The Sounds of Australia, formerly the National Registry of Recorded Sound, is the

National Film and Sound Archive The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting and providing access to a national c ...

's selection of

sound recording Sound recording and reproduction is the electrical, mechanical, electronic, or digital inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recordin ...

s which are deemed to have cultural, historical and aesthetic significance and relevance for Australia. It was founded in 2007.

History

The National Registry of Recorded Sound was established in 2007 by the National Film and Sound Archive, to encourage appreciation of the diversity of sounds recorded in Australia, ever since the first phonographs made by the US

Edison Manufacturing Company The Edison Manufacturing Company, originally registered as the United Edison Manufacturing Company and often known as simply the Edison Company, was organized by inventor and entrepreneur Thomas Edison and incorporated in New York City in May 188 ...

were available in Australia in the mid-1890s. The earliest recording in the archive is "The Hen Convention", a song recorded some time before 15 January 1897, by an amateur sound recordist called Thomas Rome, of

Warrnambool, Victoria Warrnambool (Maar: ''Peetoop'' or ''Wheringkernitch'' or ''Warrnambool'') is a city on the south-western coast of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 census, Warrnambool had a population of 35,743. Situated on the Princes Highway, Warrnambool (All ...

, who imported the most modern equipment available from the USA. The song features the voice of John James Villiers, also of Warrnambool. It is a novelty song, featuring imitations of sounds made by chickens. Other early sound recordings include

Aboriginal Tasmanian The Aboriginal Tasmanians ( Palawa kani: ''Palawa'' or ''Pakana'') are the Aboriginal people of the Australian island of Tasmania, located south of the mainland. For much of the 20th century, the Tasmanian Aboriginal people were widely, a ...

women's songs (1899),

Spencer and Gillen Sir Walter Baldwin Spencer (23 June 1860 – 14 July 1929), commonly referred to as Baldwin Spencer, was a British-Australian evolutionary biologist, anthropologist and ethnologist. He is known for his fieldwork with Aboriginal peoples in ...

's 1901 recordings on

wax cylinder Waxes are a diverse class of organic compounds that are lipophilic, malleable solids near ambient temperatures. They include higher alkanes and lipids, typically with melting points above about 40 °C (104 °F), melting to give low ...

Arrernte Arrernte (also spelt Aranda, etc.) is a descriptor related to a group of Aboriginal Australian peoples from Central Australia. It may refer to: * Arrernte (area), land controlled by the Arrernte Council (?) * Arrernte people, Aboriginal Austral ...

Anmatyerr The Anmatyerr, also spelt Anmatyerre, Anmatjera, Anmatjirra, Amatjere and other variations) are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Northern Territory, who speak one of the Upper Arrernte languages. Language Anmatyerr is divided into Easte ...

, Kaytetye,

Warumungu The Warumungu (or Warramunga) are a group of Aboriginal Australians of the Northern Territory. Today, Warumungu are mainly concentrated in the region of Tennant Creek and Alice Springs. Language Their language is Warumungu, belonging to th ...

, Luritja and Arabana peoples of central Australia (added in 2019), and

Ernest Shackleton Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (15 February 1874 – 5 January 1922) was an Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic. He was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of A ...

talking about his polar expedition in 1910.

Description

As part of the National Film and Sound Archive (NFSA), it is part of a "living

archive An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials – in any medium – or the physical facility in which they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual ...

", to share in many ways and to keep for future generations. Each year, the Australian public nominates new sounds to be added with final selections determined by a panel of industry experts and NFSA curators. There are usually about ten recordings added each year. The recordings represent significant achievements in the way we have recorded the sounds of our history and memory. The criteria for nomination are wide: "they can be

popular song Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Funk ...

s, advertising jingles, famous speeches, radio broadcasts, or any other sound recordings" – but they must be Australian, and they must be more than 10 years old.

Recordings

In this table, "2007a" refers to the 2007 Foundation List (entries chosen before official voting began), while "2007b" refers to the first of the annual registry additions, also in 2007. Notes

Statistics

The most recent recording on the list is former prime minister

Julia Gillard Julia Eileen Gillard (born 29 September 1961) is an Australian former politician who served as the 27th prime minister of Australia from 2010 to 2013, holding office as leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). She is the first and only ...

's Misogyny Speech, while the oldest is Percy Herford's 1896 recording "The Hen Convention".Collection - National Registry of Recorded Sound at ASO - Australia's audio and visual heritage online
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References

External links