Sound
Discover stories of Aotearoa New Zealand, as told through precious sound recordings in the Archive.
1 to 36 of 56 items
10 October 2024
Sound history researcher Sarah Johnston explores the story of a WWII sound disc, and how it enabled a woman to hear her father’s voice for the first time, 82 years later.
15 September 2023
By sound history researcher Sarah Johnston
17 April 2023
Part one of a two-part blog.
17 October 2022
A famed hotel with a war-era connection for a lucky few Kiwi soldiers.
6 July 2022
Sound history researcher Sarah Johnston examines life onboard the troop ship on which the Broadcasting Unit was travelling during WWII.
10 May 2022
A quick history of New Zealand music charts, from the 1950s to 1990s.
19 April 2022
Recordings made by mobile unit during WWII tell the story of a Kiwi gun operator who fought and was wounded in battle.
18 January 2022
As members of the first New Zealand Broadcasting Service mobile unit sailed towards the war in late August 1940, they began making recordings on-board their ship.
14 December 2021
Memories of ‘Christmases Past’ are found throughout the Sound collection of Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision.
16 November 2021
Radio has played an important role in New Zealand life, bringing us news and entertainment at home, in the car, at work, and at backyard barbecues.
5 April 2021
One of our communications staff had a listen to an Aunt Daisy radio show and attempted to whip up a blancmange based on her 1950 broadcast recipe.
5 January 2021
This post was first published shortly after the passing of David Bowie. We wanted to highlight this fascinating recording
27 October 2020
Ngā Taonga has a regular spot on RNZ’s Afternoons with Jesse Mulligan where we share sound archive recordings.
29 September 2020
Exploring the origins of an important sound recording in which the call of the extinct huia bird is mimicked.
1 September 2020
Two audio recordings capture reflections on the first 100 years of Ōtaki’s iconic Rangiātea Church.
25 August 2020
Celebrating the origins of Māori Language Week and radios involvement in promoting the use of te reo Māori.
18 August 2020
Hone Tuwhare was the people’s poet. He was loved and cherished by New Zealanders from all walks of life.
4 August 2020
After a career in radio and eight years working with archived sound recordings, I still think it is some kind of magic to be able to hear the past.
12 May 2020
As anyone trying to do research will know, flitting from one location to the next to look at bits of archival material can be laborious and time consuming.
14 April 2020
Empty classrooms, parents struggling to home-school and teachers trying to work out ways to deliver feedback to students remotely… it might sound like 2020.
13 January 2020
When I first started to get to know the collections, I was amazed we are able to learn about our histories and listen to the voices of those who are no longer with us.
11 October 2019
Did you know some early audio recordings are stored on paper-based tape? Our sound archivist Grant McBride does and reports on the tricky challenges of preserving them.
5 August 2019
Life doesn’t get much harder than it was in the Ōtaki Gorge at the start of last century. The land was rugged, covered in thick, gullied bush with minimal infrastructure.
1 August 2019
Ngā Taonga is delighted that the 'World War Two New Zealand Mobile Broadcasting Unit Recordings' have been inscribed to the UNESCO Memory of the World.
9 May 2019
The lights go down, on stage guitars ukuleles, banjos and piano accordions. This is Guitar Parade.
8 May 2019
The old recorded version of the song 'Blue Smoke' is held at Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision
7 November 2018
November 11, 1918, army telegraphist George Thomas was one of the first New Zealanders to learn that the war was over.
5 February 2018
Listen to ‘Sesqui’ sound recordings and read about a bishop's powerful speech at the 150th Sesquicentennial.
17 August 2017
New Zealand’s infamous hour of binge-drinking, known as the ‘6 o’clock swill’, finally came to an end 50 years ago this October.
9 February 2017
Alexandra Porter's journey from India to Christchurch, and her Te Reo Māori Experience.
6 February 2017
To mark Waitangi Day we have uploaded some historic radio coverage of our national day to our online collections catalogue.
22 December 2016
This is just one of many Christmas taonga held in the Sound Collection of Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision.
24 August 2016
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision recently acquired an interview recorded in 1938/39 with All Black Trevor Berghan.
29 July 2016
Coverage of Springbok Tour protests in Wellington by RNZ reporters Lindy Fleming and James Weir.
28 July 2016
Listen to archived sound recordings of the 1981 Springbok Tour protests.
