Archival Sound Recordings

Subject: Archival Ethnographic Wax Cylinder Recordings
From: Jack Blandiver
Date: 13 Feb 09 - 04:06 PM

And I quote:

Listen to over 200 rare wax cylinder recordings from the World and Traditional Music collections of the British Library Sound Archive. The selection features music, songs and speech from around the world, captured on the first portable recording machines between 1898 and 1915.

That's my weekend listening sorted.

http://sounds.bl.uk/Browse.aspx?collection=Ethnographic-wax-cylinders

Subject: RE: Archival Sound Recordings
From: Will Fly
Date: 13 Feb 09 - 04:22 PM

I was listening to the Lancashire dialects at lunchtime on Thursday. There was an old lady from Harwood who just reminded me of my grandmother. Check out the Fleetwood recording. Fascinating stuff. Oh - and there's a pretty grumpy old farm labourer in Suffolk who really took some persuading to speak at all.

Subject: RE: Archival Sound Recordings
From: Will Fly
Date: 13 Feb 09 - 04:26 PM

There's a sort of Ian Sinclair musical psychogeography at work here somewhere. I received my box set of Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music on Thursday morning - which led me to check out both the British Library's Sound Archive for comparison. Followed by a visit to the Smithsonian web site - where I heard some dizzy guitar playing by Richard Fontenot - Merle Travis on Ecstasy - and now here I am watching Howling wolf at Newport while you're posting about the Sound Archive...

Subject: RE: Archival Sound Recordings
From: Sleepy Rosie
Date: 13 Feb 09 - 05:41 PM

Wow, the union and counterpointing between the vitality of the origonally recorded piece, and the frailty of the communicating medium is strikingly affecting.