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Getting oral history down...before it is too late


Daniel D. Teoli Jr.

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A while back I met a guy on eBay that had a noteworthy background in film. He said he was old and getting rid of his collection he had amassed over the past 70 years. I had solicited him to record some oral history for me and possibly send me some photos to put up at the Internet Archive of which I am a volunteer thereof. I told him the same thing I am telling you here.

Boom...one day you don't wakeup...and all that history is gone forever.

He wrote me back some time later and said it is too late to do any of that, the stroke took care of it. 

Whether young or old, if you or someone else has something noteworthy to archive, get it down while you can because boom...one day you don't wakeup...and all that history is gone forever.

You don't have to make a big deal over it. Here is a short oral history I made of Dick Morriale and his recollections of Nesta Kerin Crain, one of the earliest proponents of using gongs for sound therapy in the USA. I was also doing a film on Dick , then the virus broke out and we may never finish the film. 

https://archive.org/search.php?query=Oral History Nesta Kerin Crain

The oral history I did above was a little bit of a pain to do. Dick kept going off topic, so what is shown here is actually 14 recordings edited down to 1. Maybe you will have an easier time and your subject can stay on topic. But being an ADD myself, I have no right to chew anyone out for not staying on topic.

Get a simple usb digital recorder and start recording some of this stuff. You go to a presentation or lecture, you are already there, might as well record and archive it. Go home, plug in the usb recorder and upload. Could not be easier. If you need sound editing software, get free Audacity. 

 

Edited by Daniel D. Teoli Jr.
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