Preserving Vintage and Historic WNYC Broadcasts Inside This Issue

Spring 2013 Preserving Vintage and Historic WNYC Broadcasts Andy Lanset

In September 2010 the Digitization was done New York Public Radio according to IASA Archives embarked on (International Associa- a two-and-a-half year tion of Sound and project to preserve, Audiovisual Archives) digitize, catalog, and TC04 Guidelines on the post on the web at least Production and Preser- 660 hours of vintage vation of Digital Audio and historic WNYC Objects. broadcasts (on lacquer (Continued on page 2) disc and tape) from the New York City Munici- pal Archives WNYC audio collection. Along the way, at least 100 items would be singled out for more extensive write-ups as part of a blog series known as Inside this issue: Annotations. The project was made possible Playback in Reel Time 3 by the generous support of a Preservation Michael Feinstein Initiative 3 and Access grant provided by the National RHA Cylinders at NYPL 4 Endowment for the Hu- manities. AVID at U of Florida 8

Organ Recordings at 10 Oklahoma

Editor: Jack Falk

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Broadcast wave files For more information (BWF) with a sample about the overall pro- rate of 96 kHz/24 bit ject: http:// were created and www.wnyc.org/ stored in our digital as- archives-and- set management system preservation/ for every catalog item. neh_project/ While both discs and To browse through and tapes were physically listen to the posted pro- cleaned, there was no grams: http:// signal processing done www.wnyc.org/ so that we would have a municipalcollection/ proper baseline archival transfer. The broadcasts also in- The bulk of the preser- clude New York Herald vation, cataloging and The project has been Tribune Books and Au- project work was done completed with some thor talks, Overseas by two talented archi- 700 hours of material Press Club addresses, vists, Haley Richardson now searchable and civil defense programs, and Emily Vinson, both streaming on the web American Music Festi- University of Texas with a carefully con- val concerts, media School of Information structed taxonomy, commentaries by Gil- graduates. While they more than 100 blog bert Seldes, and recep- also did some blog- posts and an automated tions at City Hall by vis- ging, the bulk of this Twitter feed sending iting dignitaries. Some work was done by con- out timely posts of the voices heard in tract writers and re- pegged to the respec- this project are Jane Ja- searchers with input tive broadcast anniver- cobs, Rachel Carson, from NYPR Archives saries and another Twit- Vance Packard, Gen- staff. To read and listen ter feed aimed specifi- eral Eisenhower, Will to the featured blogs: cally at publicizing au- Durant, Jimmy Durante, http://www.wnyc.org/ dio material from for- S.J. Perelman, Robert F. blogs/neh-preservation mer Mayor Fiorello H. Kennedy, Van Cliburn, -project/ La Guardia's famous Joseph Papp, Jackie WNYC Talk to the Peo- Robinson, Carol Chan- ple broadcasts during ning, Leadbelly and World War II. Robert Moses.

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Playback in Reel Time Eric Cartier

At the University of cartridges, but some of contingent upon sound And yet, once we com- Maryland, work is un- the archival items have levels that did not dra- pletely converted the derway to mount an ex- given us serious trou- matically rise or fall tape, we celebrated our hibit about WMUC, the ble. (keep in mind that efforts, because we freeform college radio these are amateur re- knew it contained cool Besides that problem station that will cele- cordings). student deejay banter common to audiovisual brate its 70th year on air that might be used in materials—insufficient, Our patience was fur- in 2013. Special Collec- the exhibit, some of incorrect or nonexistent ther tested when, on the tions in Mass Media & which would fit nicely metadata—one reel first pass, unseen inter- Culture, as well as Uni- alongside many other tape presented numer- nal splicing tape versity Archives, have golden WMUC mo- ous time-consuming snapped, and every- delivered an array of ments. challenges. The half- thing stopped while we sound recordings and track tape contained made repairs. How To learn more: http:// other materials to the multiple segments re- much time we’d de- www.lib.umd.edu/ Digitization Center. We corded at different voted to one reel, even special/collections/ have a robust audio speeds in two directions. before making deriva- massmedia/home. equipment rack, fit to It required four passes tives and digital edits! transfer formats such as to acquire intelligible reels, cassettes, DAT, preservation masters, ADAT, MiniDiscs, and

