This item consists of 9 original field notebooks used by NB Tindale to record song data. Apart from one notebook recording details of studio sessions with Clarence Long, they were written during a number of expeditions of the University of Adelaide's Board for Anthropological Research. Apparently these notebooks contain rough notes that were later transferred by Tindale to the pages of his expedition journals.

The data relate mainly to wax cylinder recordings. Included are song transcriptions, accompanying notes on the identities of singers, origins of songs, and occasional notes on vocabulary and ethnological observations.

Note that while Tindale apparently ascribed songs to tribal groups on the basis of the singer's associations, the actual language or ownership of the song in question is not necessarily attested in the catalogue descriptions below.

For additional details see the South Australian Museum Speech and Sound Collections register, Alice Moyle's (1966) A Handlist of Field Collections of Recorded Music in Australia and Torres Strait and, ultimately, the relevant Tindale field journals (series AA 338/1).

1. Macdonald Downs (NT) and Cockatoo Creek (NT) song records (1930-31)
   1 x soft cover notebook and 1x loose annotated envelope (formerly located at AA 338/2/23). The notebook consists of 2 sections relating to the University of Adelaide's Board for Anthropological Research expeditions to Macdonald Downs (1930) and Cockatoo Creek (1931) respectively. The first section has notes on 24 Iliaura songs recorded on wax cylinders during the 1930 expedition, additional notes, and a loose envelope with notes relating to a grinding axe. It also contains a list of 20 Iliaura words. The second section has notes on 18 Ilpirra (Warlpiri) songs recorded on wax cylinders at Cockatoo Creek in 1931. Most of the songs are transcribed with many accompanied by English translations or glosses.
   For further information see S. A. Museum Speech and Sound Collections register entries AS 19-44 and AS 1-18, as well as Tindale's journals 'Anthropological Expedition to MacDonald Downs, Central Australia. Aug.- Sept. 1930' (AA 338/1/6) and 'Expedition to Cockatoo Creek, Central Australia, August 6-27, 1931' (AA 338/1/7). The wax cylinders are located at AA 338/11/1/1-14 and AA 338/11/3/1-13 respectively.
   
   
2. Mt Liebig (NT) song records (1932)
   1 x soft cover notebook containing notes on the making of wax cylinder song records by NB Tindale and Thomas Draper Campbell (AA 52) during the Mt Liebig (NT) 1932 Board for Anthropological Research expedition. The songs are attributed to Pintubi and Ngalia people. For further details see the S. A. Museum Speech and Sound Collections register entries AS 45-72, and 'Journal of an Expedition to Mt Liebig, Central Australia to do Anthropological Research by Norman B. Tindale, Adelaide 1932' (AA 338/1/8). The wax cylinders are located at AA 338/11/4/1-26.
   
   
3. Clarence Long (Milerum) song records (1932)
   1 x soft cover notebook containing notes on the making of wax cylinder song records by NB Tindale and Edward Harold Davies at Adelaide in 1932. The notes comment on 16 songs sung by Clarence Long (Milerum), which relate to the Tanganekald, Yaraldekald, Meintaŋk, Tatiara, Raminjeri, and Potaruwutj tribes of the South East of South Australia. In Tindale's 1937 article 'Native songs of the South East of South Australia', Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, Vol.61, pp. 107-120, he notes that 19 songs were sung by Clarence Long and transcribed, but only 16 were recorded. See also S. A. Museum Speech and Sound Collections register entries AS 341-359 and 'Journal of Researches in the South East of S. Australia by Norman B. Tindale. Volume 1. 1931-1934 with some earlier notes copied in' (AA 338/1/33/1). The wax cylinders are located at AA 338/11/5/1-15.
   
   
4. Mann Range (SA) song records (1933)
   1 x soft cover notebook containing notes on the making of wax cylinder song records by NB Tindale at the Mann Ranges in 1933. These notes represent only a partial set of the total recordings made during the Mann & Musgrave Ranges (SA) 1933 Board for Anthropological Research expeditions. The songs relate primarily to Pitjandjara, Jankundjara, Pintubi, Kokata and Aranda people. For further details see Tindale's 'Journal of an Anthropological Expedition to the Mann and Musgrave Ranges, North West of South Australia, May-July 1933, and a personal record of the Anthropological expedition to Ernabella, Aug.1933, by Norman B. Tindale, Adelaide 1933', and S. A. Museum Speech and Sound Collections register entries AS 73-223. The wax cylinders are located at AA 338/11/6/1-28.
   
   
5. Musgrave Range (SA) song records (1933)
   1 x soft cover notebook containing notes on the making of wax cylinder song records by NB Tindale and Henry Kenneth Fry (AA 105) during the Musgrave Range (SA) 1933 Board for Anthropological Research expedition. These notes represent a partial record of songs recorded during the Mann & Musgrave Ranges expeditions of 1933. For further details see Tindale's 'Journal of an Anthropological Expedition to the Mann and Musgrave Ranges, North West of South Australia, May-July 1933, and a personal record of the Anthropological expedition to Ernabella, Aug.1933, by Norman B. Tindale, Adelaide 1933', and S. A. Museum Speech and Sound Collections register entries AS 73-223. The wax cylinders are located at AA 338/11/6/1-28.
   
   
6. Diamantina (SA) song records (1934)
   1 x soft cover notebook containing notes on the making of wax cylinder song records by NB Tindale during the Diamantina (SA) 1934 Board for Anthropological Research expedition. The notes relate to '15 songs of the Jawurawalka, Ngamani, Wonkanguru, Aranda and Dieri' tribes (AA 338/1/12, p.201). Tindale often noted the origin and ownership of a song, the identity of the singer, and attempted transcriptions and (often partial) English glosses. For further details see the wax cylinder listing at AA 338/11/10/1-14.
   
   
7. Yuendumu (NT) song records (1951)
   1 x excercise book containing notes on 5 songs recorded by NB Tindale during the Yuendumu (NT) 1951 Board for Anthropological Research expedition. Apparently, the wire recordings made by Tindale did not survive. The S. A. Museum Speech and Sound Collections register AS393-408 indicates that the original recordings could not be located c.1964 when the register was compiled. For further details see the copy of Tindale's Yuendumu journal, AA 338/4/31.
   
   
8. 'Rough notes on tape recordings at Haast Bluff, C. Aus. Aug. 1957'
   1 x excercise book and 31 x loose pages containing notes on songs recorded by NB Tindale during the Haast Bluff (NT)1957 Board for Anthropological Research expedition.
   
   
9. 'Rough notes, Mornington & Bent[inck] Island, 1963'
   1 x small notebook containing notes on ethnological observations and songs.
   
   
10. 'Warburton Range Wax Cylinder recordings 1935'
    1 x excercise book containg notes on 8 songs recorded by NB Tindale.
    
    

Tindale Tribes: Iliaura; Aranda; Walpiri; Pintubi; Ngalia; Tanganekald; Jarildekald; Meintangk; Potaruwutj; Ramindjeri; Pitjandjara; Jangkundjara; Kokata; Jauraworka; Ngameni; Wongkanguru; Dieri.