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50 years of working with cassettes from age 17 makes it easy! I am sure the people in the room heard it, and it was picked up by the built-in mic of the recorder. The solution would have been to remove the cassette and slap it gently on the table to align the rounds of tape.

Now we have software that can fix it if needed.
:-)

I used to work with a group of interviewers and we saw every kind of mistake and odd sounds�
<L>
Lou Judson
Intuitive Audio
415-883-2689

On Jul 7, 2017, at 11:20 AM, Timothy Wisniewski <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Lou, this makes sense, especially given the fact that the sound occurs
> right after a break in the recording.
> On Jul 7, 2017 2:00 PM, "Lou Judson" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 
>> I thought I knew halfway through your first paragraph. It sounds as though
>> it was recorded on a boom box or portable deck, and the creaky sound is the
>> tape in the shell grinding against the edges. It also slows down the
>> background whine at the same time (actually slowed the recording, so the
>> pitch rises with the squeaks and drops between), so I�d say it was a badly
>> rewound tape, and a recordist who did not pay attention (nor did they
>> listen on headphones while recording, but, hey, it�s an amateur recording!).
>> 
>> Apparently it only happened while recording, not on playback.
>> 
>> I ran it through Izotope RX and here is the result on the first two creaks:
>> 
>> <https://www.dropbox.com/s/ryvrkj636z622ef/OralHistory_
>> unexplained_sound%20RX.mp3?dl=0>
>> 
>> Easy fix!
>> 
>> <L>
>> Lou Judson
>> Intuitive Audio
>> 415-883-2689
>> 
>> On Jul 7, 2017, at 10:40 AM, Dave Radlauer <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>> 
>>> Yes, I listened.  And it sounds like a noise in the room. IMHO.  Dave
>>> 
>>> On Fri, Jul 7, 2017 at 10:34 AM, Timothy Wisniewski <
>>> [log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>> 
>>>> Thanks for the suggestion, Dave.  Have you listened to the sample?  It's
>>>> more of an electro-mechanical type of stretchy/creaky sound, doesn't
>> sound
>>>> like a rocking chair to me.
>>>> 
>>>> On Fri, Jul 7, 2017 at 1:24 PM, Dave Radlauer <[log in to unmask]>
>> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>>> Rocking Chair?
>>>>> 
>>>>> On Fri, Jul 7, 2017 at 10:10 AM, Timothy Wisniewski <
>>>>> [log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>>>> 
>>>>>> Happy Friday, colleagues!
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> I'm digitizing some oral history cassettes and I've come across a very
>>>>>> interesting sound on one of the tapes.  This is a continual stretchy
>>>>> creaky
>>>>>> sound that occurs for about a half-second every 3 seconds. At first, I
>>>>>> suspected it to be a result of some variant of soft binder syndrome,
>>>> but
>>>>>> both baking and cold playback has had no effect at all on the sound.
>>>>> Also,
>>>>>> I am not hearing any "squeal" from within the cassette deck, only this
>>>>>> strange sound coming through the amplified playback. The tape is not
>>>>>> shedding oxide.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> After playing through the tape, I've discovered the sound occurs for
>>>> only
>>>>>> about 7 minutes in the recording, and begins immediately after a break
>>>> in
>>>>>> the recording. Also, the way the sound trails off when it stops seems
>>>> to
>>>>>> indicate to me something that was recorded inadvertently by the
>>>>> microphone,
>>>>>> perhaps a sound from the tape recorder itself. There is a subtle sort
>>>> of
>>>>>> "room presence" that the sound has at the very end occurring along
>>>> with a
>>>>>> sound like something being dropped. All of this has now has me
>> thinking
>>>>> the
>>>>>> sound is something in the original recording rather than an artifact
>>>>> being
>>>>>> introduced during playback.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> The cassette is an off-brand, brown oxide variant.  The original
>>>>> recording
>>>>>> is from 1975. Below is a link to a one minute sample, towards the end
>>>> of
>>>>>> the sound.  Pay particular attention near the end of the sample when
>>>> the
>>>>>> sound trails off.  If anyone has any ideas as to what this sound may
>>>> be,
>>>>>> I'd be most interested!
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> https://jh.box.com/s/kvsaork509ckuo4h54v47cxappwve4aa
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Thanks,
>>>>>> Tim
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> --
>>>>>> Timothy Wisniewski, M.L.I.S.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Visual Materials Archivist
>>>>>> Alan Mason Chesney Medical Archives
>>>>>> Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions
>>>>>> 5801 Smith Avenue, Suite 235
>>>>>> Baltimore, MD 21209
>>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> --
>>>>> 
>>>>> cell and text# 510-717-5240
>>>>> www.JAZZHOTBigstep.com
>>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> --
>>>> Timothy Wisniewski, M.L.I.S.
>>>> 
>>>> Visual Materials Archivist
>>>> Alan Mason Chesney Medical Archives
>>>> Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions
>>>> 5801 Smith Avenue, Suite 235
>>>> Baltimore, MD 21209
>>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> --
>>> 
>>> cell and text# 510-717-5240
>>> www.JAZZHOTBigstep.com
>>> 
>> 
>