Sound Directions: Project Documentation

Administrative

Appendix E: Project Collections

Archives of Traditional Music

Selection Process
To begin building the Cultures in Conflict Digital Archive, the ATM engaged in a selection process that deeply examined both the research value and preservation condition of many of its field collections. Our holdings are so large that a thoughtful prioritization process is necessary. We also recognize that preservation work is expensive, and that digitization of every recording is not only financially impossible but intellectually unwise, so we endeavored to select those collections that contain critically important cultural documentation residing on at-risk carriers. To do this we developed a points-based ranking system that evaluated the research value of any given field collection along with a separate points-based ranking tool that assessed its preservation condition and level of risk. These two scales carried equal weight, and the rankings were then combined to provide an overall score that enabled us to rank ATM collections for both research value and preservation condition.

Research Value
The CCDA will focus on cultural practices that have been threatened or abolished as a result of conflict. Accordingly, our criteria for evaluating the research value and intellectual merit of field collections were couched in terms of conflict. Specifically, we assessed whether a collection:

documented a cultural practice or language that has been lost or endangered as a result of conflict;
documented a cultural practice that is, or has been, systematically oppressed;
included expressive culture that was directly related to a particular conflict;
was tied to a particular event or period before, during or after conflict;
documented traditions, practices or a language that have changed significantly as a result of conflict;
represented cultural practices undergoing active revival;
provided particularly deep or wide documentation of any tradition(s) related to the above criteria.

Points were awarded in each category using a weighted scale so that a collection would receive more than five points only in exceptional circumstances. A collection's total score then placed it in one of the following categories:

5 points: The collection has exceptional research value as judged by the above criteria
4 points: Solid research value
3 points: Moderate research value
2 points: Minor research value
1 point: Minimal or no research value

As a further check on this process, and to reach additional collections that we have not yet been able to rank (see below), ATM Archivist Marilyn Graf, with thirty years of institutional memory, reviewed the results and made additional recommendations on the rankings of particular collections. A list of collections chosen for this project is below. All collections in this list received at least four points in our research value ranking system.

Preservation Condition
All sound recordings deteriorate over time. Sound archivists, using available research and practical experience, have targeted several formats as particularly unstable and in need of preservation treatment. The International Association of Sound Archives, in its document The Safeguarding of the Audio Heritage: Ethics, Principles and Preservation Strategy, states that cylinders, lacquer discs, acetate open reel tapes, all long/double/triple play open reel tapes, cassette tapes and any carrier showing actual signs of decay "can be considered to be inherently unstable and should, therefore, be copied." Using information such as this, along with years of practical experience, the ATM's Coordinator of Recording Services developed a tool for ranking field collections for the level of risk they carry or the deterioration they exhibit. Points were assigned to formats depending on the level of perceived risk of the format itself, with more points assigned to particularly unstable formats such as lacquer discs, for example. Additional points were added for characteristics within a format that added to risk so that a 1 mil acetate tape, for example, received points for its acetate base as well as 1 mil thickness. Further points were added for documented problems such as lacquer disc plasticizer migration, severe tape pack problems, the presence of fungus, etc. Finally, points were taken away in varying quantities if the ATM had copies of the recording, depending on the quality and perceived risk of the copy.

5 points: The collection is in very poor shape or is rapidly deteriorating, has extensive damage and/or significant deteriorative forces at work. It is at serious risk and requires attention soon;
4-4.9 points: deteriorating or poor shape and is at moderate to severe risk;
3-3.9 points: decent shape but is at some risk;
2-2.9 points: good shape but there is a small risk to it at the present time;
0-1.9 points: very good shape and there is little or no risk to it at the present time.

Here is another way in which we interpret and understand this scale:

4-5 points = danger zone
2.5-3.99 points = caution zone
0-2.4 points = no worry zone

All collections selected for this project fall into the danger zone or the upper reaches of the caution zone.

To prepare for this ranking process, the ATM completed a preservation survey of its open reel tape collection in 2002-2003. Staff visually inspected the tapes, collecting information on over 20 characteristics that lend themselves to visual inspection, entering the results into a relational database. Additional visual inspection of disc collections was completed for all collections that ranked highly for research value.

Although selection for this project is complete, the process of evaluating and ranking ATM field collections for additional projects is on-going. We were able to evaluate every collection that seemed a likely candidate for the CCDA. But, given the size of the ATM's holdings (over 2,000 field collections,) there are additional collections that await our attention in years to come.

ATM Collections Selected for Sound Directions

Our selection process yielded a list of collections that contain critically important cultural documentation residing on at-risk carriers. As part of this process we also produced a five page paper that examined in detail the value and condition of the twelve top-ranked collections, along with their relationships to cultures in conflict. A summary of this paper appears below.

