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LOC Mixtape: Exploring Musical Primary Sources

Music has been an important form of expression during every phase of U.S. history. From lullabies to work songs, communities and individuals have made music which reflected their cultures, their beliefs, their struggles, and their victories.

TeachRock has created a simple way to think about primary sources connected to music: the Five “M’s” of Music as a Primary Source. Each “M” stands for a different musical area. Let’s explore the Five “M’s” below.

1. Media - Recordings and representations of music (music media) can provide important information about the musicians making the music and even the music making process. The “LOC Mixtape" episodes all use music media in the form of audio recordings. Other musical media include:
   1. Sheet music
   2. Music videos
   3. Handwritten lyric sheets
2. Musicians - Primary sources connected to musicians help us understand the perspectives of music-makers, including:
   1. Autobiographies
   2. Newspaper articles
   3. Personal correspondence
   4. Diaries, journals, or memoirs
3. Materials - The objects that surround music making and musicians — from instruments used in performances to recording contracts —situate music within a specific culture and time. The material culture of music can often provide additional details about musicians, the music that they created, the people with whom they interacted, the processes and policies that impacted their art, and their relationship to the world around them.
   
   Primary Sources connected to music materials include:
   1. Instruments
   2. Documents (e.g., recording contracts; financial documents/ spreadsheets/ reports; royalty statements)
   3. Recording and playback technologies (e.g., a Victrola, Walkman, or Smartphone)
   4. Posters and Advertisements
   5. Attire of musicians
   6. Apparel and merchandise (e.g.,. t-shirts, hats, stickers)
   7. Concert programs
   8. Album covers
   9. Photographs
4. Music-making - Recorded music technologies may make music seem ubiquitous; however, live performances still maintain a magic all their own. Concerts, jam sessions, worship services, rehearsals, and non-musical gatherings are important venues that provide opportunities to analyze not only social and cultural practices, but also the impact of music-making.
   
   Primary sources connected to music-making include:
   1. First-person accounts of a performance (written or recorded)
   1. Accounts from audience members
   2. Accounts from the musicians
   3. Accounts from personnel who produced the show
5. Mapping - Music (like other art forms) features elements of the present and the past. Musical forms such as blues, lullabies, cowboy songs, and gospel were created to reflect the needs of the musicians of the time, while drawing on musical ideas that existed in previous generations. Exploring music connections can take several forms and requires some research to identify and understand the musical linkages. Here are a few sources that can help with an analysis.
   1. Music media - comparing recordings or sheet music
   2. Live performances - analyzing or comparing performances of music
   3. First-person accounts from artists (e.g., pioneering musician Thomas Dorsey, discusses how his knowledge of blues influenced his gospel music compositions)