True Voices / Pitt Rivers Oceanic and Australia
Wax Cylinder Collection
True Echoes is a research project that is reconnecting a rich archive of early sound recordings of Oceanic cultures with the communities from which they originate. True Echoes is centred on digitised wax cylinder recordings from the British Library Sound Archive. The wax cylinder collections include recordings made in Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia and the Torres Strait Islands in Australia between 1898 and 1924.
This research project will transform global understanding and awareness of the rich cultural heritage of indigenous communities in the Pacific region.
The recordings were created using phonographs, are hugely significant as they include early documentation of oral traditions and represent some of the earliest uses of sound in anthropological research. They include music, stories, speeches and many different types of songs; from hunting songs to hymns, lullabies to funeral dirges. True Echoes is working with cultural and research institutions in the region and in the UK to enhance the visibility and accessibility of these collections, ensuring that they are catalogued in ways that are accessible to the communities whose heritage they represent.
(From the True Voices Website)
The tracks available are for research purposes only and belong to the True Voices Project/British Library and should be accessed from their page, for more details around their project please visit the following websites.
True Voices Website
British Library True Echoes Information
The Diamond Jenness Cylinders Listen Here
The Diamond Jenness (1886–1969) collection consists of a selection of 94 wax cylinders, recorded in the D'Entrecasteaux Islands, situated off the eastern tip of Papua New Guinea. Jenness (who was born and educated in New Zealand) conducted ethnographic fieldwork there in 1911-12, on a University of Oxford–sponsored expedition, shortly after taking the Diploma in Anthropology.
Pitt Rivers Museum Website
Source: The British Library Sound Archive
True Voices Project and Pitt Rivers Museum
Official British Library Sound Archive Website - World and Traditional Music
