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Re: [ARSCLIST] 78rpm archaeology project
For my two final papers/proposal, I am writing a semifictional lead-in from the
perspective of a 78, from pressing to excavation by an archaeologist. This sort
of intro actually has a bit of precedence among archaeologists, though they
usually write from the point of view of human agents. I have been watching the
National Telefilms "Making Records with Duke Ellington" short and am
wondering- was each batch of shellac compound really put into a press by hand
or was it much more mechanized and they just showed the waffle-iron press to
elucidate the process? I assume the label is applied after the record emerges
from the press..or? Here's the movie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=hjKlFFp4-IE
Thanks!
---- Original message ----
>Date: Fri, 21 Dec 2007 20:28:52 -0600
>From: Jeffrey Kane <jeffkane@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] 78rpm archaeology project
>To: ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxx
>
>Regarding extracting audio... sounds like a job for IRENE if it were to work
>at all.
>
>http://irene.lbl.gov/
>
>As to the rest; I'll be very interested to see the responses. Given how
>difficult it can be to track such characteristics when dealing with unbroken
>artifacts the mind boggles at attempting to do the same for a mass of
>fragments!
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
>[mailto:ARSCLIST@xxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Oliver Mueller-Heubach
>Sent: Friday, December 21, 2007 7:12 PM
>To: ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>Subject: [ARSCLIST] 78rpm archaeology project
>
>Hello all- I'm finally back to work on my paper on the archaeological 78
>fragments. Just thought I'd post again- looking for information on matrix
>numbers. Say I handed you a fragment of 78 with a whole or partial matrix
>number.. What are some differences between how the different companies
>numbered discs- including the physical engraving/stamping font, placement,
>etc.? I am going through my shelf, measuring edges, recording space, etc.
>trying to come up with a trait list by brand, date range, etc. The audio
>recovery
>portion is rather 'dead in the water' at present. I have had several folks
>tell me
>that the digital restoration techniques are only set up to restore intact or
>near-
>intact records. Also, there seems to be a consensus that no database exists
>that
>would allow an automatic search to match the sound chart from a fragment to
>digitized recordings. I tried my analog approach of physically cutting and
>pasting a fragment into a rough but intact disc. I actually got it to work
>once,
>albeit with a few skips (I had inserted a black label RCA Victor fragment
>into a
>thrashed RCA Victor donor disc). I thought I could hear a horn and imagined
>a
>larger band in the rapid blurbs of sound. As this may have been an artifact
>of
>my knowing the source of the fragment (Guy Lombardo from the bottom of a
>sleeve in an auction box lot) I would have had to do a blind test.
>Unfortunately, I
>have not been able to repeat the success- aligning the pitch/spiral is much
>more difficult than I thought. At any rate, it is entirely too much of a
>nuisance to
>be applied in an archaeological lab environment. So, if anyone has any
>further
>suggestions on extracting audio, I would be very grateful! I'm afraid I'll
>have to
>stick to the trait lists and to recommendations for interpreting 78s
>vis-a-vis
>their find condition, location on a home-site, etc. Thanks again- happy
>holidays!
>ollie