Re: [ARSCLIST] Dictabelt transfers

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Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Dictabelt transfers
From: Tom Fine <tflists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 4 Jun 2007 20:34:31 -0400
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Wouldn't it be easier to do pitch-correction digitally once the transfer is done?

Christie, another worthwhile contact would be the LBJ Library in Texas. I think they supervised or did all the transfers that ended up in the two Michael Beschloss audiobooks of the LBJ "tapes", most of which are Dictabelts. I betcha modern processing could dramatically improve some of that audio, although the LBJ recordings, at least those on the Beschloss audio books, tend to be phone-line recordings and are much better audibility than Nixon tapes which tend to be poorly-mic room-conversation recordings, although there are plenty of phone recordings too. BTW, if any listmembers are interested in the LBJ presidency, I very highly recommend you get your hands on the audiobook version of the two Beschloss books. Reading the transcripts in the printed books comes nowhere close to hearing the conversations. I think a final volume is due to come out at some point as the second volume only got up to where LBJ decides not to run in 1968. There needs to be a third volume covering the bad end, as I understand it LBJ was making recordings up until the day he left office, and afterward but those might be private property.

I gave Art Shifrin two Dictabelt machines and I think he got one fully restored and does this work regularly but I might be mistaken. I know he does IBM magnetic belts using a modified Dictabelt mechanism.

-- Tom Fine

----- Original Message ----- From: "David Breneman" <david_breneman@xxxxxxxxx> To: <ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Monday, June 04, 2007 5:50 PM Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Dictabelt transfers

--- Christie Peterson <cpeterso@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I'm interested in speaking with anyone who has had dictabelts in
your
collection transferred relatively recently (say, in the last 3-5
years).  I'd like to know who did the work for you (I presume no
one is doing this in-house, but please correct me if I'm wrong),
I have a Dictaphone I use occasionally for transfers, but it's
far from ideal as the speeds of these things vary and I am yet
to contrive some sort of pitch control for mine other than
applying splicing a splicing tape "tire" to either the driving
or driven belt pulley. Tom recommended Art, and he's well
regarded - can't go wrong using him.  I'm sure he's long ago
solved this problem.
David Breneman david_breneman@xxxxxxxxx

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