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Re: [ARSCLIST] Risk assessment tool Q2 - tape lubrication
There has been a lot of interest in this issue recently and I've answered
several people from my home email. I have also posted this information before,
but for those of you who missed out, here we go again!
I began working at Sound Archives/Nga Taonga Korero, which is a wholly owned
subsidary of Radio New Zealand in 1994. My task was to preserve and
digitize the entire NZ Composer's collection to begin with. I was taught my
skills "on the job" but was lucky enough to have the wisdom & know it all of
several older broadcasting technicians at my fingertips.
It was whilst transferring this collection, which was all on reel-to-reel
magnetic tape that I encountered SSS & lol, etc. My boss at the time, who
had been a radio producer, told me to try using isopropyl alcohol with
cotton sticks. So, my first method was to drip the cotton sticks into the
iso and then, steadily, try and apply it to the tape, without shaking or
moving. As you know, this chemical is NOT good to breathe in. Some of this
audio was 2 track at 3 3/4ips on 7 inch reels. This was a BIG ask, as the
fumes made me feel ill and dizzy at times. Unfortunately, my boss, at the
time, was unconcerned about the dangers of me breathing in these fumes.
I had attempted baking the tapes first, as this was the standard, but had
had little success with this. It really was hit and miss, and sometimes
baking worked, but mostly, it didn't. Sometimes, the tapes would play after
baking for 24 hours and then sitting at room temperature for a week, or a
day, but more often than not, they still would not play. Hence, the use of
isopropyl alcohol. This always worked for me.
I began thinking that there had to be a better way of doing this in 1995,
as the fumes and remaining steady was not easy. This is when I started
thinking about using an intravenous drip bag. So, my trusty technician,
Noel McGinnitty, and I got into making the first 'prototype' using an Otari
which had already been redesigned to go at 1 7/8ips, 3 3/4ips, 7 1/2ips &
15ips. We removed the erase head mechanism and replaced it with piano felt.
Please be mindful, that this was a crude first attempt. With the IV bag
partially filled with Iso I then placed the syringe into the top part of the
the felt and through trial & error, I adjusted the drip speed to 6 drips per
minute. It worked! This meant I could multi-task and do data entries of
the content whilst preserving the audio. This machine I called the "Mark
1" version!
I then discovered that my IV bags were starting to go hard and at times, the
joins would simply fall apart due to the glues used in putting these bags
together. This was not a good thing as I was having Isopropyl falling onto
the floor, plus I would have to quickly evacute my room because of the
fumes! I saved all the parts from each bag that I could reuse - I am a firm
believer in recycling. I got in touch with 2 chemical firms in
Christchurch, NZ, and one of which specialized in medical equipment. The
salesperson was so fascinated with my request he arrived that day to see for
himself just what I was up to. He decided that the best IV bag would be one
which takes the contents of a person's stomach, which is very acidic. By
the way, he gave me all this equpment for free, a rare thing! This worked,
but I still had the problem of the glues being eaten away by the Iso. In
the meantime, I had already measured all the holes that these parts where
falling out of. So, with the second company and after much discussion I
purchased lengths of silicone tubing of different diameters. I placed
different types of tubing into ISO and left it for a year to soak. The
silicone tubing came up trumps and was still flexible, unlike the others,
which either broke, or simply disintegrated in my hands.
I made up several parts for the IV bags and attached them, or rather slipped
them over the necessary holes. This did not require any glues and was a
very snug fit. I had now solved the problem of the bags falling apart, a
real breakthrough. By this time, the Public Hospital became interested and
so we went through different types of syringe needles which didn't have
glues in them and finally found the most suitable.
