[ARSCLIST] Beginner's question RE: digital recordings

[Lisa NnNnNn <waterchild7@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Dear list,

I have been reading your emails silently for a while, and finally have a 
couple questions of my own.  I am quite the beginner in the world of audio 
preservation, and signed up to see if I could learn more from those who are 
more knowledgeable in the area of sound recording preservation.  I am 
currently an intern at The Field Museum in Chicago, and have just had a 
grant approved to complete an ongoing project to preserve a collection of 
recorded interviews on sonoband format.

Half of these bands have already been converted to digital format, and the 
other half is now slated to have the same done.  I have already designed 
proper storage containers for the bands and players when they are returned, 
but now I need to know a bit more about working with the digital media 
(mainly re-mastering them a little bit).  These recordings were made in the 
mid-1960s, so their quality has deteriorated some, due to a combination of 
recording at too high a level initially, slight decay in the bands over 
time, and improper storage causing warping.  The quality of sound ranges 
from very good to inaudible in sections, and varies from band to band, and 
throughout each recording.

I recognize that some problems may not be resolvable, but I know there are 
ways to clean up static bursts and ambient noise.  At times there are also 
issues with the recordings playing either too fast or too slowly, which I 
think could be corrected somehow if there were software with a pitch 
adjuster (apologies of that is the wrong term, I?m thinking of a turntable 
pitch adjuster).  I also need to be able to break long recordings into 
tracks in order to make them more easy to use for researchers.  Basically, I 
guess I am just looking for suggestions about good programs to utilize for 
this project, and any other tips and advice you all might think would be 
relevant.  Thank you so much for your time!

Regards,

Lisa