Re: [ARSCLIST] Wire recorders

[Eric Jacobs <ericj@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The use of amateur services is not so much about the
quality of the sound, but whether the entire asset
(the wire) might be lost in an unfortunate "tangle".

I know that no one can guarantee that a wire won't
accidentally be destroyed, but the probability of
success is probably higher (even if marginally so) when
done by a professional.  In this case, I'll define
"professional" as someone who works with wires
daily, or at least with regularity, on mechanically
reliable/well-tuned equipment.

But I wholeheartedly agree that budget issues frequently
get in the way of preserving historically valuable
audio assets, and even more so when it comes to making
them accessible.  This is sadly a truism across the entire
spectrum of historical preservation, not just audio.
And certainly a challenge to everyone in this forum.

Eric Jacobs
The Audio Archive


---- Original message ----
>Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2004 18:30:27 EDT
>From: Mwcpc6@xxxxxxx
>Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Wire recorders
>To: ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxx
>
>   In a message dated 7/15/2004 3:36:50 PM Eastern
>   Standard Time, alex.hartov@xxxxxxxxxxxxx writes:
>
>     I acknowledge all the recommendations to go with a
>     pro for doing the
>     transfer.  I am quite sure it's worth the
>     expenditure and would not
>     quibble about that.  Unfortunately, I do not have
>     a budget for that &
>     so will table the project for now.
>
>   *****************
>
>   I see this a lot nowadays. I have several
>   mechanically functioning wire recorders and in the
>   past have made transfers without restoring the
>   amplifiers simply connecting the head directly to an
>   amplifier's phono input. People have beeh quite
>   happy with the result. Some of these have been of
>   local interest and, with the permission of the
>   originators, copies have been donated to local
>   museum archives.  In some cases I have retained the
>   original wires so professional restorations could be
>   done if desired.
>
>   However, since the Internet has made it possible, I
>   have felt it ethical to inform a person asking, that
>   professional services are available and I provide
>   references, perhaps to some of those on this list.
>   Now, when I ask, perhaps months later, about the
>   wires (or discs or tapes) I get a response like the
>   one above.
>
>   Not that it applies in this case, but if a person
>   has 50+ year old recordings that he has made
>   himself, it is quite unlikely that he is really
>   going to get around to funding professional
>   processing of the work and equally unlikely that the
>   executor of his estate will have any idea of what
>   they are.
>
>   Whenever I see the advice that, if it is worth
>   doing; it is worth doing "right" I wonder how much
>   is being lost just because there isn't the funding
>   for proper professional restoration work.  Perhaps
>   it might be worth suggesting that an improvised,
>   amateur transfer be made, if only as a proof or work
>   print, to preserve and evaluate the material, if
>   nothing better is immediately practical.
>
>   Mike Csontos