By this time, I was wanting a more robust machine and most certainly a
machine that the original recordings were recorded on. This was the Studer
B67, prototype number 2 and known as the "Mark 2". I had also conducted a
survey of the reel-to-reel collections held at Sound Archives and found that
at least 25% of the collections suffered from SSS & LOL. Strangely, unless
the 10.5 reels contained splices, I found that they did NOT suffer from
either ailments. However, there were 2 brands, which I grew to really
depise, on 10.5 reels that did suffer from SSS. They are AGFA PEM 469 ( I
think) and PYRAL, which came on 10.5, 7 and 3 inch reels & made in France
from my understanding. Both these brands you could stretch and the magnetic
layer would just become dust. The PYRAL was also slightly too wide for the
tape path and would let off a very thin layer as it progressed through to
the take-up reel. These brands I preserved immediately as they were a
priority. I understand in 1987 AGFA put out a world-wide plea to take on
board fixing these tapes. Sound Archives sent their collection to Germany
and it was done free. However, one broadcaster, who also happened to be
management, did not send hers off and they were sent to us in the 1990's.
There was over 300 of them! Ofcourse, I prioritized her recordings as to
popularity and frequent access, which was mainly her!
The new Mark 2, some of you have seen photos of it. This
machine, being a Studer, was treated with the respect due to this fine piece
of machinery. It has sumps, still the piano felt (hand sewn by me in the
inner unseen workings), an overflow sump with silicone tubing going into a
container to catch any residual Iso, an inseen syringe needle cleverly
weilded into place and inside the felt, and re-designed 'window wipers' to
take off the last of the Iso before it gets to the takeup reel. There had
been a problem with the takeup reel being able to cope and to start with it
would just stop, hence the window wipers, and yes, they are from a car!
I will be patenting my design as there has been a lot of interest in it.
Some of this has been negative, but mostly positive. Richard Hess and I are
like minded in that when a job needs to be done, you have to be inventive
and sometimes, outside of the norm, to get the job at hand done.
These 2 machines are housed in New Zealand, one in the Christchurch office,
and the other in the Auckland Maori Unit. I have an inkling that they have
not been used since I left as I was really the only one who knew exactly
what I was doing to get them to work precisely! Let me know NZ!
I hope this helps you. I have other photos but will have to scan them and
then I can email them to you.
I have the makings of an intravenous drip bag with me, but back in NZ, I was
lucky enough to have a plentiful supply of Studers as they were the standard
machines, up until they went digital.
I have the photos but they are on my work PC and I've run out of CD-R's at
home, even though I am still working from home (we are rebuilding the Center
for Oral History presently. You can ask Richard Hess to forward them or
just wait for me to get setup back at work.
Cheers and Happy New Year!
Marie O'Connell
Sound Archivist/Audio Engineer/Sound Consultant
The Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage
University of Southern Mississippi
Quoting "Richard L. Hess" <ArcLists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>:
> She's discussed it and has emailed photos to some of us.
>
> You should contact her at
> "Marie O'Connell"
>
> marie104 at comcast dot net
>
> replace "at" with "@" and "dot" with "." and don't leave any spaces
>
> Cheers,
>
> Richard
>
> At 10:17 AM 1/7/2006, you wrote:
> >Richard L. Hess wrote:
> >>At 10:22 PM 1/6/2006, Steven wrote:
> > > Using products from The Last Factory and other places. It often has to
> >>be done 30-second passes at a time. Reels are done more easily.
> >>Marie O'Connell is the queen of wet playing. Ask her for details.
> >>Cheers,
> >>Richard
> >
> >Has she posted these details at any time? It sure would be nice if she
> would.
> >
> >Angie Dickinson Mickle
> >www.avocadoproductions.com
> >
> >
> >--
> >No virus found in this outgoing message.
> >Checked by AVG Free Edition.
> >Version: 7.1.371 / Virus Database: 267.14.14/222 - Release Date: 1/5/2006
> >
>
> Richard L. Hess richard@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Aurora, Ontario, Canada http://www.richardhess.com/
> Detailed contact information: http://www.richardhess.com/tape/contact.htm
>
Marie O'Connell
Sound Archivist/Sound Engineer/Sound Consultant
Center for Oral History & Cultural Heritage
University of Southern Mississippi
Phone: 601-266-6514
Mobile: 601-329-6911