Disc Collections

Collection Description: Iraqi Jews in Israel, ca. 1945
Collector: Sophie Eisenberg
ATM Accession #: 54-199-F
Format: 35 non-standard homemade aluminum discs
Condition: Fragile, non-standard discs with fungal growth. Our only copies are 40 years old.

Significance: Documentation of Jewish musicians exiled from their homes in Iraq in the 1940s and 50s. Tens of thousands of Iraqi Jews fled to Iran and Israel during this time period to escape persecution.

Collection Description: US: North and South Carolina, Georgia, African Americans, 1920-1940
Collector: Lawrence Gellert
ATM Accession #: 82-406-F
Format: 221 aluminum and lacquer discs
Condition: These formats are inherently unstable. Open reel copies are experiencing sticky-shed syndrome.

Significance: Gellert was accepted as an insider in the African American communities in which he worked and was able to record protest songs that eluded other collectors of the time. A few recordings have been commercially issued but most remain unpublished.

Collection Description: Ethiopia, Falashas, ca. 1945
Collector: Wolf Leslau
ATM Accession #: 54-214-F
Format: 2 lacquer discs
Condition: The discs showing signs of plasticizer migration and are rapidly deteriorating. Our best open reel copy is experiencing sticky-shed syndrome.

Significance: The Falasha are an Ethiopian Jewish community numbering between 25,000 and 50,000 persons. The situation in Ethiopia has grown hostile to Falasha traditions, their schools and synagogues having been closed. This collection of Falasha material was made prior to several severe cultural disruptions during the 1980s:

Open Reel Tape Collections

Collection Description: Afghanistan, Kashmir and Pakistan, 1961-1963
Collector: Louis Dupree
ATM Accession #: 63-043-F
Format: 67 open reels.
Condition: The only copies of this collection are 40 years old.

Significance: Afghanistan's traditional musical culture has experienced considerable hardship since Louis Dupree recorded these collections. Music was subject to severe censorship under communist rule and further prohibition by the Taliban, eventually manifesting in the public burning of musical instruments. Dupree recorded portions of this collection during moments of intense conflict.

Collection Description: Afghanistan, Iran, and Turkey, 1956-1957
Collector: Jean-Claude Lubtchansky
ATM Accession #: 58-022-F
Format: 115 open reels
Condition: Tapes are 1.0 mil, acetate-based which is an unstable combination. The only copies are 45 years old.

Significance: This is a wide-ranging collection recorded in a conflict-ridden region prior to recent warfare, the Iranian Revolution, and other events that have had a profound impact on social and cultural life. Groups represented include the Hazaras, Uzbeks, Pashtuns, Tajiks, and Kurds.

Collection Description: Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi, 1951-1952
Collector: Alan Merriam
ATM Accession #: 66-127-F
Format: 76 open reels
Condition: This collection is carried on acetate-based tapes exhibiting many tape pack problems. Existing copies were produced long ago under unreliable conditions.

Significance: Alan Merriam is widely considered to be one of the most important scholars in the history of ethnomusicology. This collection, recorded in what was then the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi, involves a large number of ethnic groups and genres including political and war songs.

Collection Description: Australia, Northern Territory, Arnhem Land, Aborigines, 1952-1953
ATM Accession #: 67-032-F
Collector: Richard Waterman
Format: 53 open reels.
Condition: This collection is carried on acetate-based tapes exhibiting many tape pack problems. Existing copies are over 30 years old.

Significance: Waterman's collection of Australian aboriginal material documents traditions that have been endangered by the incursions of white colonists and their policies of forcible assimilation and "pacification."

Collection Description: Sudan, Nilotic region, Dinka people, 1962-1972
Collector: Francis Deng
ATM Accession #: 73-051-F
Format: 24 reels of varying sizes.
Condition: Majority of tapes are 1 mil and therefore considered at-risk.

Significance: The Dinka have been targeted by the Sudanese government for systematic destruction in what is now the world's longest-running civil war. This collection was gathered by Francis Deng, a Dinka who is now the UN Secretary-General's representative on Internally Displaced Persons and a senior fellow of the Brookings Institute.

Collection Description: Ethiopia, Falasha and Amhara, 1973
Collector: Kay Shelemay
ATM Accession #: 74-031-F
Format: 35 open reels
Condition: Almost all of the tapes are 1 mil. Our only copies are very old listening copies.

Significance: Same culture group as the Leslau collection above. Shelemay's recordings of liturgical music were made just before the spread of the Revolution forced her to move her base of studies from the Gondar region to Addis Ababa.

