Recorded mandolin music now in the public domain

[jelhai]

On January 1, tens of thousands of pre-1923 music recordings entered the public domain in the US. A quick search on archive.com shows that at least 108 of them include mandolin players in performance.

Here are the results of the search. All are downloadable.

I did not search for mandola, mandocello, or other related instruments. I'm sure they would add to the total.

[OldSausage]

Is that really how it works?

[Simon DS]

What about abcnotation and Bill Monroe .abc’s?
-I’m waiting patiently.

Also worth noting, any intelligent life form that is within 100 light years of planet Earth will now know what music we are listening to.

[Bren]

I'm playing some of these from the site but not getting any sound.

[keith.rogers]

I'm playing some of these from the site but not getting any sound.

If you click on the song link, on my browser at least, there's a list of file formats on the right for "download" from FLAC to MP3. Just click on the MP3 one and, again, on my [Chrome, Mac OS] browser, it actually opens a player. (There is some delay, and a popup blocker might be causing a problem, or perhaps it's actually downloading a file on your system - check your Downloads folder.)

Right now, I'm listening to Little Honolulu Lou, where I suspect the mandolin is pretending to be a ukulele. (Probably won't add that one to my list, but just browsing all of the libraries, not specific to mandolin, and did find What Color Are Pansies? Woo Woo Woo - that's sure to be a crowd pleaser )

p.s. FWIW and IANAL, copyright is far more complicated than can be conveyed in a post. But, just because a sound recording is public domain does not, itself, mean that the underlying work or, specifically, any [more] modern arrangement or subsequent sound recording is in the public domain.

[Cary Fagan]

It works for me. thanks!

[Simon DS]

The download takes a while and needs more user input, but great, many thanks!

I found this: MEDLEY

A medley of Neapolitan tunes from Paparellos Mandoline Orchestra.
Interesting to hear, the tunes are played fast and are very short and numerous.
It’s as though they are bored with the music until you realise that the 1923 LP is like an advert or appetiser for the orchestra itself.
Or maybe one function of the LP was to help people build a repertoire of their tradition.
I’m not sure where the Orchestra played, locally I mean.