Michael Feinstein Initiative Receives Preservation Grant Lisa Lobdell

The Michael Feinstein Great American Song- For more information: http:// book Initiative (Carmel, Indiana) has received www.feinsteininitiative.org a $5,000 grant from the GRAMMY Foundation for a preservation assessment of its collections. Working with consultant George Blood, the Feinstein Initiative will determine neces- sary storage, rehousing, remediation, conservation, preservation, and digitization of its audiovisual collections that document the music of songbook legends such as Rudy Vallée, Meredith Willson and the Andrews Sisters.

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RHA Cylinder Collection Exhibit at NYPL Nicole Wallace

The Rodgers and Ham- As an intern at the Acoustic Recording the Tinfoil Phonograph merstein Archives of RHA, my interest in and Early Cylinders which could be used to Recorded Sound at the acoustic recording for- acoustically capture The 11 cylinders se- New York Public Li- mats led me to work and playback a re- lected for the exhibit brary for the Perform- most extensively with cording made on, or were likely manufac- ing Arts currently the cylinder collec- impressed upon, a tured between 1890 houses a collection of tion. Provided with the piece of tinfoil and 1926 and were more than 3,000 wax terrific opportunity to wrapped around a recorded acoustically, and celluloid cylinders. curate an exhibit using brass drum; an early or without the use of The collection is pri- the collection last incarnation of what electricity. Encyclope- marily comprised of spring, my primary would later become the dia of Recorded Sound cylinders produced by goal was to showcase wax cylinder. describes acoustic re- American manufactur- the range of cylinders cording as, "The Edison originally envi- ers such as Edison Na- found within the RHA’s method of recording sioned the cylinder’s tional Phonograph collection, as well as in which all energy primary success as a Company, Columbia select cylinders that comes from the sound dictation format. In- Phonograph Company, had not yet been digi- waves themselves [...] stead, cylinders be- Indestructible Phono- tized elsewhere, if Sounds to be recorded came the first commer- graphic Record Com- possible. The exhibit, were sung, played, or cially successful re- pany and the U.S. Pho- which is currently on spoken into a horn, corded sound format, nograph Company, and display on the third which activated a dia- bringing popular French manufacturers floor of the Library for phragm attached to a songs, vaudeville Pathe and Lioret. These Performing Arts at Lin- stylus. This stylus sketches, opera and cylinders range from coln Center, features transferred the vibra- other recordings into very early non- 11 cylinders from the tion patterns on the the home for the first commercial white and RHA's collection, surface of a cylinder time. Never before did brown wax cylinders, to along with related or a disc." This re- people have the ability commercial moulded print ephemera and cording method was to capture live sound black wax cylinders, to catalog supplements. first employed by and then play it back — Indestructible moulded In addition, audio from early disc and cylin- over and over again. celluloid cylinders and, each of the featured der manufacturers, Cylinders and home finally to one of the lat- cylinders has been Emile Berliner and phonograph players est incarnations of the digitized and made Thomas A. Edison. In were the first audio for- format, Edison Blue Am- available for listening 1877, Edison invented berol celluloid cylin- by request. (Continued on next page 5) ders.

