BISA 2025: Sound Heritage Research & Innovation
15th and 16 th May 2025, Manchester.
The British and Irish Sound Archives (BISA) invite colleagues who work with, hold or have an interest in sound collections to join us for two days of presentations, practical sessions, and discussions. This is an opportunity to meet and discuss with colleagues from across the UK and Ireland.
The conference will be hosted at Manchester Central Library.
Tickets are now available via Eventbrite at this link.
Tickets are priced at £55 waged / £20 unwaged for 2 days attendance. One day rate available at £27.50 waged / £10 unwaged.
Full programme is now available to view here:
Thursday 15 May
10.30 - 13.00 Arrival, tour and introduction
10.30 - 11.00 Arrival and registration
Delegates arrive & register at Performance Space, Ground Floor, Central Library, St Peter’s Square, Manchester M2 5PD
11.00 - 12.45 Tours of Central Library
David Govier (Sound Archivist), Darren Rawcliffe (Special Collections), Thom Williams (Visitor Information), Alison Gill (Heritage Archives Manager) and Nick Gladden (Director, North West Film Archive)
12.45 - 13.00 Welcome and introduction
Neil MacInnes OBE (Head of Libraries, Archives, Galleries and Cultural Services, Manchester City Council)
13.00 - 14.00 Lunch
14.00 - 16.00 Practical workshops (delegates choose one)
How to buy and run analogue equipment
Iain Betson, AV Resilience
An introduction to purchasing and maintaining reel-to-reel machines:
- Sourcing machines: what to look for, what to avoid, running costs, desirable features
- Track formats - mono, half and quarter track and why your tape plays backwards!
- Routine maintenance for day-to-day operation: cleaning and testing
- Maintenance: lubrication. Testing brakes. Pinch roller condition
- Signs that your machine is not happy: screeching tape, dumping tape, etc.
Data protection and oral history
Mary Stewart (Lead Curator, Oral History, British Library) and Charlie Morgan (Oral History Archivist, British Library)
Seven years since the introduction of GDPR, it is an opportune moment to explore the impact of the legislation and its application for oral history - both new material and archived collections. We actively welcome reflections and contributions from those attending the session. Outline:
- Introduction to data protection and oral history
- Scenario group work and reporting back
- ‘Clinic’ on real life data protection dilemmas from the group (submitted in advance by email)
16.00 - 16.30 Coffee
16.30 - 17.30 Performance
Delia Derbyshire Archive inspired music performance
Caro C & Zolatec (music/sound artists)
The Delia Derbyshire archive is a treasure trove of electronic music heritage and a source of inspiration about the life and working process of a key figure in the development of electronic music. Artist and Delia Derbyshire Day instigator Caro C introduces the Delia Derbyshire Archive held by The University of Manchester and performs a live piece with Zolatec, inspired by the archive.
Thanks and Close Day One
Delegates are encouraged to join the committee for a meal and drinks (not included, details to be confirmed)
Friday 16 May
10.00 - 11.00 Research Papers
Now Hear Then: Introducing geolocated audio
Suzie Cloves (Postgraduate Researcher, Manchester Metropolitan University)
This paper will present findings from Now Hear Then (NHT), which has used geolocated sound to study a geographic community as a sonic living archive. NHT expands on prior research which found that people form stronger bonds with places that they understand to have heritage value. Those findings were limited to conserved historic environments with established reputations for aesthetic heritage value. To augment this, NHT sought informal and under-recognised heritage sites from a residential community in Stockport (UK). Audio interviews with community-members were turned into a sonic geolocated trailscape, which was used as an intervention to study their effect on listeners' attitudes to the place itself. For comparative purposes, a second trailscape highlighted formally recognised heritage sites within the area. The paper will share statistical findings from this analysis, but will foreground practical workflows developed during the project which may be useful to sound archive practitioners. Now Hear Then was funded by The Leverhulme Trust and based at Manchester Metropolitan University.
Sound in space, space in sound: Sound heritage in spaces, sites, and objects
Cameron Naylor (Postgraduate Researcher, University of Manchester)
This presentation is about my work as a PhD researcher in sound art at the University of Manchester, exploring recording and sound library making and its role in public accessibility in heritage venues around Manchester. The talk will draw from my various research activities, facilitating community sound recording drives, recording the objects and sounds within the space, as well as active listening tours, and acoustic measurement of the spaces using impulse responses to curate a sound archive of the space through a multiplicity of ears.
The output of these activities concern spatial and site-responsive audio compositions, as well as cutting edge multichannel recording techniques and their use in accessibility and archiving the three-dimensional sound of a space, for use in sonic preservation, reproduction, and for use in multichannel music composition.
Many questions arise from the research undertaken, with the sound archive being framed by its dual purpose of being both a source for composition, as well as for use by the public. How do we handle this material? By era? By room? I suggest that the answer benefits from a multifaceted approach, and interrogate the links that may arise through interdisciplinary means.
11.00 - 11.15 Coffee
11.30 - 13.00 Current sound archive work
Sounds of the South West progress report
Katie Scaife (Sounds of the South West Project Manager, Bristol City Council)
Sounds of the South West is one of several legacy projects of Unlocking Our Sound Heritage (the UK wide, British Library-led, National Lottery Heritage Fund supported archival audio digitisation project that ran from 2018-2022).
Building on the momentum generated by UOSH, Archives South West, the regional network for local authority archives, devised a similar audio digitisation project for south-west England and were delighted when the National Lottery Heritage Fund agreed to support it. The project, Sounds of the South West, is currently in its Development year. In August 2025 they will submit their development year evaluation and Delivery Phase bid to the Lottery; if they are successful, this will unlock a further three years of funding for audio digitisation and access work. The SotSW team have been working through particular issues arising regarding the NLHF’s requirement for digital outputs to be made available online with an Open Licence (CC-BY 4.0) vs the ethics of applying an open licence to oral histories and orphan works that may be of interest to others planning Lottery bids.
OHS Archives SIG oral history survey
Charlie Morgan (Oral History Archivist, British Library) and Kate O’Neill (Sound Archivist, Essex Record Office)
Since January 2025 the Archives Special Interest Group of the Oral History Society (OHS) has been asking local authority archives across the UK to complete a survey about how they archive oral histories. The survey aimed to explore the current challenges faced by archivists in looking after oral history collections, as well as the opportunities that oral histories offer. We will be presenting some of the initial findings from the survey, looking particularly at the resources and training archivists and curators might need in archiving oral histories and whether this is something BISA can support.
Sound archive work in the North West
David Govier (Sound Archivist, Manchester Central Library)
It is now ten years since the closure of the North West Sound Archive and the dispersal of its collections around the NW region. Since then, Archives+ hosted the region’s UOSH hub and has subsequently worked on National Lottery projects digitising RNCM concert recordings and Piccadilly Radio broadcasts. Alongside this local work, the National Archives funded a Networks for Change grant which enabled NW county record offices to receive playback kit and training. This presentation will focus on how non-specialist repositories can make progress on their sound archives.
Panel Q&A
13.00 - 14.00 Break (lunch not included)
14.00 - 15.30 Annual General Meeting
Chaired by Alistair Bell (BISA Chairperson)
We will be using our AGM as a chance to update and discuss plans on how BISA can continue to support people working with sound archives. This will include:
- an update on progress made by the BISA working party on the future of BISA in 2024
- an introduction to the network, resources and guidance we can share with each other
- an introduction to a plan and discussion around training and meeting programme for 25/26.
Please bring ideas of useful guides and resources you use for sound archives, and ideas of topics for further training.
Close Day Two