Recorded Sound collection

There are over 45,000 hours of sound recordings held in the AIATSIS Audiovisual Archive. Most of the collection is made up of unique and unpublished field recordings documenting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages, ceremonies, music, oral history, cultural narratives, site descriptions, research seminars and important events. A smaller part of the collection is made up of copies of significant historical recordings held in overseas and interstate collections, selected published recordings and broadcast materials.

The oldest recording in the collection dates from 1898. It is a copy of a wax cylinder recording made by Alfred Haddon and Baldwin Spencer during the Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to the Torres Strait. The original cylinders are held in the British Library. The oldest original material at AIATSIS was collected by linguist Arthur Capell and associates in 1949 in the Northern Territory (see CAPELL_A01).

audio engineer

Audio technician at work. Photo: AIATSIS

What is the material like?

Unpublished field recordings in the AIATSIS Audiovisual Archive vary greatly in quality and content. Some of them contain a lot of background noise like cars, kids, chickens and gusty winds. Very few of the recordings were made in a studio environment.

The content of the recordings varies depending on the interests or aims of the person who made the recording. Some recordings made by linguists, for instance, feature texts such as traditional stories or oral history accounts, while others focus on vocabulary or sentence elicitation.

Click here to listen to some examples.

How can I find what I’m looking for?

Finding aids are available for an increasing number of recorded sound collections. They provide detailed information about the content of collections; some even give timing points, enabling you to select small segments of recordings based on the speaker, language, or topic of discussion.

The Audiovisual Access Unit can provide you with a list of relevant materials free of charge. It is a good idea to consult them, even if you have done an independent search, to be sure you have found all the available material. They will also let you know how you can obtain copies.

The Mura catalogue provides basic information about all the recorded sound collections held at AIATSIS.