Preserving Vintage and Historic WNYC Broadcasts Inside This Issue
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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 pro- ject was made possible Playback in Reel Time 3 by the generous sup- port of a Preservation Michael Feinstein Initiative 3 and Access grant pro- vided 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 Continued from previous page 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 archi- val 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. Page 2 Spring 2013 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 collec- tions. Working with consultant George Blood, the Feinstein Initiative will determine neces- sary storage, rehousing, remediation, conser- vation, preservation, and digitization of its audiovisual collections that document the mu- sic of songbook legends such as Rudy Vallée, Meredith Willson and the Andrews Sisters. Page 3 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. Page 4 Spring 2013 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.