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Preserving Jewish Musical Memory: Digitization at the National Sound Archives

Preserving Jewish Musical Memory: Digitization at the National Sound Archives. Dr. Gila Flam Music Department, Jewish National and University Library Jerusalem, Israel. Music example: Chassidic Niggun. The National Sound Archives.

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Preserving Jewish Musical Memory: Digitization at the National Sound Archives

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  1. Preserving Jewish Musical Memory: Digitization at the National Sound Archives Dr. Gila Flam Music Department, Jewish National and University Library Jerusalem, Israel

  2. Music example: Chassidic Niggun

  3. The National Sound Archives The National Sound Archives was established as part of the Music Department at the JNUL in 1965 Its aim is to collect and preserve oral Jewish musical traditions as sources for further research and future performance

  4. The National Sound Archives • The NSA also holds spoken word, languages, and non-Jewish music • Its collection is about 10,000 hours of ethnographic recordings 10,000 hours of popular and broadcasting material

  5. Types of Sound Archives Archives who celebrated their 100 years: • Phonogrammarchiv, Vienna • The British Library, Sound Archive • The Berlin Phonogramm-Archiv There are Sound Archives of different nature: • Research archives (Vienna), (Berlin), Depository Archives (France) • Broadcasting Archives (BBC, Deutsches Rundfunkarchiv), • Educational and research archives (Universities) and more • The oldest recordings at NSA are from the later 1920’s The NSA is an hybrid sound archive

  6. Digitization at the NSA-JNUL • Systematic transfer • First stage -transfer of 1,000 hours from PCM cassettes to Digital format • Second – 1,000 hours from various formats covered with acetate –endangered material (from Gerson-Kiwi and Jacob Michael collections) • Broadcasting material (from Kol Israel) and private donated collections • Scanning of accompanying documents The digitization is a tool to enrich the collection from outside sources

  7. Documents Scanning

  8. Selection Criteria • Not commercial or popular • Physical and technical • Content and research in progress

  9. Characteristics of Audio Digitization • Great dependence on industry and technology • The digitization is rescue and revival of the sources (Not just a backup) • The digitization enables new performance Music example Miryam Hadass 1 Hadass 2

  10. Characteristics of Audio Digitization • Each format has a different durability • Each carrier has its durability • Software and hardware are in flux • The process must be documented

  11. Characteristics of Audio Digitization • The original format: wax cylinders, tin records, magnetic tapes, and records • Variety of length, speed etc • The playback carrier- original versus replicated carriers • Maintenance of original carriers

  12. The Process • Playing the original in its optimal quality Music Example: Wrong speed Right speed • Using the right equipment and instruments: stylus, noises etc Music Example: Wrong stylus Right stylus

  13. The process • Restoration and improvements of sound – yes or no • Adding timing • Documenting the process

  14. The digitized file • Variety of formants: WAV, MP3, CDAUDIO, Streaming • Volume – one WAV minute=MB10 • Storage • Access

  15. High Holidays Kol Nidrei: Morocco, Tangier Performer: Chaim Cohen Recorded by: Abraham Pinto In Tangier in the early 1960's

  16. Chassidim, Chabad Ekh ty zemliak, zatshem zhe ty durakArranger: Andre Hajdu Language: Russian Sung by: BeraleZaltsman Recorded in a performance, Jerusalem, 1976

  17. http://jnul.huji.ac.il

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