Music & Musical Instruments

The Museum's music collections contain more than 5,000 instruments of American and European heritage. These include a quartet of 18th-century Stradivari stringed instruments, Tito Puente's autographed timbales, and the Yellow Cloud guitar that belonged to Prince, to name only a few. Music collections also include jukeboxes and synthesizers, square-dancing outfits and sheet music, archival materials, oral histories, and recordings of performances at the museum. The vast Sam DeVincent Collection of Illustrated Sheet Music is a remarkable window into the American past in words, music, and visual imagery. The Duke Ellington and Ruth Ellington Boatwright collections contain handwritten music compositions, sound recordings, business records, and other materials documenting the career of this renowned musician. In various ways, our collections find expression in performances of the Smithsonian Chamber Players, the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, and in other public programs.

This Church Bass was made by Ben and T. C. Barton in Demorestville, Ontario, Canada, in 1849. It has a medium grained spruce top, non-flamed maple back and ribs, spruce interior blocks and linings, and a medium brown varnish over a yellow ground.
Description (Brief)

This Church Bass was made by Ben and T. C. Barton in Demorestville, Ontario, Canada, in 1849. It has a medium grained spruce top, non-flamed maple back and ribs, spruce interior blocks and linings, and a medium brown varnish over a yellow ground. The maple neck is adorned with a figured head scroll of a man with a beard with a square hole at the top of the head. There is primitively carved filigree along the edges of the back. This instrument has an original label on the inside:

Ben [ ] T.C. Barton
DEMORESTVILLE
CANADA [ ]
January 8th 1849

Demorestville is an area directly north of Lake Erie in an area now called Picton. The back length of this cello is almost 32 inches which is about 2.5 inches longer than a traditional 4/4 size cello. This instrument, in dimension, is along the lines of the famous New England "church basses" made by Abraham Prescott in New Hampshire in the 1830s. It would not be surprising if this instrument made by the Bartons was directly inspired by these Prescott church basses.

This instrument was used by American jazz double bassist Ronald Levin Carter (born May 4, 1937). Carter, a multiple Grammy award winner, with over 2,200 recording sessions, is one of the most-recorded jazz bass players in history. Carter is also a cellist and has played this church bass on several recordings, as it is similar in size and range to a cello.

The modern term for this instrument is church bass. During the late 18th and early 19th centuries, this instrument was also known as the American bass viol, New England bass viol, or Yankee bass viol. These church basses were used in churches and meeting houses to provide a bass line for maintaining a consistent key by New England congregational singers. The church bass was also used by popular singing groups such as the Hutchinson Family singers.

Location
Currently not on view
date made
1849
user
Carter, Ron
ID Number
2012.0218.01
accession number
2012.0218
catalog number
2012.0218.01
side 1: Benny Goodman Quartet. S'Wonderful; side 2: Benny Goodman Trio. I Must Have That Man (Victor 26090).78 rpm.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
side 1: Benny Goodman Quartet. S'Wonderful; side 2: Benny Goodman Trio. I Must Have That Man (Victor 26090).
78 rpm.
Location
Currently not on view
recording date
1938
recording artist
Benny Goodman Quartet
Benny Goodman Trio
manufacturer
Victor
ID Number
1988.0698.1092
catalog number
1988.0698.1092
accession number
1988.0698
collector/donor number
G63
maker number
26090
side 1: Benny Goodman Trio. I Know That You Know; side 2: Benny Goodman Quintet. I Cried for You (Victor 26139).78 rpm.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
side 1: Benny Goodman Trio. I Know That You Know; side 2: Benny Goodman Quintet. I Cried for You (Victor 26139).
78 rpm.
Location
Currently not on view
recording date
1938
recording artist
Benny Goodman Trio
Benny Goodman Quintet
manufacturer
Victor
ID Number
1988.0698.1100
catalog number
1988.0698.1100
accession number
1988.0698
collector/donor number
G71
maker number
26139
This sheet music is for the song “Casey Jones: The Brave Engineer.” The lyrics were written by T. Lawrence Seibert and Eddie Newton composed the music. The song was published by A. Cox and Co. of Toronto, Canada in 1909.
Description
This sheet music is for the song “Casey Jones: The Brave Engineer.” The lyrics were written by T. Lawrence Seibert and Eddie Newton composed the music. The song was published by A. Cox and Co. of Toronto, Canada in 1909. The cover features an image of a locomotive coming towards the reader, with photos of Seibert and Newton in the train engine’s windows. The song, also known as the Ballad of Casey Jones, was written to commemorate engineer Jones giving up his life to slow down his train enough to prevent a more disastrous crash with a train that was stopped on the tracks.
Location
Currently not on view
publishing date
1909
lyricist
Seibert, T. Lawrence
composer
Newton, Eddie
publisher
A. Cox and Company
ID Number
1982.0736.08
accession number
1982.0736
catalog number
1982.0736.08
Benny Goodman and his Orchestra. side 1: Loch Lomond; side 2: Camel Hop (Victor 25717).78 rpm.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Benny Goodman and his Orchestra. side 1: Loch Lomond; side 2: Camel Hop (Victor 25717).
78 rpm.
Location
Currently not on view
recording date
1937
recording artist
Benny Goodman and his Orchestra
manufacturer
Victor
ID Number
1988.0698.1070
catalog number
1988.0698.1070
accession number
1988.0698
collector/donor number
G41
maker number
25717
Benny Goodman Quartet. side 1: Sweet Georgia Brown; side 2: Opus 1/2 (Victor 26091).78 rpm.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Benny Goodman Quartet. side 1: Sweet Georgia Brown; side 2: Opus 1/2 (Victor 26091).
78 rpm.
Location
Currently not on view
recording date
1938
recording artist
Benny Goodman Quartet
manufacturer
Victor
ID Number
1988.0698.1106
catalog number
1988.0698.1106
accession number
1988.0698
collector/donor number
G77
maker number
26091
This cymbal was made by Sabian Company in Meductic, New Brunswick, Canada, in 1990. It is an Extra Thin Crash Cymbal, made of brass, with a bamboo handle attached with a cord in the center of the cymbal. This cymbal was hand-hammered.
Description (Brief)