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Continued from previous page mat and playback tech- variable weight stylus celluloid cylinders The Edison Company nology to revolutionize was used and set at a were cleaned using a later switched to a the way people experi- weight of 2 grams. For solution of distilled wa- standardized metallic enced, listened to and the celluloid cylinders, ter combined with a soap composite for accessed recorded whose surfaces are commercially produced their two-minute sound. more resilient than wax cleaner, also used for brown wax cylinders, -based cylinders, the cleaning shellac re- Cylinder Conserva- which were produced Archeophone’s variable cords, at 25% of its until 1902. tion and Digitization weight stylus was used strength and then ap- Audio from each of the and set at a weight of 4 plied to the cylinders Lioret Cylinder grams. using cotton q-tips. Dis- featured cylinders was "Il Pluet Bergire" un- tilled water was then digitized using NYPL's known (ca 1895); Pho- Before digitization, the used to remove any ex- Archeophone. The Ar- nographe Systèm Lio- cylinders were gently cess solution and the cheophone, developed ret cleaned to remove any cylinders were dried in 1998 by Henri surface dust, dirt or de- using compressed air. While Edison was still Chamoux, is able to bris. Particles left on They were then left out experimenting with safely play and digitally the surface of a cylinder of their boxes until wax cylinders, Henri transfer all formats of can cause further sur- completely dry and Jules Lioret of Paris wax and celluloid cylin- face degradation dur- then digitized using the had already pio- ders. The weight of the ing playback and cre- Archeophone. neered the celluloid- Archeophone’s stylus is ate interference during variable and can be ad- based cylinder, the the digital transfer of Featured Cylinders justed for safe playback most durable of all the audio. The wax cyl- from the Collection cylinder mediums, by and audio retrieval. Ad- inders, fragile and 1893. Following Lioret, ditionally, the playback prone to mold growth, Brown Wax Cylinder The Lambert Com- speed of the Archeo- were “dry” cleaned us- "Village Orchestra" pany of Chicago intro- phone can be adjusted ing compressed air to Issler's Orchestra (ca duced celluloid-based between 44 and 248 remove any dirt, dust 1890-1900); Consoli- cylinders to the RPM and an assortment and debris, followed by dated Phonograph Co. American market as of mandrels are avail- a careful dusting with a early as 1900. Edison, able to fit a range of photo conservator’s This is earliest wax cyl- however, did not re- cylinder sizes and for- brush. To complete the inder featured in the lease his celluloid- mats. cleaning of the wax cyl- exhibit. Thomas Edi- based cylinders, inders, compressed air son’s "white wax cylin- For the digitization of known as Blue Am- was again used to re- ders," were manufac- the wax cylinders in- berol Cylinders, until move any leftover parti- tured around 1887 and cluded in the exhibit, 1912. the Archeophone’s cles. The surface of the made from a blend of plant and animal waxes.

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Edison Gold-Moulded Indestructible Cylin- Cylinder ders

"The Philippines" Non- "Chimmie & Maggie musical recording Wil- At The Table D'Hote liam H. Taft (1908); Na- Dinner" Ada Jones & tional Phonograph Co. Len Spencer (1908); Indestructible Phono- After 1902, Edison de- graphic Record Co. veloped the Gold Moulded process, "I Never Knew I Loved which greatly improved You Till You Said the efficiency of wax Good-Bye" H. Ellis cylinder duplication (1909); Indestructible and further contributed Phonographic Record to the cylinder's com- Co. mercial success. Celluloid-based cylin- Columbia "Twentieth ders marketed as Century" 6-inch Cylin- "Indestructible" re- der cords were produced primarily by the Inde- "I Pagliacci, Prologo" structible Phonograph Italian - Baritone Solo Co. of Albany, New (ca 1905-1908); Colum- York from 1907 bia Phonograph Co. through the 1920s. Known as Twentieth "Indestructibles," Century Talking Ma- made of moulded chine Record cylinders, black celluloid, were Columbia 6-inch cylin- commonly sold under ders could play for ap- the Oxford label in proximately 3-3.5 min- department stores utes, longer than the such as Sears Roebuck standard 4-inch cylin- and Co. der of the time. Ap- proximately 187 were issued between 1905 and 1909.

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U.S. Everlasting Cylin- Edison Royal Purple For further information der Amberol Cylinder on the featured cylinders and/or to view im- "They Always Pick on "Eviva la Fran- ages of other ephemera

