The US Library of Congress has made recordings spanning 100 years available to sample for free

Diggers delight! The US Library of Congress has made recordings from its archive available to sample for free.

The national library of the USA has started Citizen DJ, which will allow producers and musicians access to recordings that date back as far as 100 years.

MusicTech reports that the recordings include soundtracks, public service announcements, classical recordings and spoken word, as well as tracks from the Free Music Archive, another source of royalty-free music.

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Users can try out samples on Citizen DJ's sequencer and even add classic drum machines. When you've found a sample you like, you can download it singularly or as part of a larger sample pack.

The project is the work of Brian Foo, the library's Innovator In Residence. Foo was inspired by the sample use in the golden age of hip hop production and hopes that by allowing these recordings to be accessed for free, producers and musicians will "invent new sounds, and connect listeners to materials, cultures and sonic history that might otherwise be hidden from public ears."

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