Sound archives, serving as vital carriers of cultural heritage,present enhanced possibilities—including data storage and migration, cataloguing, annotation, implementation, and dissemination—through the application of digital humanities technologies. This interdisciplinary symposium, “The ‘Glocalisation’ Practices of Sound Archives,” explores the integration of sound archives with digital methods for their preservation,interpretation,and activation. Contributions include Professor Richard Wolf’s reflections on ethnomusicological film as a medium for archiving and contextualizing traditional music; Dr. Xiaoshi Wei’s emphasis on deep description and recontextualisation of private sound collections; Dr. Matthew James’s presentation on the AI-enhanced, globally-oriented “Echo Arc” project for audiovisual archives; and Curator Colin Chinnery(Qin Siyuan)’s discussion on the cultural and technical dimensions of sound collection and exhibition. Together, these case studies illustrate current interdisciplinary innovations and pathways in sound archive research, while underscoring the need for future digital practices to preserve cultural diversity better and ensure that sound is accurately heard, understood, and activated within a globalised framework.

sound archives , digital humanities music documentary , sound text , AI technology , cultural curation