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Show Page 20—THE HERALD. Provo. Utah, Wednesday, January 2 1989 Chants Dream Song Wax Recording Gives Clues to Native American West At first there was only a scratching ind dian culture Tecording intelligible The wax cylinders she used came on Some of the scratchy overtone is the market in 1899. invented by Thomas caused by clinder deterioration. The A. Edison. who believe them superior cylinders—made of a soaplike sub- Then, filling a recording studioas it must have filled an Indian lodge years 0, camethe sound of Raincloud of the Chippewatribe chanting a dream song Rising and falling rhythmically. over. Powering the defects of the recording to disc recordings. made more than a half-century ago. the words of the sacred song cameto life was heavy and bulky. once more ‘To capture such songs, Frances Den- smore, a musician and teacher, had tramped through the wilds of Northern Minnesota inthe early 1900s, recording on wax cylinders. the most effective device then available to researchers Studying the rapidly vanishing culture of Native Americantribes As a child in the 1870s. Densmore had listened to the enchanting songs and sounds from a Sioux Indian camp across the Mississippi River from her home in Red Wing. Minn. Like others interested in preserving tribal Customs,she later became determined to record songs and chants of the oldest Indian singers, whotribes had roaimed the plains and prairies before wars with the while explorers and settlers dommed themto humiliation or extinetion. Densmore eventually recorded and described in special publications more than 3,000 songs of 30 tribes, from the Minnesota Chippewa in 1907 to the Florida Seminole in 1954. Her recordings and those by other Tesearchers are now being transferred to modern high-quality magnetic pe in a three-year project underwayat the Library of Congress’ American Folklife Center. Tie Smithsonian's Thomas Vennumisdirector of the project, which involves more than 3,500 wax cylinder recordings of American Indian music and legends recorded from 1889 to 1930 “Along with the major concern of preservation," Vennum says, the ‘‘the project is intended to provide Native In the field. é THOMAS VENNUM,left, and Erika Brady work on transferring Indian chants and songs from old a recordings to high quality magnetic tapes. ie Americans with information about their past. There is an increasing desire among tribal peoples to recover old documents and revive cultural traditions. Many have their own tribal museumsand wantearly recordings to be part of their collections.” OGDEN, Utah (UPI) — The Weber County Grand Jury has recommended construction of a new countyjail. The jury issued a final report when it was dissolved by Second District Court Judge Calvin Gould on the final day of 1979. It concluded that the currentjail is outdated and should be replaced with a modem one. But the jury said it found no improprities or ill treatmentof inmatesatthe currentjail and said conditions were generally adequate considering the county’s financial condition. During its term, the jury returned four indictments, including accusations against County Com- recordings give a flavor of the American West in the Saved, for example, are recordings of Winnebago flute melodies, Navaho ceremonial songs and songs of the Sioux sundance—all of which help both scholars and Native Americans reconstructlife the way it wasfor the greattribes. To record the Indian traditions, Densmore purchased an Edison Home Phonograph in 1907 with $150 grant from the Bureau of American Ethology, established by the Smithsonian Institution in 1879 specifically to document disappearing aspects of In- there was less The jury also recommended that County Commissioner Robert Bowenresign. He served jail term last year for illegally collecting unemployment benefit: s. 20% off on famous Simmons Beautyrest Mattresses Beautyrest mattresses are different because they give youin vidualcoils, Each oneis sewn into its own pocket, to give individual support. And because the colle are notall ti together as in conventional mattresses, Beautyrest can “give” in one place without GorialMlorspalll$ pulling the rest of the mattress downwith it It's the one mattress that’s perfect for two, Kigure“Hot Line’ because it conforms to each person's weight, and build individually — and gives you both a really good night's sleep! 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He is also charged with having Dallinga place county funds in a Logan bank in order to secure an auto loan for Hunt. jPallings is charged with accepting improper Make’S0YourYear In our 15th year / | with 178 locations Coast to Coast \ stance containing paraffin, steric acid paraphernalia involved in recording on scratched or broken, mice have wax than on discs. gnawed the edges or mold has formed Waxcylinders, madein four-inch and All of this points to the urgencyof getsix-inch lengths, could accomodate an ting the songs onte tape: The cylinders average of four minutes worth of themselves can't be preserved inmusic. Most of them were black or definitely various shades of brown. A cylinder’s shape resembled nothing so much as a Specialized equipment used for modern frozen orange juice container cylinder playback was developed years with both ends removed Despite their fragility and primitive ago by the Library's recording expert, nature, cylinders had certain advan- Robert Carneal. ‘‘Remarkably, some tages. They could be played back im- of the early field researchers used very mediately for comments from the good equipment,’ he says. “Our equipsingers, and the recordings could be mentuses partsof the original devices, erased with a shaving machine. No but we've added a modifield stylus and compensation was necessary for in- an anti-flutter wheel to keep the driving nergroove distortion, as with discs, belt at a constant speed.’" since a cylinder's grooves were all of Listening to the songs, most persons equal distance from the stylus arm. In a Library of Congress recording can identify through the static the insisstudio, Erika Brady, a doctoral can- tent rhythm of the chants or pick out didate in folklore working at the the drumsand rattles, the usual accomLibrary, tapes the music from the paniment to the Indian songs. But it cylinders, simultaneously adding on a takes a trainedearto identify thetribe second tr: an explanation of her and type of song. procedure step by step: ‘This cylinder is aad played at 67 feet per minute, Vennum and Folklife Center staff which 120 revolutions per minute...The stylus size is 10 mil with a members Maria LaVigna and Ronald hemispherictip...Havinga little track- Walcott sort through the cylinders and gather information about each one. ing problem here...” “This commentary is made so that Vennum says that the challenge of anyonelistening to the tapes can have providing accurate and complete an explicit idea of how it was documentation is as important as getrecorded,’’ Brady says. She also ting a good recording. “We feel a big describes the physical condition of the responsibility to include as much about cylinder she is working with. ‘In the songs as possible—the date, singer, recording onto the preservation tapes, I song text, English translation. filter out only as much of the scratchy recorder’s name and anything else we sound as necessary to make the know about the contents.” Jury Recommends New Jail I had lost 20 pounds! a researcher toted a small horn for and softeners suchasolive oil or castor recording. a large horn for playback oil—are very brittle and fragile the phonograph itself and the boxes of becaues of age. Brady said. Although cylinders. Even thoughh the equipment they are wrapped in cotton and stored |- co great nomein furniture! CARTWRIGHTS Quality © Service Selection FURNITURE "551 South State @ Provo (551 Se, 900 East) Open © Mor -Sat. 10-6:00 Phone © 373-2600 ...cause there’s noplace like home. |
