This project will employ a mixed-method approach including comparative research of historical sources, qualitative research based on interviews, and systematic empirical experiments with original recording technology dating from c.1900. The results of this work will be disseminated using various means, including interactive digital photogrammetry and augmented reality tools, social media initiatives, and traditional academic publications.
This project will address four main research goals:

• The technical developments of early sound technology, focusing on the period between the first phonographs of the 1890s until the emergence of vinyl records in the 1940s.
•  A chronicle of the Swiss phonograph and gramophone industry. Although the influence of the early American recording industry on foreign markets was significant, the centers of innovation and manufacturing in western Switzerland contributed greatly to the global markets.
• The key function that women played in the early recorded music industry. Until the changing social roles of the 1930s and the Great Depression, women were the primary consumers, retailers, and advertising targets of this new technology.
• Hands-on experiments producing new acoustic recordings using original historical equipment, taking contemporaneous descriptions of the recording process into account. This practical research will help to better understand the recording process and determine ideal recording conditions.