Obviously, even before Alan Lomax's meeting there were those who recorded Basque songs abroad. In 1938, for example, it was recorded in England in Song of the Basque Children. The children, interpreters, left the port of Santurtzi on the boat SS Havana on the night of May 22, 1937 and went to Southampton. Ten years later, in 1949, Song of the Basques was recorded in Boise, Idaho (USA). A week of music was held in the capital of Idaho, where the Basques were invited. The Biscayan pastors gathered together, they talked about what to sing, how to sing, and they participated. They say people cried when they heard the songs of the old Basque Country.

On the other hand, at home, Ximun Haran, a renowned pelotari, was in charge of collecting the songs. “We were pelotaris, and after teaching us our game in every corner, we gladly accepted the invitation we were given to dinner in the village bar at night. As soon as the last verse approached, the desire to sing took hold of him and the songs continued until very late. Queheille de Altzürükü sang Belatsa one night, a beautiful no-lettering song that mimics the flight of a gavilan. While listening to Queheille, Mixel Epher murmured: ‘He is the only one who knows how to sing; with him the song will also disappear’. What I heard worried me, so I decided to go to Frankfurt to buy a Grundig.” The documentary began in Barkoxe, Senpere and Amotz, Larrain and Santa Grazi, and then in Bermeo, Azkoitia and Bilbao. About a hundred tapes were rolled, and the result was six vinyl discs, published within the Euskal Museoa collection. In 2003, Elkar republished the work Xiberoko kantüak.