Creative Music Research in Special Collections: Primary Source Analysis

What Are Primary Sources?

Primary sources are materials that were created during the time in question. They are the evidence of a particular time and place and moment. Secondary sources provide analysis of other materials, but primary sources are the raw and unfiltered data. Unlike secondary sources which already provide an interpretation of something, working with primary sources forces the researcher to conduct their own analysis. Examples of primary sources include letters, dairies, newspapers, original musical scores, audio and video recordings, oral histories, photographs and more.

Primary source analysis asks researches to observe, reflect and question the materials, thinking about criteria such as

• Materiality
• Content
• Context
• Purpose and Audience
• Bias

More more information on primary source analysis, visit Library of Congress Primary Source Guides and Analysis Tools.

Practice Primary Source Analysis

Let's use recorded sound as an example to conduct a primary source analysis.

Analyzing a sound recording poses its own questions and challenges. There can be multiple layers of content on a music recording. For instance, you may notice the sounds created by the performers, the sounds created by other people present and perhaps background noise created by the recording technology. There is also the description of the sound recording which may or may not accurately depict what and who is on the recording itself. Additionally, there is the “liveness” of performance to consider – how does environment and context affect a live performance?

Listen: SFC Audio Cassette FS-20009/12936, Elizabeth Cotten Birthday, 6 January 1979; Elizabeth Cotton part 1, 10 January 1979: Side 1

What do you know about the recording before listening to it?

1. What is the materiality of the recording itself? What technology was used to record it?
2. What is in the description (date, location, personnel, content, etc)

What do you hear in the recording?

1. What is the first thing you notice?
2. What is the content of the recording? Are there sounds in addition to this content?
3. Are there people present in the recording that aren’t listed in the description? If so, who are they?

How does the recording make you feel?

1. What emotions are evoked when listening to the recording?
2. What role does emotion play in your interpretation of the performance?
3. How do you think the performers are feeling in the recording?

What is the context of the recording? When/where was it recorded?

1. What is the context for the sound recording? Who recorded it and why? For whom?
2. What is the relationship between the persons being recorded and the person doing the recording? Is this relationship described?
3. What is the relationship between the musicians and the content being performed?

What does this recording tell you about the artists' creative process?

1. What is distinct about this recording compared to other contemporary commercial recordings?
2. What artistic processes do you hear in the recording? Are there stops and starts? Is it rehearsed or impromptu?
3. How do you think the context of the recording impacts the "liveness" of the musical performance?
4. What techniques do you hear that are unique to this performance? Does the performance style differ from techniques you are familiar with?

Continued Learning

1. What other information would be helpful in understanding the context?
2. Have the musicians been recorded in other contexts?
3. What other musicians recorded in the same region around the same time, or in different time periods? Have other musicians recorded the same repertoire?
4. What else was happening around the time and place that the sound recording was made?

How Can Primary Source Analysis Enrich Creative Practice?

Analyzing primary sources can give us insight into the creative process. Unlike published recordings, primary sources can show the process rather than the product. Perhaps there are rehearsal notes, recordings, documentation of conversations around the performance, etc. These can inform our own creative practices.