Re: arsclist Assistance for Armenian Ethnomusicology Archive

["Joav Shdema" <joavs@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

It is not unlikely that those recordings are done at 7.5 or worse at 3.75.
The European standard for tape calibration is not the American NAB but the
German standard which is different (and some say better, but this is another
story). Tapes that are recorded in one standard will not play correctly on
the other.
The electricity issue is not that big anyways, one could always use a heavy
duty step down transformer.

Joav Shdema
Producer / Engineer
________________________________

Joav Shdema Inc.
Sound Production
http://www.joavshdema.com

----- Original Message -----
From: "Mike Richter" <mrichter@xxxxxxx>
To: <ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, October 29, 2002 1:54 AM
Subject: Re: arsclist Assistance for Armenian Ethnomusicology Archive


> At 03:20 PM 10/28/2002 -0800, John Ross wrote:
> >Playing tapes in Armenia on equipment for the American market is
possible,
> >but not easy, for several reasons:
> >
> >First, the AC power standard is 50 Hz rather than 60 Hz, so most motors
> >won't run at the right speed.
> >
> >The AC power standard is 220 VAC, so they would need a step-up converter
> >to run gear designed for 110 VAC.
> >
> >The tape speeds were essentially the same, but they were expressed in
some
> >metric value (I'm halfway remembering 17 and 38 cm per second, but that
> >may not be correct.
> >
> >If the recordings were made on East-bloc equipment, there's a strong
> >possibility that the reels have a different-shape hole in the center, and
> >the tapes may have been wound with the oxide out. Neither of these is an
> >insurmountable problem, but they're nuisances.
>
> I am far from expert in this area, but do have some comments to offer. The
> problem of power would apply only to consumer equipment. Professional
> decks, such as the Studer A807, allow selection of line voltage. (I cite
> that one because it's the model I bought through the notice on this list.)
> I believe that any deck with continuously variable playback speed such as
> the Studer will rely on an internal clock rather than line frequency for
> speed control.
>
> Since the post indicates that these are field recordings, there is a
> distinct probability that speed will have to be adjusted from nominal.
> Those nominal values are the usual 30 ips, 15 ips, ... 15/16 ips. The
> metric designation of 75, 37.5 and lower cps values are simplified
> statements of the speeds in English units. According to my reading and my
> limited experience with tapes recorded in Europe, actual speeds are in
ips.
>
> Mike
>
> mrichter@xxxxxxx
> http://www.mrichter.com/
>
>
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