Cassette tape held in hands.

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.
Troops aboard a boat point to the shore

15 September 2023

By sound history researcher Sarah Johnston

17 April 2023

Part two of a two-part blog.
A group of men in heavy coats pose beside a truck in the desert

17 October 2022

A famed hotel with a war-era connection for a lucky few Kiwi soldiers.
Exterior view of Shepheard's Hotel in Cairo

6 July 2022

Sound history researcher Sarah Johnston examines life onboard the troop ship on which the Broadcasting Unit was travelling during WWII.
Shaved man being pushed into water with spectators aboard ship.

10 May 2022

A quick history of New Zealand music charts, from the 1950s to 1990s.
Part of a national sales chart.

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.
Illustration of a WWII battlefield.

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.
A large ship sailing with crew members on board.

14 December 2021

Memories of ‘Christmases Past’ are found throughout the Sound collection of Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision.
A group of men pose in front of a rough stone hut

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.
Basil Clarke records an incoming broadcast while on 'listening watch' in the control room of station 2YA in Wellington, during WWII.

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.
Ingredients for a blancmange - cornflour and milk.

5 January 2021

This post was first published shortly after the passing of David Bowie. We wanted to highlight this fascinating recording
Singer David Bowie is onstage singing into a microphone.

27 October 2020

Ngā Taonga has a regular spot on RNZ’s Afternoons with Jesse Mulligan where we share sound archive recordings.
A woman is standing in front of a microphone wearing headphones. She is smiling. Behind her is a sign that reads ' RNZ'

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.
Interior of church.

25 August 2020

Celebrating the origins of Māori Language Week and radios involvement in promoting the use of te reo Māori.
Te Wiki o te Reo Protest through urban streets

18 August 2020

Hone Tuwhare was the people’s poet. He was loved and cherished by New Zealanders from all walks of life.
Hone Tuwhare playing the guitar.

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.
A man in uniform and a woman are drinking milkshakes.

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.
Musician Chris Knox is pointing one finger at the camera and another at his head. Yellow text reads 'Songs of You and Me Available now on Flying Nun Records in a Really Really Yellow Plastic Case'

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.
A cartoon image of a woman vacuuming while holding a crying baby. Behind her are two other children at a table. A newspaper on a chair has a headline that reads 'School Work, parents' efforts receive praise.'.

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.
Dame Whina in a wheelchair talking to a group.

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.
A paper-based reel-to-reel audio tape.

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.
Group of men in a in car in the Otaki Gorge in 1921.

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.
A staff member places an old record on a player.

9 May 2019

The lights go down, on stage guitars ukuleles, banjos and piano accordions. This is Guitar Parade.
Music Month and the Guitar Parade programme cover.

8 May 2019

The old recorded version of the song 'Blue Smoke' is held at Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision
A record label reads ' National Broadcasting Service'

7 November 2018

November 11, 1918, army telegraphist George Thomas was one of the first New Zealanders to learn that the war was over.
New Zealand gunners at Le Quesnoy.

5 February 2018

Listen to ‘Sesqui’ sound recordings and read about a bishop's powerful speech at the 150th Sesquicentennial.
Marae.

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.
Colour image of happy family.

9 February 2017

Alexandra Porter's journey from India to Christchurch, and her Te Reo Māori Experience.
A line drawing of a Māori carving against a background pattern of water.

6 February 2017

To mark Waitangi Day we have uploaded some historic radio coverage of our national day to our online collections catalogue.
A meeting house is sitting across from the Treaty house in Waitangi. There are several people in the grounds in front of the meeting house.

22 December 2016

This is just one of many Christmas taonga held in the Sound Collection of Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision.
Members of the 28 (Māori) Battalion Eating Christmas Dinner in the desert.

24 August 2016

Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision recently acquired an interview recorded in 1938/39 with All Black Trevor Berghan.
People at Queen's Wharf seeing off the All Blacks, who were onboard the ship, Wanganella.

29 July 2016

Coverage of Springbok Tour protests in Wellington by RNZ reporters Lindy Fleming and James Weir.
Image of woman with head injury.

28 July 2016

Listen to archived sound recordings of the 1981 Springbok Tour protests.
Image of protestors