LIB-Recordings
Sources subscribed to by SOAS
Smithsonian Global Sound for Libraries
A virtual encyclopedia of the world's musical and aural traditions. Includes music recorded across the African continent, as well as the South Asian subcontinent.
Available on-campus only.
Freely available sources
Africa Focus: Image and Sound Collection
This online collection is maintained by the University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries. Completed in March 2000, the collection contains more than 3,000 slides, 500 photographs, and 50 hours of sound of songs and singing from forty-five countries.
A small internet site providing sound examples of Shona mbira music, Mandinka balafon music, Xylophone music of Ghana and Chopi timbira music.
Traditional West African Hilife music with sound clips.
Audio and Three Dimensional Sound Links
Links to 3D and Spatial Sound related resources on the Web. Reference, research, educational, tools, people, commercial systems and products. Links to other 3D related and general audio lists and patent resources.
British Library Sound Archive: Online Resources
Provides links to sound archives and industry organisations in the UK and overseas.
Buddhist sound files provided by the State University of New York at Stony Brook.
Ethnomusicology Instrument Collection
Digital collection of musical instruments from the ethnomusicology archives at the University of Washington Libraries. Sound recordings and performance clips may also be available.
Primary source for music from Japan, Okinawa, and other East Asian countries. Sound samples are also available.
Information about gamelan music created by a Javanese gamelan performing ensemble based in Eugene, Oregon, USA. Provides audio examples and written text.
Golden Pages: Music Processing Software
Selected links to resources relating to music processing software.
Audio archive of Chinese music on the internet.
Directory of Japanese traditional music performers. Provides audio examples and video clips.
An online guide to the Japanese traditional music. Provides audio examples.
An introduction to Indonesian music providing audio examples and written text.
International Association of Sound and Audiovisual Archives
Established in 1969 to function as a medium for international co-operation between archives that preserve recorded sound and audiovisual documents. Links to other organisations and related subjects.
International Library of African Music at Rhodes University
A research institution devoted to the scientific study of African music and the oral arts in Africa. Includes online music, other African music sites, news, etc.
Provides audio examples.
Collection of Japanese songs and music, arranged by titles, composers, songwriters and subjects.
Library of Congress: Recorded Sound Reference Center
Links to SONIC and online recordings. Excellent source for Afro-American music
Collection of free high-quality music in MP3 format, as well as spoken word, and audiobooks. Genres covered include blues, classical, country, folk, dance, electronic, experimental, hip hop, rap, jazz, swing, pop, reggae, ska, punk, rock, and heavy metal.
Contains descriptions of CDs, videos, books, and CD-ROM of world music and dance organised into geographic regions including: Africa, the Caribbean, North, Central and South America, Middle East/West Asia, Central Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, East Asia, and Oceania.
Site for free download of Korean music.
Songs of China’s Cultural Revolution
Audio archive of Chinese songs on the internet. All songs are in MP3 format.
Thai Music An introduction to providing audio examples and written text. Maintained by the Center for Southeast Asian Studies Northern Illinois University
