Reel 2 Real - David Mowat

The David Mowat Collection

Mowat tapes 2 The David Mowat collection of field recordings from India consists of ten audiocassettes recorded in Karnataka (South India), New Delhi, and Madhya Pradesh in 1987. The original recordings are held at the British Library (C350).

The Recordings

The recordings contain a rich variety of different singing styles, including men, women and children singing, as well as many different instruments including violins, wind instruments, rattles, and a variety of percussion instruments.

Field Collections

Sound Galleries

Musical torchlit trails at the Pitt Rivers Museum

On Friday November 23rd 2012, the galleries of the Pitt Rivers Museum were plunged into evening darkness and bathed in Bayaka music and sound from the Central African Republic. Visitors were given torches to explore the galleries that were transformed into a rich forest soundscape with sung fables, snatches of laughter, beautiful variations on harps and flutes, and the stunning polyphonic singing of Bayaka women. Hidden surprises included mini projections from the rainforests and a visualiser designed by Nathaniel Mann, the PRM's Embedded Composer in Residence. The evening was filmed By Mike Day of Intrepid Cinema as part of the Reel to Real project, and complemented the Oxford City-wide Christmas Light Night organised by Oxford Inspires. A four hour playlist of Bayaka music from the PRM's sound collections, originally recorded by Louis Sarno, was curated on the evening by Nathaniel Mann and Dr Noel Lobley. The event was streamed online, and was watched live in the Central African Republic by Louis Sarno and some of the Bayaka community.