Methods of Preservation

Te Ao Hou, June 1964, Page 35

Methods of Preservation Fortunately, the preservation of the words of the songs presented few problems; they can be written down, and have been so written for generations. Thousands of texts are available, either from printed collections or from the manuscript waiata books still held by many families. In Pei Te Hurinui's revision of Sir Apirana Ngata's ‘Nga Moteatea’ there are already 200 fully annotated songs complete with song histories and translations into English. Here alone there is a wealth of material, and it can be had at any book shop. Some time this year, Part Three of ‘Nga Moteatea’ is due for publication; this will add a further 100 songs to those already published. At least as important as the words of the waiata are the airs. There are two methods of preserving the airs. The first method is by musical notation, and the second is by means of sound recording. Notation forms a permanent record, and like its counterpart in the written word, it makes possible the study of the song at leisure. It does, however, require training to interpret, and even so the musician needs to be familiar with the style. It can be used unaided for learning a song, but is more useful as a

supplement to other methods. Tape recordings offer by far the most useful means of first preserving and then learning the songs. In a tape recording, the song is captured complete in all its detail and the recording can be played again and again without noticeable loss of quality.