To mark the publication of his book of memoirs Dancing Ledge, filmmaker Derek Jarman talks about his life and times to theatre legend Ken Campbell. Campbell is unable to discuss the structure of the book, having dropped his copy and somehow got the pages mixed up:

Derek Jarman and Ken Campbell, in conversation

 
'Recording of the Week' highlights gems from the Archival Sound Recordings website, chosen by British Library experts or recommended by listeners. This week's item was selected from the Institute of Contemporary Arts talks collection by Stephen Cleary, Curator of Drama & Literature recordings at the British Library Sound Archive. The ICA talks collection has 1,000 hours of recordings of events held at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, in the Mall, London, recorded over the period 1981-1994.

Listen to the way this speaker pronounces an <r> sound on this recording. The link below also connects to accompanying text with an analysis of the lexis, phonology and grammar heard in this recording.

http://sounds.bl.uk/View.aspx?item=021M-C0908X0002XX-0500V0.xml

'Recording of the Week' highlights gems from the Archival Sound Recordings website, chosen by British Library experts or recommended by listeners. This week's item, selected by Jonnie Robinson, a specialist in sociolinguistics & education at the British Library, is a recording of William Dodds (d.o.b. 1909). It was made by Clive Upton in May 1974 in Ebchester, Durham, for the University of Leeds Survey of English Dialects.

The British Library is pleased to announce four additional sound archiving internships for 2009-2010.

The internships are aimed at those wanting to develop a comprehensive understanding of technical skills and are open to individuals who wish to improve their practical skills and who work in an institution that has the responsibility for the archiving of audiovisual materials.  Successful candidates will be selected in part on the basis of their ability to demonstrate the benefits of the internship to their professional development.

The internships will take place at the British Library’s flagship site in central London.  Each internship runs for a period of ten weeks; two internships will start in January 2010 and two will start in April 2010.

Interns will not receive any remuneration such as a living allowance or bursary so are required to meet their own living, accommodation and personal travel expenses.  Interns are also responsible for making their own travel arrangements. 

The internships combine training along with project work.  A series of training modules will be offered on working with different audio carriers, and will include an introduction to the basics of audio theory, archiving standards and protocols and documentation.  The project work is based upon existing audio collections held in the British Library. Please note that each intern will be supervised by a British Library archivist throughout their internship and work will be monitored on a regular basis.

Jonathan Draper, archivist at the Norfolk Record Office who completed his sound archiving internship in 2009, said:  “The internship has given me the wonderful opportunity to have the time to focus on best practice in sound archiving.  The experience has given me courage in my convictions and confirmed that a lot of what I am doing is right, whilst suggesting areas of improvement.”

More information

How to Apply

For further information please contact Alison Faraday, Sound Archiving Internships, The British Library, Centre for Conservation, 96 Euston Road, London NW1 2DB, email [email protected] or phone +44 (0)20 7412 7776.

The closing date for applications is 30 October 2009 and interviews will be held week commencing 9 November 2009.

Reading aloud a passage from her autobiography about her opposition to the first Gulf War, Vanessa Redgrave talks to Simon Callow about her dual career as an actor and political activist and the role of the artist in society.

http://sounds.bl.uk/View.aspx?item=024M-C0095X0777XX-0100V0.xml

'Recording of the Week' highlights gems from the Archival Sound Recordings website, chosen by British Library experts or recommended by listeners. This week's item was selected from the Institute of Contemporary Arts talks collection by Stephen Cleary, Curator of Drama & Literature recordings at the British Library Sound Archive. The ICA talks collection has 1,000 hours of recordings of events held at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, in the Mall, London, recorded in the period 1981-1994.

“Browsing the Archival Sound Recordings interactive map of soundscapes, by zooming in on the London area, I saw a marker at Hayes in Middlesex, England", writes Nigel Bewley. "Clicking on that brought up several sound recordings that I made, for the British Library, on 20 May 1993 at the EMI record pressing plant and cassette duplicating factory".

"I remember the day pretty well.  Three colleagues were with me video recording the action with a Betacam.  I was recording sound in stereo on a portable DAT machine and needed to get recordings for the Sound Archive as well as for possible use for the video soundtrack as ‘wild tracks’ ".

"Listening to the recordings again on the Archival Sound Recordings site yanked me back to that early summer’s day in 1993.  The sound of the factory was so memorable (my previous job involved running a cassette duplication plant) and hearing my voice announcing the recordings and describing the scene was a mixture of cringe-making fascination! The smells of the factory are memorable too: the bubbling vats of chemicals in the electro-plating room was like an alchemist’s workshop and the fumes were so bad they made me ill later in the day and I took the following day off sick."

http://sounds.bl.uk/View.aspx?item=027M-C0323X0023XX-0100V0.xml

"I remember too that my colleagues set up their camera for a close-up of one of the cassette duplication master tape machines, a wardrobe-sized machine called a ‘loop bin’.  I advised them not to use their powerful portable lights because the tape-fail sensors on the loop bin would see the bright light as a break in the master tape and shut everything down in an ‘emergency stop’.  Ignoring the advice, they set up the shot and turning on the lights did, indeed, bring everything to a juddering halt with accompanying klaxons and a swarm of annoyed factory operators appeared to put things right!”

'Recording of the Week' highlights gems from the Archival Sound Recordings website, chosen by British Library experts or recommended by listeners. This week's item was selected from the Soundscapes collection by Nigel Bewley, Operations Manager in the technical department of the British Library Sound Archive.