Re: [ARSCLIST] 78rpm archaeology project

[Jeffrey Kane <jeffkane@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Regarding extracting audio... sounds like a job for IRENE if it were to work
at all.

http://irene.lbl.gov/

As to the rest; I'll be very interested to see the responses. Given how
difficult it can be to track such characteristics when dealing with unbroken
artifacts the mind boggles at attempting to do the same for a mass of
fragments!

-----Original Message-----
From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
[mailto:ARSCLIST@xxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Oliver Mueller-Heubach
Sent: Friday, December 21, 2007 7:12 PM
To: ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [ARSCLIST] 78rpm archaeology project

Hello all- I'm finally back  to work on my paper on the archaeological 78 
fragments. Just thought I'd post again- looking for information on matrix 
numbers. Say I handed you a fragment of 78 with a whole or partial matrix 
number.. What are some differences between how the different companies 
numbered discs- including the physical engraving/stamping font, placement, 
etc.? I am going through my shelf, measuring edges, recording space, etc. 
trying to come up with a trait list by brand, date range, etc. The audio
recovery 
portion is rather 'dead in the water' at present. I have had several folks
tell me 
that the digital restoration techniques are only set up to restore intact or
near-
intact records. Also, there seems to be a consensus that no database exists
that 
would allow an automatic search to match the sound chart from a fragment to 
digitized recordings. I tried my analog approach of physically cutting and 
pasting a fragment into a rough but intact disc. I actually got it to work
once, 
albeit with a few skips (I had inserted a black label RCA Victor fragment
into a 
thrashed RCA Victor donor disc).  I thought I could hear a horn and imagined
a 
larger band in the rapid blurbs of sound. As this may have been an artifact
of 
my knowing the source of the fragment (Guy Lombardo from the bottom of a 
sleeve in an auction box lot) I would have had to do a blind test.
Unfortunately, I 
have not been able to repeat the success- aligning the pitch/spiral is much 
more difficult than I thought. At any rate, it is entirely too much of a
nuisance to 
be applied in an archaeological lab environment. So, if anyone has any
further 
suggestions on extracting audio, I would be very grateful! I'm afraid I'll
have to 
stick to the trait lists and to recommendations for interpreting 78s
vis-a-vis 
their find condition, location on a home-site, etc. Thanks again- happy 
holidays!
ollie