Online public release of 58 historical ethnomusicology field collection archives
The Ethnomusicology: Global Field Recordings project, a comprehensive digital collection developed in collaboration between the UCLA Ethnomusicology Archive and Adam Matthew Digital, was officially launched on World Day for Audiovisual Heritage.
This groundbreaking initiative provides a unique view into the cultural and social lives of communities from various regions, including Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Central and South America, Europe/Caucasus, the Middle East, North America, Oceania, and more.
The launch event, which took place at UCLA, featured a concert that brought historical collections to life. Performances included traditional music of Thailand inspired by the David Morton collection and Maya marimba music related to a recording by ethnomusicology alumna Linda O'Brien-Rothe. The concert culminated in a tribute to the Jose Maceda collection with a performance by the Pakaraguian Kulingtang Ensemble from southern Philippines.
The project is not just about audio recordings; it also includes visual and textual documents that contextualize the music in its cultural setting. These resources provide unparalleled access to unique historic and contemporary materials, supporting deep ethnomusicological research on music cultures from many regions and ethnic groups.
The Ethnomusicology: Global Field Recordings collection includes:
- Thousands of audio field recordings and interviews capturing traditional, folk, and ritual music from around the globe
- Educational recordings that provide context on musical traditions and performance practices
- Film footage, field notebooks, slides, correspondence, and other ephemera from over 60 fields of study, offering rich ethnographic and archival documentation alongside the sound material
The project is a collaboration between the World Music Center at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music and Adam Matthew Digital, an academic publisher based in the UK. It is now accessible to anyone with an internet connection.
Current UCLA students, staff, and faculty can access it from off-campus by using the UCLA VPN or proxy server. For institutions wishing to request a free trial, they should contact Adam Matthew Digital.
The event included a day-long symposium of lectures and ensemble workshops, offering participants the opportunity to try their hand at four traditions featured in the project: Balinese gamelan, Persian classical music, Thai classical music, and Ghanaian drumming.
Anthony Seeger, emeritus distinguished professor and emeritus director of Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, was the special guest speaker at the event. Maureen Russell, adjunct professor of ethnomusicology at UCLA and archivist, expressed the importance of being a steward for recordings representing the heritages and traditions of many peoples.
Among the materials researchers can access are fieldwork from Java by Mantle Hood, recordings of folk song and bluegrass from the United States by D. K. Wilgus, fieldwork from Ghana, Nigeria, and Jamaica by Jacqueline Cogdell DjeDje, fieldwork from Thailand by David Morton, and fieldwork from the Philippines by Jose Maceda.
Helen Rees, faculty director of the UCLA Department of Ethnomusicology's World Music Center, stated that the project offers a more immersive experience for scholars and students compared to a neatly processed commercial textbook. Khal Rudin, managing director of Adam Matthew Digital, stated that the project allows the UCLA Ethnomusicology Archive to share its research with other institutions.
The Ethnomusicology Archive has published 58 historical field collections online, titled "Ethnomusicology: Global Field Recordings." The announcement was originally published on the UCLA Newsroom. Maureen Russell can be contacted for additional information.
[1] Ethnomusicology: Global Field Recordings (UCLA Ethnomusicology Archive) [2] Ethnomusicology: Global Field Recordings (Adam Matthew Digital) [3] UCLA Newsroom (2021, October 15). UCLA Ethnomusicology Archive Launches Online Collection of Global Field Recordings. Retrieved from https://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/ucla-ethnomusicology-archive-launches-online-collection-of-global-field-recordings [4] Adam Matthew Digital (n.d.). Ethnomusicology: Global Field Recordings. Retrieved from https://www.adam-matthew-digital.com/resources/ethnomusicology-global-field-recordings/
- The Ethnomusicology: Global Field Recordings project, a collaboration between the UCLA Ethnomusicology Archive and Adam Matthew Digital, offers a unique platform for data-and-cloud-computing-based learning, providing access to thousands of audio recordings, visual documents, and educational materials related to various music cultures from around the world, addressing the intersection of technology, education-and-self-development, and online-education.
- This initiative not only focuses on audio recordings and interviews but also includes film footage, field notebooks, slides, correspondence, and other ephemera that contextualize the music in its cultural setting, thus fostering deep ethnomusicological research and embracing the potential of technology for preservation and sharing of knowledge.
