EMS has a unique collection of CDs, DVDs, and books on electroacoustic music and sound art. It is searchable in the Music- and Theatre Library catalogue. To view results only from EMS, search, and then select Elektronmusikstudion EMS under Collection.
If you want to request a book or CD/DVD, please contact the librarian. The library and archives are available for research by appointment.
The library
The library collection includes books and periodicals on electroacoustic music, sound art, text-sound, concrete poetry, computer music and sound synthesis, soundscape and acoustic ecology, contemporary music, audio technology, acoustics etc. We also have hundreds of electroacoustic music and sound art CDs as well as the IDEAMA archives, an international documentation of electroacoustic music covering 1929-1971, searchable in a database with audio files.
The tape archives
EMS's tape archives contain thousands of recordings of music and sound art created at EMS and other studios. In collaboration with KB/AVM (the department of audiovisual media at Kungliga Biblioteket, the National Library of Sweden), EMS runs a digitisation project aiming to make all recordings available to the public. There are already a few items available in the Swedish Media Database, and it is possible to listen to the sound files at Kungliga Biblioteket/AVM.
There is also a searchable database with sound files available at EMS, and in addition, one can search EMS's tape archives in the DISMARC portal, although it is not possible to listen to the recordings online.
The document archives
The document archives contain source material about EMS and Swedish electroacoustic music, such as correspondence, technical documentation, administrative documents, programme notes and photographs. Some older documents have been digitised. The archives have been donated to Musik- och teaterbiblioteket (The Music and Theatre Library of Sweden), and an inventory is available.
If you want more information on EMS' and related archives, the article Electronic Music Archives in the National Collections of Music, Theatre and Dance is a good place to start.
EMS's librarian also maintains a list of Swedish record labels for electronic and experimental music, a list of online tutorials, and a meta-bibliography.