This week’s selection comes from Andrea Zarza, Curator of World and Traditional Music. Ethnomusicologist Bryony Harris (née Pearson) spent 2002 doing field work in Uganda to record the drumming styles of the Busoga and Buganda as part of research for her dissertation "Towards a notation for African dance drumming, focusing… read more
This week’s selection comes from Richard Ranft, Head of Sound and Vision. Between February to June on southern and south-eastern English heathlands you may be lucky enough to hear a Woodlark singing. The bird emits a cascade of sweet liquid warbles, often in a large circular display flight some 50-100… read more
This week’s selection comes from Jonnie Robinson, Lead Curator of Spoken English. The Evolving English: WordBank is extremely positive evidence of the robust nature of our native dialects, as demonstrated by this speaker’s use of the verb puggle [= ‘to prod, poke about in e.g. a hole to clear obstruction’]…. read more
This week’s selection comes from Tom Miles, Metadata Manager and Curator of Europeana Music. This song, "Akabira", was recorded by Klaus Wachsmann in Kasule, Uganda, in 1954. Nshegu is the name given to an ensemble of flute players: the five members of the ensemble (pictured) each play an end-blown, composite… read more
Sound recordings freeze moments in time: music or theatrical performances, the words spoken by the famous or in everyday speech, or the sounds of our environment. When played back, they allow us to understand, to experience, to be immersed in – to relive – those moments. Yet preserving sound recordings… read more