The Archive of Recorded Sound's Non-Commercial Disc Collections consist of over 10,000 phonographic disc recordings from a variety of donors, the majority of which are either broadcast transcriptions or instantaneous recordings. None were ever available for sale to the general public, and many are unique.
The Ed Wilkinson Collection consists of classical and opera performance broadcasts of the 1930s and 40s on open reel tape, the majority of which from the Standard Symphony Hour series.
The Alan Farley Collection consists primarily of recordings made for the radio program Book Talk recorded on audio cassette tapes, digital audio tapes and compact discs. Book Talk airs on KALW 91.7 FM in San Francisco, California, though some of the recordings are used for other radio programs Farley hosts on KALW, such as the show Open Air.
Content types:
Spoken word
Formats:
Optical disc (including CD, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD, DVD-R, DVD-RW, VCD), Analog audiocassette, and Digital Audio Tape (DAT)
The KZSU Collection consists of tape recordings of lectures by Stanford faculty on campus from January to May 1968, originally broadcast on student radio station KZSU. While on a variety of topics, contemporary sociological, scientific, and economic issues are prevalent. The lecture series was sponsored by Century 21 realty company. Note cards describing tape speed, playback issues, and sound quality are inserted in each tape box. Some of the multi-part lectures are missing a part. Additional recordings may be added to this collection at a later time.
Since 1989, Riverwalk Jazz: Live At The Landing educates and entertains public radio listeners with a program devoted to celebrating traditional jazz and popular music of the pre-war era, featuring performances from the Jim Cullum Jazz Band and guests. This collection contains copies of all the finished programs, as well as elements, other source material, and files documenting every aspect of the show's production.
Content types:
Performed music, Spoken word, and Text
Formats:
Optical disc (including CD, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD, DVD-R, DVD-RW, VCD), Analog audiocassette, Digital Audio Tape (DAT), Polyester open reel tape, and Text document
Collection of recordings, photographs, sheet music, paper documents, and two films which document every aspect of the career of operatic tenor, Richard Crooks. Audio recordings are largely from the Voice of Firestone radio show, but also include audio cassettes of performances on CBC radio broadcasts.
Content types:
Notated music, Performed music, Still image, and Text
Formats:
Lacquer disc, Analog audiocassette, Polyester open reel tape, Motion picture film, Photographic print, and Text document
The collection contains the files of the various organizational departments of the Ambassador Auditorium, Pasadena, California, as well as audio and video recordings. Recordings of radio broadcasts include tapes of National Public Radio broadcasts, "Performance Today," "JazzSet," "Blues Stage" and also "In Recital at Ambassador," as well as a broadcast from the Ivo Pogorelich Competition.
Content types:
Performed music, Still image, Text, and Two-dimensional moving image
Formats:
Analog audiocassette, Digital Audio Tape (DAT), Polyester open reel tape, VHS (including SVHS and VHS-C), Betamax, U-matic (including U-matic S), Open reel video, Photographic print, and Text document
Historic music and speech recordings, primarily on open reel tape, made on the campus of Stanford University. The collection also includes video formats, one 8 mm film and two audio cassettes.
Content types:
Performed music, Spoken word, and Two-dimensional moving image
Formats:
Optical disc (including CD, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD, DVD-R, DVD-RW, VCD), Polyester open reel tape, VHS (including SVHS and VHS-C), 8mm video (including Hi8), and Open reel video
The Stanford Speech Collection consists of audio recordings on open reel tape of speeches, lectures, and panel discussions at or sponsored by Stanford University from the 1950s through the 70s. Many recordings were produced and edited for broadcast on campus radio station KZSU (especially those tapes from 1969-1971).