Free Historic MP3s
December 23, 2006
Fill your iPod at unbeatable prices.
The amazing Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project at the University of California at Santa Barbara includes 6,000 digitized wax-cylinder recordings dating back to 1895. The collection includes Tin Pan Alley music, vaudeville performances and advertisements.
As the official press release says: “The primary goal of the project was to make the collection available to researchers and the public.” Since this is a public university and not a commercial enterprise, access is completely free. You can even download a copy for your own personal use at no charge.
Search tips. To search for the title of a particular song, type it into the Keyword Search bar. I typed in the title of a song my dad used to sing to me. He learned in the army decades after this recording was made. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn they still sing it.
If there is a digital copy available, your results page will include this crucial bit:
If you just want to hear it and don’t necessarily want to keep a copy on your computer, click the triangle in the grey bar. That will stream the music to your computer.
If you’d like to download a copy for your own private use, you are welcome to click on the “MP3 file” link. For more information about copyright restrictions and what to do if you can’t hear any music, visit the project website FAQ.
Much to my delight, the collection includes two versions of the army classic “Oh How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning.”One sung by Arthur Fields and one by Irving Kaufman. So far, only the Fields version is available digitally, and therefore it’s the version currently on my iPod.
Browsing. If you don’t have a research agenda, I recommend one of the radio streams.
Disclaimer. I’m including this disclaimer because I believe it’s the only ethical way for archivists to provide access to racist materials. We need to preserve them because if they all disappeared I’m absolutely certain it wouldn’t be long before everyone convinced themselves that it was just an exaggeration because, c’mon — they couldn’t possibly have been all that bad.
From the project website: “Coon songs,” “rube sketches,” “Irish character songs,” and other dialect recordings that were popular in vaudeville routines and genres of songs during the late 19th and early 20th century often contain negative stereotypes and portrayals of blacks and other ethnic groups. These recordings reflect the attitudes, perspectives, and beliefs of different times. Many individuals will find the content offensive. Some of these songs and recitations were written or performed by members of the ethnic group in question, while others were not, such as the tradition of blackface minstrelsy of whites performing caricatured portrayals of blacks. To exclude these cylinders from the digital collection would deprive scholars and the public the opportunity to learn about the past and would present a distorted picture of popular culture and music making during this time period. The mission of the UCSB Libraries is to make its resources available to the faculty, staff, and students of the University community and to the general public. The UCSB Libraries presents these documents as part of the record of the past and does not endorse the views expressed in these collections.
Disclaimer About “Dialect Recordings”
Dedication. This post is dedicated to my library school pal, Mr. David Seubert. I found out about this amazing project via a copy of the New York Times discarded in an airport lounge. An absurdly random occurrence. I literally whooped when I read David’s name in the article. Right now while I type this, David is (possibly) driving a rental car to Colorado because his flight into Denver was cancelled. Six foot snow drifts will do that, I’ve read.
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Photo Credits: UC Santa Barbara, SignOnSanDiego.com
Anachronism.
1. Something located at a time when it could not have existed or occurred.
2. An artifact that belongs to another time.
3. A person who seems to be displaced in time; who belongs to another age.
Definition from WordNet® 2.1, © 2005 Princeton University, via dictionary.com.
Can’t Find the Right Machine?
December 22, 2006
The guys at Retro Thing have an entry about formats that disappear. In this case, it’s a reel-to-reel video tape. And no, they don’t have a machine to play it on. Yet.
Which reminds me, folks — when we talk about digital preservation it’s not just about the medium that holds the information (tape, CD, DVD, etc.) and how long they will last. If you don’t have access to the hardware and/or software needed to translate all those ones and zeros into your recorded memories, then you can’t access those recordings.
I thought the reel-to-reel video player was cool, but my favorite part of the post is the news that consumers appear to be waiting for the Blu-Ray vs. HD-DVD format war to finish before they buy in to either format. Once bitten, twice shy. Anybody remember Betamax?
Below is a link to RetroThing’s entry, which includes a picture of the reel-to-reel video tape. If you like vintage gadgets, you will l-o-v-e this blog! http://www.retrothing.com/2006/12/scotch_color_ca.html
How Many Words?
December 19, 2006
Everyone knows the saying about how a picture is worth 1,000 words…
But look in your own family photo collection and you’ll find plenty of photographs with little to say. Stiff, uncomfortable looking ancestors whose names have been lost to time. We archivists have a term for these mystery pictures: Orphans.
I teach a variety of workshops, and almost all of them are about archiving. No surprise, I’m sure. But my favorite class isn’t one of the archiving ones. It’s the class where I teach folks how to record the stories behind their photographs — before they disappear.
Here’s an example…
The photo below is of me and my friends. Is it really worth 1,000 words to you? I sincerely doubt it.
Yet I could write tens of thousands of words about this photo and why we’re having such a great time:
1. We’re enjoying the deliciously funky groovy sound of VO5.
2. We scored a table in this very crowded tavern, even though we didn’t have dinner here.
3. We still got to pig out (see #2). Witness the plate scraped clean. For a short time, it held guacamole, chips, salsa, and hot pickled vegetables.
The woman on my left is the reason why I’m laughing so hard in this photograph. We don’t get to see each other often, so we usually
end up exchanging our most dramatic stories of the past year. Debbie is a great story teller who keeps building and building until I practically have to beg her to stop. See her finger on the table toward the bottom right corner? Looking at this photo now, I can practically hear the dull thud as she pounds the table to emphasize each point.
And that’s just for starters, folks. I only have space here to barely begin to write about the woman on my right. We’ve known each other for almost twenty years. We’ve lived together, traveled together, gone to school together. Lori attended the births of both my kids and acted as my doula each time. There’s simply not enough space to go into all of what Lori means to me on this blog. But I plan to write those kinds of details down, because I want my kids to know their Auntie Lori at least partially through my eyes. Fortunately, I have the perfect opportunity coming up in January to do just that.
The simple writing technique for capturing memories before they diappear was created by Denis LeDoux. His Photo Scribe book is available from Amazon.com, which has a description plus (rave) reviews.
If you have plans to spend time with loved ones in the next few weeks, why not invite them to share some of the stories behind their photographs? And in the good cause of preventing future orphans, be sure to jot down names if the photos aren’t already labeled. Your great-great granddaughter will be glad you did.
Photo Credit: The Ever Fabulous Olive.
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Life Catching Life Hack
December 15, 2006
My favorite story catching trick.
They say a photograph is worth a thousand words, but with each passing generation your family photographs become more and more mute. The next time you are at a family gathering, why not use my favorite video camera trick to record the stories behind your photographs.
What happens when people sit down with a photo album? The stories naturally pour out. Funny stories. Sad stories. Stories you’ve never heard before. Stories you’ve heard a gazillion times.
Here’s my trick: Set up your video camera on a tripod directly behind a comfortable chair. The idea is to shoot over-the-shoulder as the family matriarch or patriarch pages through a photo album. It’s a great tactic for story tellers who are camera shy.
I’ll be honest, this method isn’t going to give you TV quality pictures. And you should purchase a plug-in microphone if you want to drop the audio into future projects. But even at it’s most basic, this technique will capture the who-what-where-when behind your family photographs.
If you try this out at a family gathering this December, please drop me an email. I’d love to hear how it went! sally @ jacobsarchival.com
Glossary:
Life Catching
Lifehack
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