Muziekweb has a collection of approximately 550 wax/phonograph cylinders, from the period 1902-1925. The collection consists of Dutch and international music, mainly instrumental.
The wax/phonograph cylinder was one of the first sound recording media. They were produced in the years 1877-1930. Consumers were able to buy (pre-recorded) cylinders with music, but also 'blank' cylinders, so that they could make their own recordings at home. Wax/phonograph cylinders were played on a phonograph. Musicweb also has some of these in-house. Wax/phonograph cylinders appeared in different types, with different playing time (two or four minutes) and in different colors (also depending on the manufacturer.) Not every player was suitable for each phonograph cylinder. The name 'wax cylinder' is in a sense misleading because not every cylinder was actually made of wax.
The collection of wax/phonograph cylinders can be listened to via Muziekweb. This is thanks to the UCSB Cylinder Archive, of which most of the digitized recordings originate. This archive is part of the library of the University of California, Santa Barbara, which has a very large collection of wax/phonograph cylinders.
UCSB Cylinder Audio Archive
Digitization and restoration of other cylinders: Tim de Wolf, Bureau voor Audio Archeologie, Soest.
