Re: [ARSCLIST] Discerning where a tape has been stored

[John Ross <johnross@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

At  6/18/2005 11:19 PM, Melodie Myers wrote:
> My question concerning the tapes is... can you glean specific information
> from an analogue tape that has some age on it, not only an idea of when the
> tape was manufactured, but where it might have been

I wonder if some other approach to tracking the provenance of a tape might
be more believable than analyzing dust or mold? The two that come to mind are:

1) a yellowing newspaper clipping inside the box (or taped to the outside)
that contains both an advert or listing for the gig in question, and the
name and date of the newspaper

or 2) Very low-level audible RF interference on the recording itself that
comes from a local radio station, including the location (e.g., the station
ID) and the date -- maybe a newscast that begins, "It's Tuesday, August
third 1954, and I'm Announcer's Name with the news for Heaving Springs..."
or a unique news story that can pinpoint the date, such as a big fire or an
election. Or maybe the recording itself might be an off-the-air tape from
the local radio station which the original recordist let run to include the
station ID and date before the tape ran out.

John Ross
Northwest Folklife
Seattle