Abstract
Early recordings are complex resources for researchers, whose methodologies extend from contextual, critical and cultural approaches, computational methodologies, practice-led research, to conservation and the various digital transfer issues that occur in the study of early recordings. My longstanding research interest in early recordings focuses on late nineteenth-century performance practice, with a particular emphasis on understanding the role and effect mechanical recording technologies (that is to say, those without an electric signal) have on the recording musician. In this article, I discus the contemporary use of these historical technologies and present the construction and use of a new methodology for early recording research, which is based on the collaboration, creative experimentation, knowledge and experience exchange captured in open dialogue with audiences and other early recording researchers, or what I refer to as a ‘mechanical recording workshop’.