Listen to Audio
Streaming via Naxos Music Library
Ball State University Libraries subscribes to an online streaming music service called Naxos Music Library. (You may have to log in if you are off-campus.) The "Resources" section includes opera librettos and other helpful material. Type keywords into the main search box, or choose Advanced Search for better control over results:
Other Audio Streaming Resources
Naxos Music Library is a tremendous resource for classical music streaming, but for genres beyond Western classical music make sure to explore these other online resources. Familiar platforms like Spotify and Pandora can also be useful places to find recordings. Many artists and organizations within classical music additionally have YouTube channels, including several recommended channels listed on the Watch Video page.
- Belfer Cylinders Digital Connection Syracuse University
- Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project University of California-Santa Barbara
- Emile Berliner Collection This collection from the Library of Congress showcases the work of Emile Berliner, a prominent inventor at the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth centuries. The online Berliner Collection includes more than 400 items from the manuscript collection and more than 100 sound recordings available for streaming. Recordings date from 1894 to 1924, placing them among the earliest recorded audio.
- The Global Jukebox (GJB) The Global Jukebox (GJB) is an ever-expanding database hosted by the Association for Cultural Equity which presents traditional folk, indigenous, and popular songs from cultures around the world. It is a space to connect with our deep heritage through the expressive arts of singing, dancing, and conversing. Thousands of examples of the world's music, dance, and other expressive behavior are available in this free, non-commercial, educational space.
- Internet Archive Audio Archive Best known for the Wayback Machine, the Internet Archive is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization determined to build a digital library of Internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form. At the Internet Archive Audio Archive, download or listen to free music and audio, including currently over 15 million files in the public domain ranging from news programming, to Grateful Dead concerts, to Old Time Radio shows, to book and poetry readings, to original music uploaded by our users.
- Library of Congress Digital Collections Library of Congress Digital Collections serves as a portal to the 320 plus digital collections of the Library of Congress, providing links to each collection's home page. The collections include a wide range of materials such as books, collected papers, sheet music, images, and web archives. 62 collections currently include audio recordings available for streaming.
- Live Music Archive A project of the Internet Archive. Mainly uploaded by popular and rock artists to share their music, including over 17 thousand tracks by the Grateful Dead.
- Music Online: The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music Online provides electronic access to the award-winning print resource of the same name. It contains more than 700 articles contributed by experts on the music of the world's peoples and is over 9,000 pages long. The database, which includes all illustrations from the print edition, also includes audio examples of musical performances from around the world.
- The National Jukebox The National Jukebox, a project of the Library of Congress, features over 10 thousand 78rpm disc sides issued by the Victor Talking Machine Company between 1900 and 1925. The public can stream completely free of charge.
- Score Follower New Music Resource Score Follower strives to provide access to contemporary music for all. Through our activities, we also aim to strengthen, diversify, and connect our musical community. Our dedication to others in the field motivates our commitment to procuring legally obtained scores and recordings. By respecting our community and representing our field as well as we can, Score Follower aims to be a new kind of information resource and center for the online community. Find their score videos on YouTube, or visit their website to learn more.
Finding CDs and LPs in OneSearch
OneSearch is the Ball State Libraries' integrated discovery tool for books, articles, recordings, scores, and other library material. It also indexes selected trustworthy online resources and incorporates subscription databases such as Academic Search Complete. On the Libraries' home page, you will see a simple search box:
OneSearch treats all words as keywords, and it treats numbers as keywords, too! You can narrow down your results by using the facets listed to the left of the search results. For compact discs owned by the Ball State Libraries, use the "Library Location" category, and select "Education, Music and Media Counter." For "Content Type," select "Music Recording," Click on "Locations" to find the call number to request selected CDs from the Education, Music and Media counter.
Playback Options for CDs and LPs
All public computers in the University Libraries have CD/DVD players. In addition, you can use standalone CD players in the reading area to the south of the books about music, in the viewing/listening booths to the north of the books about music, and you can checkout equipment from the Education, Music and Media information desk:
USB CD/DVD drive: ER 5501, ER 5502, ER 5503, ER 5506, ER 5507, ER 5508, ER 5509, ER 5511
Apple Super Drive (CD/DVD): ER 5512
Portable USB record player (for LPs): ER 5601
Portable CD player ("boombox") with cassette and radio: ER 4102 and ER 4101
Headphones
Headphone adapters
"Y" adapters (for two listeners to study together)
Interlibrary Loan
Users are encouraged to search for items beyond University Libraries' catalog via RILM Abstracts of Music Literature and WorldCat. Materials not available in print or online may be requested through Interlibrary Loan. Please allow up to seven days for electronic delivery and up to fourteen days for delivery of physical items.