Take a tour of our virtual museum.
Explore a curated exhibit of equipment and recordings that highlight the changing nature of media technology, and the creative ways people adapted it to a local context.
Equipment
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Boca de ferro
Custom built loud speaker. Mounted on poles or trees outside a venue to announce an upcoming dance. Flashing lights ringed the speaker. Text reads "We’re Here Tonight - Super Classic Alvi Azul.” 1960s.
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Disco de acetato
Label of a 33 rpm record, recorded and pressed in Belem on aluminum acetate, containing the official opening (abertura) and closing (encerramento) for the sound system Alvi Azul. 1970s.
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Microfone
Philips EL6021 microphone used by emcees to make announcements and welcome guests. Circa 1960.
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Projetor de som
Sound projector. Mounted outdoors or on the roof of a venue to promote a dance to passersby. Also used in public address systems, including “vine radio” stations found at outdoor markets. 1950s.
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Válvula
Vacuum tube component found in amplifiers used during the sonoro era. Celebrated for vibrant and warm sound. Began to be replaced with transistors in 1970s.
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Cartucheira
8-track player, used to play magnetic tape cartridges. Capable of playing in a continuous loop. Vaan 8 Stereo PH555. 1970s.
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Gravador de rolo
Reel-to-reel tape player and recorder. Used to record spots, as well as entire albums or musical sequences for use during dances. Akai GX4000D. 1980s.
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Transistor
Motorola transistor, component gradually replaced the vacuum tube in amplifiers in the 1970s, marking the end of the sonoro era.
A selection of vinhetas used by sound systems in Belém during the 1960s, 70s, and 80s. Check back periodically as we add to this section.
Spots and IDs
A “found spot” excerpted from the end of a 1969 LP by the Jorge Autuori Trio. Before magnetic tape became widely available, it wasn’t always cost effective for sonoros to produce their own custom spots. Sebastião Meireles, selector for the sonoro Flamengo, got around this problem by using readymade or found spots like this one. The result was so convincing that some people thought Flamengo had invented a live echo effect.
An excerpt from an “opener” for Alvi Azul, read by an unknown announcer. Digitized from a highly damaged aluminum acetate record produced by local company ERLA in the 1970s. The announcer’s formal diction and register is characteristic of the “respectable” sonoros style, in contrast to the more vernacular style of the aparelhagem period that followed:
The Alvi Azul Company, with the Laboratory of Sound of Amazonia, has the pleasure to introduce the traditional Alvi Azul, a classic sound system with the most modern music in Pará, courtesy of Milton Nascimento, the Mechanical Brain.
This spot, likely produced in the 1980s for the sound system Montreal, captures the ethos of the earlier sonoro era, in contrast to that of the aparelhagens, with their emphasis on size and wattage:
Don’t be taken in by quantity. Pay attention to quality. Montreal.
