Western Arnhem Land Song Project data collection

Brief description

The Western Arnhem Land Song Project data collection is the outcome of a project to document indigenous Australian music. The Western Arnhem Land Song project was funded by the Hans Rausing Endangered Languages Project (London, 2006-2009) and focussed on Western Arnhem Land, which has many rich but endangered traditions of public song, especially in the individually composed didjeridu-accompanied kun-borrk genre.

As well as recording and documenting contemporary performances of kun-borrk and other relevant public song genres of the area, the project team located, repatriated and documented archival recordings of past performances. The project produced a collection of approximately 500 song texts and supplementary data, including linguistic glossing, translations, musical annotation, and linguistic and musicological analysis. The project team also recorded and annotated discussions surrounding songs, both during song performances, and in the ensuing song documentation sessions.

The Western Arnhem Land Song Project data collection includes files in a variety of media. Audio files were recorded and/or digitised in standard .mp3 and .wav formats. Video files were recorded in .mov, .mp4 and .mpeg2 formats, or digitised from VHS or MiniDV tape. Documentary materials were collected and stored in multiple formats, including .xml, plain text, .rtf, word and .pdf. Documentary materials also include images in .tiff and .jpeg format. The majority of the data collection is archived in the Endangered Languages Archive at SOAS, University of London.

Project collaborators include Linda Barwick and Allan Marett, Nicholas Evans and Murray Garde, Isabel O'Keffe and Bruce Birch.