The Shambhala Archives Audio Holdings
The Shambhala Archives' audio holdings consist of recordings generated
by events in, or related to, the Shambhala community. We house a growing
collection of more than 15,000 audio reel to reel and cassette recordings.
Approximately 7,500 audio recordings of the teachings of Venerable Chögyam
Trungpa Rinpoche were created from as early as 1969 until his death in
1987. He arrived in North America early in 1970, and sound recordings of
his teaching activities exist from June of that year. In addition to recordings
of Trungpa Rinpoche created during this period, the Archives' audio holdings
include thousands of recordings of lectures by a variety of Buddhist teachers
involved with the Shambhala community. Sound recordings created after Trungpa
Rinpoche’s death have continued to be transferred to the Archives on a
regular basis. The majority of these recordings are material by other Buddhist
teachers, including a growing collection of recordings by Sakyong Mipham
Rinpoche, the president of Shambhala, as well as by other Vajradhatu and
Nalanda Foundation teachers. Copies of a number of the sound recordings
held by the Shambhala Archives are available from Kalapa Recordings. More
information about the cultural and historical background of the creation
of much audio material in our custody is included in the fonds level descriptions
of our audio holdings.
Audio Recovery Project
The Shambhala Archives has undertaken planning for an extensive audio remastering
project to reformat and transcribe many of the sound recordings in its
custody. Our holdings include more than 15,000 audio recordings, including
over 7,500 cassettes. Some of these recordings were created almost thirty
years ago, and are highly endangered because of age. History of their storage
varies, as does the quality of original recording materials. Remastering
is a necessary step in the retention of these holdings. Planning for the
project includes determining the best archival formats and conservation
techniques, investigating proper housing and storage, developing automated
labeling and record keeping, and raising needed funds. In 1997, as an important
step toward digital remastering, the Shambhala Archives purchased a Sonic
Solutions Digital Audio Workstation. We estimate that completion of audio
remastering could take between ten and fifteen years. More about the Audio
Recovery Project in this technical paper by two
members of our staff.