Me" Miss Mabel L. How- cia" ("Daughter of the included in the exhibit, ard (1909); U.S. Phono- Regiment") Frieda please visit: http:// graph Co. Hempel (1919); Edison www.nypl.org/ Everlasting Cylinders, Royal Purple Amberols, blog/2013/01/28/rha- black celluloid-based essentially Edison Blue cylinder-collection- cylinders with a thick Amberols dyed purple, exhibit paper-mâché core, were marketed by Edi- For more information were produced from son as "higher-end" re- on the history and de- 1908 to 1912 by the U.S. cordings and featured velopment of cylinder Phonograph Company. classical and operatic recordings, visit tin- They were distributed selections. In total, 77 foil.com and the Cylin- under the U.S. Everlast- Royal Purple Amberols der Preservation and ing label, as well as the were issued between Digitization Project at "Lakeside" label for 1918 and 1921. UCSB (http:// Montgomery Ward de- cylin- partment stores. Edison Blue Amberol Cylinders ders.library.ucsb.edu), Edison Amberol Cylin- which features a collec- der "Don't Let the Deal Go tion of over 8,000 digi- Down" by Vernon Dal- tized cylinder re- "On San Francisco Bay" hart (ca 1920s); Thomas cordings. Billy Murray and Cho- A. Edison Inc. rus (1911); National [This article is adapted Phonograph Co. "When the Work's All from Nicole’s original Done This Fall" by blog post, January, Amberol cylinders, in- Ernest V. Stoneman 2013.] troduced by Edison in (1926); Edison Blue Am- 1908, like earlier Gold berol Moulded cylinders were also made of First manufactured in black wax, but could 1912, Edison's celluloid -based Blue Amberol play up to 4 minutes as opposed to the stan- cylinders were the last dard 2 minutes of the of the cylinder format in time. production, with manu- facturing finally ceasing in October of 1928.

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AVID: a Tool for Audiovisual and Image Collections Cathy Martyniak

In the Fall of 2012 I was  Track objects in by collection, for- gested could do what I named the Audiovisual the collection by mat and time pe- needed. and Image (AVI) Archi- physical format riod The AvSAP tool from vist at the George A.  Relate physical ob-  Help establish and University of Illinois at Smathers Libraries at jects with a track priorities for Urbana-Champaign the University of Florida ‘parent’ collection current and future (http:// after 15 years as the UF or series-level re- digitization www.library.illinois.ed Preservation Librarian. cord u/prescons/ One of the first tasks I  Generate custom- projects_grants/ undertook was a review  Associate physical izable reports by grants/avsap/ ) was of the materials in the originals to any collection, format, wonderful but focused AVI collections, along reproductions, time period, etc. on preservation at the with an exploration of both analog and expense of workflow available tools and I examined our archi- digital management. mechanisms to support val data management discovery and usage of  Support a com- system, Archivist Tool- Another issue to con- this content by staff and plex, multi-stage kit (AT), hoping that it sider was cost. I had no patrons. I learned that workflow could accommodate budget to purchase a we held fantastic mate- my needs. AT was  Allow description commercial solution. rials in many distinct able to perform many of AVI materials at After speaking with the physical formats, but of the tasks but had collection or indi- local AT expert and they were not clearly trouble with reporting vidual levels staff with our in-house organized, nor easily and work flow man- digitization unit, I de- found by staff, and were  Import data into agement. cided to build my own difficult for patrons to the tool from exter- Next, I queried mem- tool using MS Access. discover and access. nal sources such as bers of several audio- archival data man- Code-named AVID I quickly came to the visual email listservs agement software [Audio, Visual and Im- conclusion that I about the databases age Database], the tool needed an instrument  Export data for use they used. Based on is coming together to help me organize in other systems, these responses, I was well. I am working to and track tasks related such as digital li- able to interview nu- ensure that it will be to these AVI materials. brary applications merous AV colleagues compatible with AT and This tool needed to do across the country. future archival data  Perform time Nothing that they sug- many things, including (Continued on next page 9) but not limited to: tracking functions

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Continued from previous page management software tracking of materials As development on platforms. AVID can out for digitization as AVID continues, I wel- accept data from an AT well as the creation of come feedback from resource record and packing lists and meta- members of the SAA associate that data with data for those same ma- Recorded Sound multiple objects at a terials. In a second Roundtable community. physical carrier level. I phase, a mechanism to Please feel free to con- am including fields for track the amount of time tact me at minimal pointers to spent on each collec- [email protected] with digital files in external tion/series will be de- any questions, com- repositories. I am add- veloped. ments or suggestions. ing fields to allow for

