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The original tape recordings were archived at ILAM, where they
were later transferred to vinyl and then digitalised.
Now they are being transmitted and are recirculating through the event over there. |
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During his ten-day visit to the Zambezi Valley, Hugh Tracey and the Tonga made over 80 magnetic tape recordings which were catalogued as TR. 41 to TR. 46. (TR is not some fancy dot com extension: it is just short for tape recording). The collection was later transferred to 6 LPs (remember vinyl long playing records?) as part of the "Sound of Africa Series". The complete series is 210 LPs and they have now been digitalised and are being made more widely available through the ILAM website. The complete ILAM archive houses more than 3000 recordings.
People often ask why most Tracey field recordings are so short and why they fade out. Remember that Tracey was in the field before the age of the cassette tape. Magnetic tape was state of the art in 1957 and it didn´t come cheap.