"Save Our Sounds": Interview with the Smithsonian's sound archivist, Jeff Place.

I heard this very interesting interview on NPR's Fresh Air yesterday. There's a documentary airing on The History Channel on the 26th about the "Save Our Sounds" project.

The Smithsonian and Library of Congress is in the process of making new transfers of their sound libraries.

The archivist said they're using three media types to store the transfers, "hedging our bets" since they don't know which one will last. They're storing on CD, wave files on hard disk, and open reel tape.

He wasn't too hot on CDs at all as far as stability goes. He compared CDs to the old acetate coating on aluminum disks, saying that they'll eventually fall apart and become useless.


Here's the "save our sounds" site:
http://www.saveoursounds.org/

Here's a link to hear the Fresh Air interview if you missed it:
http://freshair.npr.org/day_fa.jhtml;jsessionid=HGWYKV2CJ54NVLA5AINSFFA?todayDate=current

Dan C

 

Thanks, Dan. Very good listening!

 

Mickey Hart (Grateful Dead) will appear on Save Our Sounds as well.

Mickey Hart on the History Channel

From dead.net :

 

I can't wait to see this.

Also, for those who want to hear the VERY OLD wax cylinders, a lot appear on a preservation site www.tinfoil.com - Been around for many years.

 

The atom bomb news piece from the mid 50's was pretty wild. Hope those guys were wearing ear protection! One corespondent was pretty close, I wouldn't want that assignment.

Place mentioned the tape of the era flaking off as they play. Steve's said many times that the 50's era tape is some of the most stable. Sounds like a storage problem? Of course, we don't know how the tape was handled before it got to the Smithsonian.
Dan C

 

I think he was talking generally about some tapes, but most of the 50's stock has held up well.

Steve would also say that masters that are stored in sunny Southern California have possibly stood up the best; less of a climate change is good.

 

Anybody know where can I find "Mary Had A Little Lamb" by Thomas Alva Edison preferably mastered by Steve Hoffman??

Thanks,
Blitzen

 

I think it's a travesty that analog tapes from the 70s, early 80s, and many digital tapes won't play or are degrading beyond baking or repair.

 

It's kind of scary to find out that the CD's that we've all invested $$$
in have a very limited life. Thanks for the heads up on that TV special.

Happy Holidays Everyone!

 

I'll bet you can find the Aluminum and 24K Gold "cylinders" on eBay!

 

I haven't listened to Fresh Air for some time, and almost missed this one. Thanks.

I'm still recovering from that historical Gene Simmons interview with Terry Gross, recorded last December.

 

I don't think there's any way to recover from that one!
Dan C

 

I listened to the interview online, and the guy sounded, well, pretty ignorant and sort of simple-minded. Note that he said NOTHING about audio or audio quality.

And it startled me to realized he did not in any way qualify his blanket statement that all cds will fail (not to mention DVDs incl SACDs).

And this guy is going to 'save our sounds', sure... Who said he could do this job?


crabby FFF

 

Since CDs became the dominant format, people have been saying that the CD will decompose, won't play in a few years, or whatever. There is no solid evidence to back this up. In fact, some of the earliest CDs are still playing perfectly!

 

I didn't take this as an anti-CD statement.
I believe he's thinking over a few decades. A 20-year-old CD still plays, but obviously we don't know if it'll play when it's 50. The "glue" that holds the CD together could very well start to break down over time. What if all the President's speeches were archived only on CDs and they failed to play several decades from now? I think he's wise not to trust just one media.
Dan C