Wax cylinders.
This wax cylinder recording of 'Cradle Song Medley' dates from around 1909.
It was recorded by 'the Strathspey King', James Scott Skinner, one of Scotland's most famous fiddle players. His music exemplifies the music traditions of the North-East of Scotland.
First developed in the 1870s, wax cylinders are the earliest commercial medium for recording and reproducing sound. The development of mass-production techniques enabled cylinder recordings to become a major consumer item and the cylinder was the main commercial format from the late 1880s until the 1910s.
Donated by Bill Dean-Myatt in 2008 and 2019.
