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Greetings List Mates:
Last week I received an email from someone working
in the State Conservatory in Armenia asking for ideas and assistance in
obtaining audio equipment for playing and transferring tapes in a collection of
ethnomusicological field recordings. After a few email exchanges with the
person, Jane Sarksyan, I asked if I could share the messages with colleagues on
this list in hopes that someone may be able to come up with leads or ideas for
assisting her in the care and preservation of what sounds like a substantial
collection. It sounds like the Conservatory has little or no budget for
equipment, so possibly if any ARSC listserve members have leads on equipment
that could be donated or sold cheaply, that would be a help. Living in the U.S.,
it's a bit difficult trying to be of assistance, especially since I have no
contacts in Europe myself and don't happen to have any surplus gear.
And along these lines, I have a question that
someone can probably answer: Have tape speeds and track configurations
historically been different in Europe than in the U.S.? In other words, in order
to play back tapes made in Armenia (1940s-1980s) would one have to obtain
equipment made for a European or Asian market?
Without further ado, here are the messages from
Jane Sarksyan. Feel free to contact her directly at janesarksyan@xxxxxxxxxxx.
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October 21, 2002 -- need advice how to preserve a
musical archives
Dear Mr Green My name is Jane. I'm working in
Armenia's State Conservatory , in department of ethnomusicology, we have plenty
of music materials in our arhcives, which are in poor condition , still on the
tapes.we need advice which kind of equipment we need for rerecording (very
detailed, with prices) on CD , to preserve our archives.i'll be appreciate you
to share some of your knowledges in that fields.thank you in advance.looking
forward to hear from you soon. good luck
October 23, 2002 -- regarding preservation of music
archives
Dear Mr. Green.Thank you very much for responding to me, for your
time. It is so nice of you.i'm realy touhed.you wrote me so much
helpfull interesting detailes.These are collection of folk music ,
recorded on cassetes and some of them still on an open-reel magnetic tape. the
records was made by portable mashine started from 1930-1988.The format and
speed of tapes are different comparing to American , but the brand
Otari, with variable speed control, i think this is exactly what we need. Of
course we'll be glad to make a sound restoration at the mean time, but it
depends on the cost of equipment.our conservatory budgget is so poor , that i'm
not shure , that we can afford all expences.we will
be happy even with used one, or may be you can suggest organization , or private
foundation,who could help us . Thank you so much for your effort and
sharing an information with me.Sincirely,Jane.
October 28, 2002 -- regarding audio recordings
Dear Mr. Green. I' m so sorry , that my english vocabulary so poor , that i
can't find the words to express my gratitude. I'll be happy to be listed
on survey ,of course it gives more opportunity to contact to professionals and
people , who can share thoughts, ideas . And who knows , may be even this
way we can find persons who can donate a used equipment.Would you , please
just help to put the information the right way,because our knowledge in that
field is very bad. Thank you very much for collaboration.
****
I should add that in one of my replies I mentioned that many audio archives
in the U. S. use either Studer or Otari open reel machines, hence her reference
to Otari. I'm sure others might have other suggestions for her regarding
equipment. It would be wonderful if any ARSC or IASA members could step in and
come up with ideas for assisting in the preservation of this collection of
Armenian field recordings.
Thanks and best wishes,
Steve Green
Western Folklife Center
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