Re: [ARSCLIST] Fw: [ARSCLIST] Gold CDs

[andy kolovos <akolovos@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

At 12:32 AM 09/29/2004 -0700, you wrote:
>At 11:51 PM 9/28/2004 -0500, Brandon Burke wrote:
>>I understand what you're saying and agree--and perhaps I'm exposing an
>>ignorance of the field here--but it seems to me that the right information
>>embedded within the header would link the recording on the disc to its
>>proper case (and identity) either way.  No?
>
>I'm afraid I don't understand what "header" you mean. (And yes, I did wade
>through all the prior posts of this thread retained below your question.
>*All* of them.)

I'm pretty sure Brandon is referring to the WAV file header, that wee place
where you can cram in a bit of textual metadata into an audio file using
the RIFF.  In a Windows PCM WAV it is akin to a somewhat more robust MP3
ID3 Tag.  Since my current audio editor (Audition 1.0) doesn't support BWF
creation, I've yet to actually see inside the BWF header.

Generally speaking this would work, but to get at the header you'd have to
plop the disc into a PC and read the file header through an audio editor. A
mild pain, but if you fill in header metadata anyway, a sure means of
figuring out what's on the disc.

Also in my understanding this is pretty much only useful when one has
created data CDs of audio files, as opposed to audio CDs.  I could be
operating more on bad info here, but it's my impression that generally one
is advised to strip the "non-audio information" out of the file as a part
of prep for audio CD creation because the textual data attached to an audio
file can throw off audio CD players.  At least this is what I was taught to
do when creating audio CDs.  And even if you kept the audio data with the
file(s) on an audio CD, you'd have to rip them to get at the WAV files, and
therefore the headers, anyway.

As far as what I'm doing, I just code the inner hub with a water-based
permanent pen using the collection and accession number of the audio file.
I include some other info as well--disc number in a sequence, DATA vs
AUDIO, etc.  All the other identifying data goes on our rather complicated
and annoying to fill out insert.  This is my own fault, since I'm the guy
who made it up.

The serial numbers on Mitsui/MAM discs are quite useful for keeping tabs on
discs, and are actually tracked by Mitsui/MAM as well, at least according
to a conversation I had with someone there once.  This strikes me as a good
way of potentially keeping tabs on media longevity across their production
runs. If a whole bunch from a run are going bad, it suggests a problem with
that stock.  This is my main reason for keeping tabs on the serial numbers.

And I agree with David--the T-Y disc serial numbers are printed so lightly
as to be useless for identification purposes.

andy
*********************************
Andy Kolovos
Archivist/Folklorist
Vermont Folklife Center
P.O. Box 442
Middlebury, VT 05753
(802) 388-4964
akolovos@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.vermontfolklifecenter.org