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Public Access to a Unique Organ Recording Collection Bailey Schreier

The University of Oklahoma’s American Organ gan Institute,” said OU President David L. Institute Archive and Library will preserve and Boren. “It plays a crucial part in the preserva- provide public access to a unique organ re- tion of the role of organ music in our society.” cording collection with a first-ever grant from The $20,000 grant will allow the Institute to re- the GRAMMY Foundation. With this funding, the store the collection’s most treasured items, Institute continues its contribution to the legacy some of which are made of paper. The collec- of organ music and the GRAMMY Foundation’s tion consists of 760 original and irreplaceable mission to preserve the nation’s vast recorded master organ player rolls (weighing in at 16 heritage. tons) produced by the Möller Pipe Organ Co. in “This grant is another example of the national the early 1920s, including organ arrangements th and international stature of OU’s American Or- by notable performers of the 20 century.

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Continued from previous page The collection also in- master rolls were fed cludes a one-of-a-kind into Möller’s Artiste roll perforator mechanism player mechanisms for used to create daughter performances on pipe “...to preserve the rolls from master rolls. organs in private resi- musical tradition of The master rolls are dences, music halls, the pipe organ and made of heavy bonded funeral parlors and reintroduce it to paper and were cut by churches. The Möller modern audiences hand. They are signifi- system is recognized cant for their musical by many as the best roll in new and exciting content and value to the player system ever cre- ways...” history of the process ated by an organ firm. involved in making this music. Many well- The Institute is restor- known artists of that pe- ing an Artiste player to “This grant from the riod recorded for be installed on the GRAMMY Foundation Möller. Classical, jazz, Möller Municipal Sym- recognizes the extreme popular, patriotic and phonic Organ Opus cultural and musical religious music of the 5819 in OU’s Paul F. value of the Möller mas- early 20th century can Sharp Concert Hall. In ter rolls held by the be reproduced in full this way, modern audi- American Organ Insti- fidelity. The specific ences can hear live per- tute at the OU School of technology used in cre- formances of music cre- Music,” said Institute ating the master rolls ated more than 80 years Director John Schwandt. was proprietary and ago. “This is an important cannot be duplicated, part of our mission to Schwandt said. If they preserve the musical are not restored, the tradition of the pipe or- technology and the mu- gan and reintroduce it sic will be lost, he said. “… The Möller system to modern audiences in is recognized by many new and exciting ways, The technology for as the best roll player player rolls had been and we look forward to system ever created the time when we are around for hundreds of by an organ firm…” able to present the fin- years before Möller ished product of this perfected the art project to the public.” form. The player rolls produced from these

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Nearly forgotten for Led by Schwandt, the OU is the only univer- decades, the rolls are in Institute’s program has sity in the nation with a delicate condition – grown in number of stu- complete working pipe each roll is needing dents and stature. The organ shop devoted to conservation work as academic program em- teaching. soon as possible. The phasizes organ per- preservation and digiti- formance, church music For more information zation of these rolls will and organ technology, about OU’s American result in much greater and a theatrical organ Organ Institute and op- access to the rolls and and silent film accom- portunities to view the the music contained paniment curriculum is ongoing restoration within them. The Insti- being designed. The work, visit the website tute regularly offers op- pipe organ workshop is at http://aoi.ou.edu. portunities for the pub- home to the restoration lic to view the entire of the Möller Opus collection, the restora- 5819, acquired in 2006 tion of the one-of-a-kind for the Paul F. Sharp Möller perforator Concert Hall at the OU mechanism and ongo- School of Music. ing organ restoration work.

THE ROUNDTABLE THANKS TO SERVES AS A FORUM NANCY MAYSMITH FOR DISCUSSING FOR PROVIDING ARCHIVAL ISSUES RELATED TO THE THE LOGO FOR CREATION, OUR ROUNDTABLE. MANAGEMENT, WWW.MAYSMITH PRESERVATION, AND DESIGN.COM USE OF AUDIO AND AUDIOVISUAL RESOURCES IN ARCHIVES AND OTHER CULTURAL HERITAGE REPOSITORIES.

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