The Italian jukebox

Abstract

The paper gives a short historical survey of ethnomusicological sound archives in Italy and proposes a few remarks on the accessibility of music through them. It also deals with the role that has normally been given to sound archives and with the concept of source, questioning the common idea that the main purpose of a sound archive is the creation and preservation of good historical sources. Moreover, it addresses the concepts of patrimonialisation and intangible heritage, wondering if the heritage of sound archives is really intangible or not. Finally, it discusses the relationship between the activity of local sound archives and the ethnomusicological work, especially focusing on my experience at the Centro per il dialetto romagnolo, in Ravenna. This paper tries to understand whether in contemporary Italy sound archives may have a fruitful role inside local communities by allowing the access to a critical repository of recordings.