RE: [AV Media Matters] Transcript Discs

[lanyap@inlink.com]

Hi to all,

I'd like to respond, in general to this thread, in both respect for &
specific to Ms. Kaplan's remarks.  Please note that I am aware of the work
done by Ga. State, ARSC Journal V.28,#1, 1997 & attempted, unsuccessfuly,
to engage said individuals in a subjective re-evaluation of their efforts
prior to publication.

Some, perhaps quite a few of the readership are aware of our efforts to
make available safe & thorough materials for archive quality cleaning of
vinyl, shellac, acetate, lacquer & Diamond Disc surfaces.  This cleaning
system was brought to market some 7 years ago after more than 12 yrs. of
development & evaluation.  To date no example of harm has ever been brought
to our attention & when properly used, these materials have & continue to
demonstrate the audible value of thorough cleaning.  Cleaning, based upon
years of consistant subjective evaluation, that continues to demonstrate a
safe & superior product to other methods commonly in use.

Politics, policy and perhaps the lack of unlimited free samples have
prevented the Library of Congress & numerous others from taking advantage
of our efforts or making reasonable attempts to initiate secondary
evaluations of our products & procedures.  Our presence as a commercial
venture is somehow repugnant to the very individuals and institutions which
we sought to support.  While more expensive than dishwashing products and
painter pads, the cost is actually less than 10 cents per double sided 12"
disc when purchased in appropriate quantity (& less than 19 cents/dbl-sided
12" disc, if purchased in the smallest amounts available) & does not
require multi-thousand dollar machines.  Nevertheless, I make these remarks
not to invite rebuttal for my lack of tact or professionalism, as I doubt
the recorded media will survive the ego of those most offended by our de
novo efforts, but to make those unaware that materials, specifically a
single water-based, biodegradable, non-hazardous cleaning solution and
applicators sized to record diameter and label size are available to clean
most transcription discs in a single application.

Cetrimide is a compound with a limited cleaning profile & is thus not a
thorough cleaning agent.  Eucalyptus oil preparations are also limited in
scope and can leave residuals without careful rinsing protocols.  Organic
solvents are inferior products when dealing with inorganic contaminants and
also require specific disposal constraints.

These and many other considerations were taken into account some 20 years
ago when we were first asked to develop alternatives to the cleaning
approaches then commonly employed to clean vinyl discs.  Within a few years
this effort was expanded to include media common to the era preceding the
LP.  We eventually settled upon a formulation employing members of a family
of established surfactants well known for their high rinseability, safety,
broad based activity & the quality of available supplies.  This solution is
acceptable for & has been shipped internationally, even as an 8X
concentrate for the past 6 yrs.  As much as our detractors hate to hear it,
" for the sound you thought you bought", we hope each of you will decide
for yourselves, just how important thorough, safe cleaning is to the
quality of sound reproduction.

While a variety of common situations will always dictate special
precautions & even necessitate alternative, even if not as thorough,
cleaning approaches, our basic system will safely & thoroughly clean the
vast majority of vinyl, shellac, acetate, lacquer & Diamond Disc surfaces
that are sufficiently intact as not to expose a reactive core or
sub-surface when present [depending upon that surface].  Thus is has been
possible to clean Diamond Discs, in spite of concerns relating to their
perimters & spindle holes, as well as typical lamination flaws in Columbia
shellac recordings with the same materials used to clean lacquers &
traditional shellac pressings.  Augmented solutions have been developed
from this primary formulation to address heavily encrusted  palmitic acid
residues on lacquer/acetate recordings [with due respect to Dr. Biel's
differentiation of these terms] as well as a number of problematic vinyl
surfaces including early vinyl surfaces apparently demonstrating noisy
surfaces due to inferior vinyl formulations & a number of ills common to
various treatments applied post productions and some of the contaminants
deposited by plastic sleeve liners.

We invite all interested individual & institutions to evaluate our efforts
independently as well as to consider the wealth of subjective evidence
available from our past 7 years of commercial effort.  Samples have been
available to the L of C for 5 years & were presented to their international
counterpart at least 4 years ago, of course, said parties never even
acknowledged receipe of same.   Thousands of individuals plus noted
collectors, recording engineers & some brave institutions have all been
satisfied with the quality of the cleaning system we have developed with
the intent of maintaining & preserving the value & enjoyment of analog
recordings.  Those of us who are so neurally wired as to prefer analog to
current digital technology eagerly await a time when all sources, including
live presentations, are captured as indistinguishable from the priginal
presentation & archivable.

We also offer materials guaranteed to safely clean & optically polish
polycarbonate based digital formats and which, as such, afford improved
presentation of audio & video information.

Though absent the last couple of years we will be present at the ARSC
meeting this year & look forward to seeing you there & enjoying the good
company & lively talks that always (well, almost always) characterize these
get togethers.

Regards from a die hard analog supporter, wishing the L of C would re-issue
out of print material on analog-based vinyl as well as digital media [some
of us were too young to get much of the folkways material least of all the
great CD re-issue of late--- though I must admit the ol' red vinyl issues
clean up wonderfully & sounds even better... ].

Thanks for taking the time to read this diatribe.  In the end, it is your
ears, heart & soul that will benefit.... we only offer a way to clean
treasured recording ..... the credit for the music goes to others.

Duane Goldman

PS next time you think recorded sound has progressed sooo far, try standing
near a high hat cymbol, tenor sax, bassoon,  National Steel string guitar,
Grambling's marching band or a Baldwin piano at Carniege Hall to realize
how far we really have to go!!

At 04:31 PM 4/5/00 -0700, hkaplan@sos.state.ga.us wrote:
>> Cetrimide is a generic name for n-cetyl ammonium bromide and should be
>> available from chemical supply companies.
>>
>> Eucalyptus oil is a mild solvent which we have observed to
>> work well on all manner of sticky, greasy or oily contamination.
>
>> HFE's (hydro fluoro ethers) are good solvent based cleaners
>> for lacquers, and can be used with care on cracked or flaking lacquer
>> discs.  HFE 7100 is a good replacement for Freon TF.
>
>>These solvents are safe, but  can be quite expensive.
>
>In that there are individuals on this list with varying degrees of
>expertise, I think it would be of great benefit if contributors could
>be a bit more specific when alluding to the safety of the materials
>they describe.  I have quickly attempted to locate MSDS on all of the
>substances described above, but was unable to find adequate
>information that would lead me to believe these materials can be
>considered "safe" in the way that word would be most widely interpreted.
>Please keep in mind that many of us have learned to understand that
>"use in a well ventilated area" really means in a fume hood and/or
>with a respirator.  "Safe" will depend on the manner of use. Also keep
>in mind that your workspace may be shared by others and that your
>air may be recirculated to other parts of a building in which unsuspecting
>individuals may be susceptible to contamination.
>
>I have been cautioned that no ether (especially a fluorine compound)
>can be very safe for inhalation and that there is probably a dermal
question
>
>as well.  In addition, all refrigerants are considered nasty to some degree
>and are aphyxiants in tight unventilated quarters.
>
>Hilary A. Kaplan
>Conservator
>Georgia Department of Archives and History
>330 Capitol Avenue
>Atlanta, GA 30334
>404 656 3554
>FAX 404 651 8471
>hkaplan@sos.state.ga.us>

--
h. duane goldman, ph.d.   |   P.O. Box 37066   St. Louis, MO  63141
lagniappe chem. ltd.            |   (314) 205 1388 voice/fax/modem
"for the sound you thought you bought"       |   http://discdoc.com