RT Journal Article T1 Capturing the song of the nightingale A1 Iain Logie Baird YR 2015 VO IS Autumn 2015 K1 BBC K1 Beatrice Harrison K1 British Broadcasting Company K1 broadcasting K1 communications K1 magnetophone K1 Nightingale K1 radio K1 wireless AB The first outside broadcast ever made by the British Broadcasting Company from a natural location was the Nightingale broadcast of 19 May 1924, in which the world-famous virtuoso cellist Beatrice Harrison performed a ‘duet’ with nightingales in her garden. The broadcast was made possible by the Marconi-Sykes magnetophone, an improved microphone developed for the early BBC. This paper explores the historical and cultural significance of the Nightingale broadcasts, with a particular emphasis on the emotive aspects, and explains the role of the magnetophone in this context. This paper was inspired by two recent acquisitions by the National Media Museum, two magnetophones donated by the BBC in 2012, and the personal archive of Captain A G D West, the BBC engineer who coordinated the first Nightingale broadcast, donated by his descendants in 2015. PB The Science Museum Group SN 2054-5770 LA eng DO 10.15180/150402 UL https://journal.sciencemuseum.ac.uk/article/song-of-the-nightingale/ WT Science Museum Group Journal OL 30