discographer, author of
Roll Back the Years (1975) and the first Head of the Recorded Sound Collection from 1972 to 1979.