The Weekly Archivist interview: Music Archivist

Florence Moshatana
Music Archivist: SABC Radio Archives

The SABC Radio Archives has seven Archivists who specialize in specific areas/languages of expertise with regards the audio collections being kept in the Archives. A weekly interview is posted where the same questions are asked to each of the Archivists.

The Archivist answering the questions this week is Florence Moshatana. She is the Music Archivist. She has been with the SABC Radio Archives for 4 years.

Florence, please tell us a little bit about yourself. (Where you grew up, where and what you studied and your work experience before you joined the SABC Radio Archives)

I was born in Pimville, and grow up in Botlokwa district, Ha Phasha village. I began my music studies in 1993 at Madimba Institution of African music with the aim of learning African music. After completing my diploma, the only institution that was available to learn indigenous music was Rhodes University and the University of Venda. I  went to UNIVEN in 1994 to study music. I managed to obtain Bachelor of Arts in Music (BAMUS); Honours degree in music (BAHMUS) and a post graduate diploma in Education (PDGE) (music methodology). In 2004 I joined SAPS Band (Mpumalanga police band) where I played Euphonium and Alto saxophone. They perform indoor and outdoor; police parades; street matches and Polmusca festivals.

Please tell us about a normal day in your studio. What material do you give priority to?

My normal day in the studio involves recording, editing, cataloguing, quality checking and labels.
The material that I give priority to is music interviews, presentation and discussion.

Tell us more about your collection and the scope of material you need to preserve.

My backlog includes music and music programs from different radio stations such as SAFM and RSG.

Do you struggle with technical difficulties, and if so, what?

I do encounter challenges in Dalet, and sometimes Wavelab. Marius, our sound engineer, is always available to help.

If you have an anecdote about a specific piece of interesting audio material, please share it with us.

Music interview and performance: RSG Programme (Oppiradio): Frits Klaaste in conversation with Ishmael Pops Mohammed about Khoisan music, the history (language), instruments and the style of music. It is very valuable in terms of heritage value!

Tell us why you enjoy doing the work that you do.

I feel comfortable working in a music environment, being knowledgeable about serious and light music, challenges and problems experienced by musicians in the music industry and educators in the classroom. And also meeting researchers from other countries, such as the UK.

Related posts:
The Weekly Archivist interview: News and Actuality
The Weekly Archivist interview: Sport Archivist
The Weekly Archivist interview: Channel Africa collection

Questions and blog post by Karen du Toit, Afrikaans Archivist in the SABC Radio Archives.