Cassette Collections

Collection Description: Zaire, Kivu Region (now the Democratic Republic of Congo), Bashi, 1970-1973
Collector: Richard Sigwalt & Elinor Sosne
ATM Accession #: 76-091-F
Format: 51 cassettes
Condition: Cassettes are known to be at-risk, and these are over 30 years old. In addition, our documentation describes some of these tapes as "mangled." We have no listening copies of this collection.

Significance: Containing a variety of historical songs, wedding songs, war chants, and folktales, this collection provides valuable documentation of traditional cultural forms in the region prior to the devastation of the current armed conflict.

Collection Description: Nicaragua, Chinandega, Posoltega, 1989-1990
Collector: Barbara Seitz-Martinez
ATM Accession #: 89-091-F and 90-303-F
Format: 31 cassettes
Condition: Cassettes are known to be at risk. No copies exist for 90-303-F and the only copies of 89-091-F are also on cassette.

Significance: This collection comprises material related to the Sandanista Revolution and the subsequent eleven years of Sandanista party rule. Included are songs about war and peace, music by a group of Sandanista youth, meetings of the Sandanista National Liberation Front, political demonstrations, interviews about the history of the Sandanista revolution, and interviews with mothers of deceased combatants.

Archive of World Music

AWM Collections Selected for Sound Directions
Harvard University houses several very large, unique and valuable collections made during the mid- to late-20th century in India, Iran, Pakistan, Iraq, Turkey and the U.S, from which materials will be drawn for a digital archive. Choices have been made based on relative value and interest, condition, and likelihood that widespread access could be offered. As is the case with the ATM, at AWM we recognize that, given the expense of preservation and the size of our collections, we cannot and should not digitally preserve everything in our holdings. For Sound Directions we will reformat recordings from the following four unique and highly valuable field collections, which are in varying states of technical process:

The James Rubin Collection of Indian Music
Significance: James Rubin, an American businessman, recorded live performances on eighteen trips to South India between 1964 and 1987. Rubin was a student of the famous singer M.S. Subbulakshmi and as such was in a unique position to record concerts at such prestigious venues as the Madras Music Academy and the Tyagaraja Aradhana festival in Tiruvayaru, Tamil Nadu. He also recorded performances at other concert halls, many private recitals at the homes of the artists, as well as classical music programs broadcast on All India Radio. The music in this collection includes renditions of more than a thousand compositions, both rare and popular, by more than six hundred musicians. As such, it is probably the most comprehensive and significant source of Carnatic music recordings in the world today.

Current state: A catalog record and online finding aid for this collection is complete and includes images of the most useful accompanying information. Reformatting for access and preservation has begun.

The Richard Wolf Collection
Significance: Collected by Professor Richard Wolf in over seven years in India and Pakistan, the collection consists of fragile DAT recordings of Sufi and Shia Islamic practices and recordings of the entire festival year of the Kota tribe. More than any other currently available, this collection offers some of the very finest specimens of musical performance in each genre covered and offers access to little-known or difficult-to-obtain general of folk and tribal music from across the Indian subcontinent.

Current state: No work has been done on this collection.

The Baroness Ullens Collection
Significance: Baroness Ullens de Schooten was a photographer who traveled in Iran and Iraq regularly from 1926 until 1970. Her audio recordings, on open reel and cassette, document folk and colloquial music of the region. The astounding richness of this collection lies in the fact that the repertories represented are absolutely unavailable anywhere else in recorded or print form. The collection greatly expands awareness of cultural life in Iraq and Iran in the early to mid 20th century.

Current state: This collection is shared by the Fine Arts Library and the Archive of World Music at Harvard, the Fine Arts Library has undertaken responsibility for the photographs, slides and motion pictures and the AWM houses the audio materials. A finding aid is currently in progress; no work on audio reformatting has been done.

The Sema Vakf Collection or Turkish Classical Music
Significance: The Sema Vakf Collection may be the largest collection of Turkish music in the world. Collected by the Turkish-American connoisseur of Ottoman classical music, Altan Güzey, this collection includes the private archive of Ismâil Baha Sürelsan, a Turkish composer and ethnomusicologist who has devoted more than sixty years to performing Turkish classical music. Among the other treasures of the Collection are recordings of the singer Allâeddin Yavasca's mesk, musical "lessons" held on Sunday afternoons at his home once a month. Some of Yavasca's own transcriptions of musical works form part of the Collection. There are numerous performances by such accomplished artists as Meral Ugurlu, Mes'ûd Cemil, and Bekir Rehâ and Selmâ Sagbas.

Current state: Nearly all of this collection is cataloged in HOLLIS. Fragile DATs exist for all of the field recordings.

Sound Directions: Digital Audio Preservation and Access for Global Audio Heritage