This cymbal was made by Sabian Company in Meductic, New Brunswick, Canada, in 1990. It is an Extra Thin Crash Cymbal, made of brass, with a bamboo handle attached with a cord in the center of the cymbal. This cymbal was hand-hammered. It is marked:

EXTRA THIN
CRASH
SABIAN
HH
43CM 17”
SIGNATURE
SABIAN
HI

Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1990
maker
Sabian Co.
ID Number
2000.0075.02
accession number
2000.0075
catalog number
2000.0075.02
Benny Goodman and his Orchestra. side 1: Make Believe; side 2: The Blue Room (Victor 26088).78 rpm.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Benny Goodman and his Orchestra. side 1: Make Believe; side 2: The Blue Room (Victor 26088).
78 rpm.
Location
Currently not on view
recording date
1938
recording artist
Benny Goodman and his Orchestra
manufacturer
Victor
ID Number
1988.0698.1073
catalog number
1988.0698.1073
accession number
1988.0698
collector/donor number
G44
maker number
26088
Benny Goodman Quartet. side 1: Runnin' Wild; side 2: Tea for Two (Victor 25529).78 rpm.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Benny Goodman Quartet. side 1: Runnin' Wild; side 2: Tea for Two (Victor 25529).
78 rpm.
Location
Currently not on view
recording date
1937
recording artist
Benny Goodman Quartet
manufacturer
Victor
ID Number
1988.0698.1101
catalog number
1988.0698.1101
accession number
1988.0698
collector/donor number
G72
maker number
25529
Jerry Bird and The String Dusters. side 1: Hawaiian Sunset; side 2: Wang Wang Blues (Mercury 70519).78 rpm.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Jerry Bird and The String Dusters. side 1: Hawaiian Sunset; side 2: Wang Wang Blues (Mercury 70519).
78 rpm.
Location
Currently not on view
release date
1955
recording artist
Bird, Jerry
String Dusters
manufacturer
Mercury
ID Number
1996.0320.11657
collector/donor number
10973
maker number
70519
accession number
1996.0320
catalog number
1996.0320.11657
"Little" Jimmy Dickens. side 1: Barefooted Little Cowboy; side 2: No Place Like Home on Christmas (Columbia C-2296).78 rpm.Currently not on view
Description
"Little" Jimmy Dickens. side 1: Barefooted Little Cowboy; side 2: No Place Like Home on Christmas (Columbia C-2296).
78 rpm.
Location
Currently not on view
recording date
1953
recording artist
Dickens, "Little" Jimmy
manufacturer
Columbia
ID Number
1996.0320.15431
collector/donor number
10036
maker number
C-2296
accession number
1996.0320
catalog number
1996.0320.15431
Benny Goodman and his Orchestra. side 1: Walk, Jennie, Walk; side 2: Always (Bluebird B-10799).78 rpm. Side 1 was originally recorded in 1936 and released on Victor 25329. Side 2 was originally recorded in 1935 and released on Victor 25024.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Benny Goodman and his Orchestra. side 1: Walk, Jennie, Walk; side 2: Always (Bluebird B-10799).
78 rpm. Side 1 was originally recorded in 1936 and released on Victor 25329. Side 2 was originally recorded in 1935 and released on Victor 25024.
Location
Currently not on view
recording date
1936
1937
recording artist
Benny Goodman and his Orchestra
manufacturer
Bluebird
ID Number
1988.0698.1055
catalog number
1988.0698.1055
accession number
1988.0698
collector/donor number
G27
maker number
B-10799

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