Lisa Gitelman and David Suisman explore the ways that there were "interpretive flexibilities" around the phonograph and player piano that makes it necessary to examine how it was received.
Compare either Gitelman's or Suisman's argument with the descriptions of the world impacted by mechanical reproduction of sound in Bellamy or Sousa.
What are Bellamy's and Sousa's hopes and fears about the impact of this invention on everyday life? What are the powers that are ascribed to sound (whether performed live or mechanically?)
How do these two documents (one science fiction, the other congressional testimony) tell us about how music was conceived at this time?