A different sort of sound archive...

I stumbled across this while doing other research:

http://blb.biosci.ohio-state.edu/

Sort of a different type of 'ethnomusicology', and an interesting sound archive.

aural outreach: one week @ a time

Check out the British Library's archival sound of the week. What factors do you think come into play when selecting such a sound?

For (c)opyright week...

"The real-space library is a den protected from the metering of the market" Check out Lessig's For the Love of Culture: http://bit.ly/d03BXb

Arrangement, Documentation, Description, & Access

In anticipation of our February 2 (Week 5) class we have posted short list of relevant terms and definitions here.

Submit a paper!

Anyone interested in submitting a paper proposal for this year's Internat'l Association of Sound and Audiovisual Archives (IASA) conference? They're meeting jointly with the Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA) Philadelphia in November. More information is available here.

Laurel

Listen to the cylinder

You can hear your cylinder at the UC SAnta Barbara site.
-John G

itunes 1912

I enjoyed the show and tell from last week so much that when I came across this cylinder record at an antique store in Poulsbo, I bought it. It was only $5 plus 20% off. The actual record is still in the container and labeled correctly. I saw it stashed on a shelf in the back and immediately pointed it out to my friends. They thought I was crazy until I explained to them that it is a cylinder record. Actually they still think I am crazy because I cannot play it but it is fun to have a little piece of history :)

Details about the Final Project

Colleagues - Here are all the details we've discussed in class regarding the project proposal and the project itself -

1) A list of project ideas is available here on the blog and on the class website -
http://faculty.washington.edu/vallier/music512a/

2) John and I are both available to discuss project ideas with you.

3) Project proposals are due next week in class (1/27) - please email your proposal to us AND also bring one paper copy to class. Proposals should be no more than 2 double-spaced typed pages and should summarize the problem or research question you intend to address as well as a description of your planned methodology.

4) You will give a 20-minute presentation on your project in class during week 9 or 10; written papers are due Monday, March 15, 4:00 p.m.

Questions?

See you next week -

Laurel

Final Project Ideas

Music 512 – Winter 2010
Sound Archiving in Ethnomusicology

Final Project Ideas

1) Historical topic –
a. Oral history (significant individual in local audio world)
b. Impact of the change from acoustic to electric recordings on field recording
c. Are there any historical sound recording trends or topics that are being replayed today?

2) Theoretical topic
a. Rationale for ethnographic sound archives in a post-modern context
b. Should the discipline of ethnomusicology be doing more to promote the use and support of archives?
c. Changing expectations of users of sound/multimedia archives (if it’s not there, it doesn’t exist!)
d. What environmental and sustainability issues need to be considered for the future archive, i.e., what does it take to make a green sound archive?
e. Invent a sound archive!
f. Are sound archives prisons or parishes, or something in between?
g. Design a curriculum for a graduate degree program in sound archiving.

3) Archival practice
a. Critique of a real-life archive (organization, practices, policies, use of technology, etc.)
b. The role of sound archives in Native American language revival
c. Design of an archive for an organization (i.e., the “Pink Martini” archive; NW Folklife)
d. Collection assessment (for example, Kearney Barton’s collection).

4) Description/Access
a. Classification systems – Folksonomies (social tagging)
b. Broadcast WAVE format (BWAV) for archival metadata
c. Survey of approaches to audio presentation on archives’ websites (i.e., Southern Folklife Collection, UNC; ILAM; Comhaltas Traditional Music Archive; UCLA: UWEA).

5) Databases
a. Personal music collection software (comparison, evaluation, etc.)
b. Design of a database for a body of recordings (i.e., commercial Chicano pop music of the 1960s; shoebox of recordings you made during your trip to Bali)
c. Critique a database (.e.g. UW Library catalogs): what’s good about it? What’s missing?

6) Documentation
a. Design of a personal/family archival website (interviews, old family recordings, photos, etc.)
b. Design an online portal for an existing or imaginary sound archive.
c. Is the era of the lone ethnomusicologist/field recorder collecting for his/her dissertation over? In other words, should ethnomusicology instead be empowering communities to make their own recordings?

7) Preservation
a. Digital video file formats – why is there no archival standard?
b. Digital audio archiving standards (critique)
c. Comparison of sound editing programs

Welcome to the Sound Archiving Blog

Do you have something to say about the readings, class discussions, or anything else related to the world of sound/media/film/video/multimedia ethnomusicology archives? Can't wait until class to share it? Then post it here!