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ARSCLIST  May 2006

ARSCLIST May 2006

Subject:

Re: Triage, heroic efforts, and economics

From:

"Scott D. Smith" <[log in to unmask]>

Reply-To:

Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>

Date:

Mon, 22 May 2006 18:55:19 -0500

Content-Type:

text/plain

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text/plain (229 lines)

And I must sadly agree that Peter is correct in his assessment of the 
situation regarding finding experienced engineers who have the knowledge 
and fortitude to take on some of the more challenging restoration and 
preservation tasks that come along in the course of dealing with old, 
damaged, and obsolete material.

Despite that ready availability of information on the internet, I am 
astonished at the lack of knowledge displayed by some of those who are 
engaged in the field of "audio restoration". And I'm not talking about 
the "do it yourself" home enthusiast with a Teac tape deck and a Dell 
laptop. I mean staff who are engaged at commercial facilities and 
institutions.

This is not a criticism, but merely an observation. It has been 
confirmed by what I have seen pass through our facility after someone 
else has attempted a "restoration" of a recording. Although we don't 
always know the direct cause of the damage, it was apparent in some 
situations that someone took an approach that turned what may have been 
a usable tape, film or disk into something that would have little chance 
of being salvaged.

Case in point: We recently had a job come to us that consisted of a 
number of reels of 17.5mm magnetic film. The material had previously 
been sent to another facility engaged in "restoration" work (name 
withheld to protect the not-so-innocent, and avoid nasty libel suits!). 
The facility in question stated that "there was no recorded material on 
the film". Not only were they dead wrong, but also apparently damaged 
the sprockets in the process (the institution that submitted the 
material claimed that it was in good condition when originally 
inspected).  So now what could have been a fairly straightforward 
project turns into a time consuming and expensive restoration, all 
because someone didn't understand what they were doing. I wish I could 
say that this was the exception, but sadly it is not. I think that Peter 
and a few others will no doubt have similar stories.

These kinds of sad stories will continue unless there is a concerted 
effort on the part of institutions and archives to raise the funds 
necessary to train staff in the evaluation and processes involved in 
dealing with various recorded materials, as well as attracting some of 
the few people we still have left with us that understand the details of 
the many recorded mediums that we now have (I'm talking about those that 
don't exist on a hard drive) While there have been some great papers 
published on the subject, we have a long, long way to go in implementing 
the recommendations they contain.

In the meantime, those with the critical knowledge that should be passed 
along are being lost to us at an astonishing rate. I can count at least 
20 engineers I have known in my lifetime whom I would consider to be 
exceptionally talented and knowledgeable who are now gone. In many 
cases, their knowledge has not been passed along (Howard Tremaine being 
the one major exception. Thank you Howard for your foresight). I know 
that there are hours of recordings and other material in the AES 
archives that should be transcribed, edited, and disseminated, but there 
are no funds.

Back to what Mike originally said, given the current state of affairs, I 
must say that I'm not holding my breath for any attention to be lavished 
on the problem at the federal or state funding level anytime soon. 
(Beyond what already is being done at NARA and the LOC)

Sorry for the long post... 'nuff said.

Scott D. Smith
Chicago Audio Works, Inc.


[log in to unmask] wrote:

>While I agree with most of what Peter Copeland says below, I sadly must
>disagree with his assumption that "Future restoration processes should
>inevitably be better than present-day ones."
>
>I am on a number of technical commissions that are involved in writing
>preservation standards dealing with magnetic tape and, having passed my 50th
>birthday, I am the youngest active member on these commissions.  To me, the
>greatest danger we face in the preservation of much of our recorded material
>is the rapid obsolescence of qualified technical personnel.  Just consider
>that we may soon be facing a new generation of technicians that have heard
>most of their music on iPods.
>
>I do encourage all my clients to retain their originals, but I feel that a
>good capture/transfer from legacy (non-automated) formats is much more
>likely to be accomplished today with competent and EXPERIENCED personnel
>than in the future.  Whatever new technical "toys" are developed, you still
>need to get the material off the old, curled, warped, shedding...tape BEFORE
>you can feed it into any kind of signal processor.  Where is the new
>generation that gives a #%*@ about doing the hard work required coming from?
>
>Peter Brothers
>President
>SPECS BROS., LLC
>(973)777-5055
>www.specsbros.com
>
>Restoration and Disaster Recovery Service Since 1983
>
>
>
>  
>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
>>[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Copeland, Peter
>>Sent: Tuesday, May 16, 2006 10:42 AM
>>To: [log in to unmask]
>>Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Triage, heroic efforts, and economics
>>
>>
>>Dear All,
>>    As usual, I am coming to this listserv nearly three weeks late, but
>>in my opinion there are three points which have not so far been
>>mentioned, and which should be considered during this debate.
>>(1) When preservation copying occurs, there may inevitably be losses
>>and/or distortions of the original sound (however you define those
>>terms)! In my opinion, it is vital to document the technical processes
>>used, either by copying a calibration disc (or tape, or cassette, etc.
>>etc. etc), or by incorporating a rigorous description of the copying
>>process itself and any assumptions about the original medium.
>>(2) Future restoration processes should inevitably be better than
>>present-day ones. So, keep the originals, so future archivists may have
>>another attempt!
>>(3) Likewise, do a bibliographic record of the way the *original* was
>>documented.
>>Peter Copeland
>>Former Conservation Manager,
>>British Library Sound Archive.
>>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
>>[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Mike Richter
>>Sent: 03 May 2006 15:41
>>To: [log in to unmask]
>>Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Triage, heroic efforts, and economics
>>
>>Robert Hodge wrote:
>>    
>>
>>>Hello,
>>>My response will be twofold and very easy to document.
>>>1-Preserve what funding can be acquired for first.
>>>2- Then, preserve, using my own time and resources, what I consider to
>>>      
>>>
>>be important. I gain much satisfaction out of doing that .
>>    
>>
>>>At least sound recordings don't require the large financial outlay
>>>      
>>>
>>that motion picture films require.
>>    
>>
>>>Bob Hodge
>>>      
>>>
>>It is a pleasure to see reality sneaking into this discussion. <G>
>>
>>Preservation depends critically on funding. Those among us looking at
>>non-renewing grants feel that in a way that we independent types do not.
>>
>>(I've been living on insurance for nearly twenty years now - not very
>>well but without "gainful employment".)
>>
>>Given limited resources of time, money and environment (space,
>>equipment), one must trade off preservation quality and quantity. The
>>finished product has a similar tradeoff. Each balance between quality of
>>
>>preservation and quantity has its place; in my opinion, there is no
>>fault to find with either high-rate, large bit-depth copies or low-rate,
>>
>>shallow catalogues. Each has its place.
>>
>>Over the last few years, I have produced a couple of dozen CD-ROMs for
>>distribution (and a thousand more for my own purposes). Each has of the
>>order of forty hours of audio in a volume of what I call an Audio
>>Encyclopedia. Each provides an overview of a topic rather in the style
>>of the old Book of Knowledge; each stands with respect to the source
>>recordings much as the catalogue of an exhibition of paintings does to
>>the exhibition itself.
>>
>>The most recent disc in the series offers the complete recordings of
>>Titta Ruffo in both easy-listening and high-rate versions. The
>>convenience of a single, cross-indexed disc more than compensates for
>>limited sound quality for the purpose of this compendium. It is the
>>purpose that drives the tradeoff which in turn dictates the resources to
>>
>>be applied.
>>
>>None of which should surprise anyone on this list.
>>
>>Mike
>>--
>>[log in to unmask]
>>http://www.mrichter.com/
>>
>>**************************************************************************
>>
>>Experience the British Library online at www.bl.uk
>>
>>Help the British Library conserve the world's knowledge. Adopt a
>>Book. www.bl.uk/adoptabook
>>
>>The Library's St Pancras site is WiFi - enabled
>>
>>**************************************************************************
>>
>>The information contained in this e-mail is confidential and may
>>be legally privileged. It is intended for the addressee(s) only.
>>If you are not the intended recipient, please delete this e-mail
>>and notify the [log in to unmask] : The contents of this e-mail
>>must not be disclosed or copied without the sender's consent.
>>
>>The statements and opinions expressed in this message are those
>>of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the British
>>Library. The British Library does not take any responsibility for
>>the views of the author.
>>
>>**************************************************************************
>>
>>
>>    
>>
>
>
>
>
>  
>

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