Sonic Memories – Audio Letters in Times of Migration and Mobility

The SONIME project collects and researches audio letters that are hidden in public archives or privately owned and that were sent from, to and within Austria, mostly by post, from the beginning of sound recording until the establishment of digital formats. The focus is on the cultural technique of the acoustic letter in the 20th century, questions about the specificity of this medium such as the intimacy of the acoustic, the fleetingness and affectivity of the voice, which become particularly significant in times of separation, as well as material-technical and conservation-restoration aspects of rare audio media such as direct-cut discs, magnetic self-recording records or dictation cassettes.

At the Media Theory Department of the University of Applied Arts and the Phonogrammarchiv of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Österreichische Mediathek of Vienna Museum of Science & Technology, the historical sound recordings on wax cylinders, sound wire, direct-cut discs, magnetic tape and various cassette formats, some of which are threatened by material degradation, are being restored, scientifically examined, archived, digitized and secured for the long term. The newly established and accessible reference collection will be built up using the knowledge of the donors, with whom interviews will be conducted on the significance of the audio letters as “memory objects”.

The aim of the project is to be able to describe the key developments, materials and characteristics of the acoustic letter from a cultural-historical as well as a conservation and material-science perspective. The reference collection, the associated metadata and the research results generated in the project will be available as open access data for further research and will stimulate and enable future interdisciplinary research in this field.

Collaborations

The SONIME project has collaborations with renowned institutions, projects and various experts: