Dear Colleagues, please read the following:
>Date: Tue, 04 Dec 2007 09:48:45 -0500
>From: "Leslie Waffen" <>
>To: "Dan Dugan" <>
>Cc: "Sharon Perry" <>
>Subject: Fwd: Re: Fwd: [78-l] Some help with the National Recording
> Registry nominations
>
>Hi Dan,
>
>Thanks for the e-mail. Here is our need. One of the committee's
>within the National Recording Preservation Board, which meets each
>year to select 25 sound recordings for the National Recording
>Registry is a committee for "Environmental Sounds".
>
>Of the 225 National REgistry selections so far that have been
>recognized only the following
>[see:<http://www.loc.gov/rr/record/nrpb/nrpb-masterlist.html>http://www.loc.gov/rr/record/nrpb/nrpb-masterlist.html
>
>for the whole list] below have been related to nature and
>environmental sounds:
>
>(1) Steam Locomotive Recordings. O. Winston Link. (6 Vol.:
>1957-1977). O. Winston Link, a commercial photographer, was a
>passionate admirer of trains. His well-known photographic essays
>documented the rich history of steam locomotives. Link also captured
>sounds and moving images of these trains. His first album of
>recordings, released in 1957, includes the sounds of Y6, K2, and J
>class locomotives, and a J 603 locomotive passing as church bells
>play Christmas carols. Link's recordings captured the unique and
>now-lost sounds of the engines which united the United States.
>Selected for the 2003 registry.
>
>(2) The old foghorn, Kewaunee, Wis. Recorded by James A. Lipsky.
>(1972) In the late 19th century, Kewaunee, Wis., one of the great
>maritime ports of the northern Great Lakes, sought to challenge
>Chicago as Lake Michigan's supreme port city. Its car ferry and rail
>loading tracks were constructed in 1891 within a vast program of
>harbor improvements toward this goal. The port's original fog signal
>was removed in 1981 when an automated signal was installed. Improved
>rail connections to other cities led to the ultimate decline of the
>port; Kewaunee's aspirations were short lived. This recording
>preserves lost sounds of the once bustling northern lake port.
>Selected for the 2005 registry.
>
>(3) Recordings of Asian elephants by Katharine B. Payne. (1984)
>Katharine B. Payne's recordings of Asian elephants revealed that the
>animals use infrasonic sounds to communicate with one another. Such
>acoustic monitoring of the mammals has provided important insights
>into the mechanisms by which matrilineal groups of elephants
>maintain distance among one another over time and how males locate
>receptive females. In addition, the use of recordings has proven a
>very effective method for surveying populations of elephants. It has
>opened new windows into the complex lives of elephants and provided
>a tool for conservation. The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at
>Cornell University holds this important collection of recordings.
>Selected for the 2004 registry.
>
>Our committee needs to consider other potential nominations of
>nature/environmental recordings or group of recordings. Would you
>or your group be able to assist us in identifying 3 or 4 worthy
>candidates to put forward for consideration by the Board? Again the
>registry is for existing sound recordings, not recordists. So as you
>will see in the rather eclectic Master List the criteria is for the
>first, or most famous, or outstanding example(s), that exist and are
>over 10 years old of the various recording genres, or for a
>collection that is worthy of recognition, but in danger of being
>lost and needs preservation.
>
>Your assistance would be appreciated. The 5 members of my committee.
>while recording experts in documentary, spoken word, and radio
>broadcasts, do not have a depth of knowledge or expertise in the
>history of environmental/nature sound recordings.
>
>And of course, for this year, our deadline is short, the Board meets
>on December 10 and 11 in Washington, D.C. However even if the
>deadline is not met for this year, we can use the information and
>put nominations forward later for next year's consideration.
>
>Thanks
>
>Les Waffen
>Chief
>Motion Picture, Sound & Video Recordings
>National Archives
>(301)837-0510
An off-the-top list that Paul Matzner and I put together this morning includes:
Roger Tory Peterson's recordings of North American birds.
Roger Payne's recordings of the humpback whale that were an insert to
National Geographic Magazine, and the subsequent LP Songs of the
Humpback Whale.
George & Ginny Trumbull's recordings of the nene.
Luis Baptista's recordings of the white-crowned sparrow that
elucidated local dialects in birdsong.
The Environments series of LPs.
Gordon Hempton's dawn chorus around the world CD.
Bernie Krause's recordings of the mountain gorillas.
Doug Quinn's recordings of Weddell seals and Antarctic environments.
How about it? We could use the polling feature of this group to
choose from the suggestions people submit. Short deadline!
-Dan Dugan
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