Topic: damaged prewar 78s may have a new life

[wreid75]

I remember in a book years ago reading how the old prewar 78s were used to decorate barns and that they were bubbled and scratched up thus useless.  No so, well at least in a couple of years not so.  These prewar and other records that have been deemed lost may be rescued!

This cat named Carl Haber (sound savoir) has found a way to take a high definition picture of an old record and extract out the music.  He won the Macarthur Foundation Genius grant for being an auditory genius.  How many records are out there in unplayable condition or just songs like several of Pattons songs that I am more than happy to soldier through and imagine the rest. 

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/09/25/226034788/latest-macarthur-geniuses-include-sound-savior

"About 10 years ago, I happened to hear a report on NPR about the Library of Congress and their large collections of historic sound recordings, which described them in some cases as being delicate, damaged, deteriorating and so forth." 

As this technology progresses prewar and other songs will become accessible that are currently not accessible.

[wreid75]

What are some of the records that you know of that have been found but are not playable.  What are some of your favorite songs that are difficult to listen to due to the poor quality of the record?

[Johnm]

I've been listening to Ed Bell lately, and it would be wonderful to have non-whupped copies of "Grab It And Run", "Rocky Road Moan" and "Rosca Mama Blues".
All best,
Johnm

[jpeters609]

$37,100 later, we should soon have "Alcohol & Jake Blues" and "Ridin' Horse Blues" by Tommy Johnson. I'd been waiting for clean copies of those tracks.

How about "Up On The Hill Blues" and "When You Dream Of Muddy Water" by Edward Thompson?

[Mr.OMuck]

Brilliant idea! Could be a real game changer. Thanks for posting.

[Stuart]

Glad to hear that there may be some support and thus hope for restoring old recordings. Congrats to Carl Haber!

Lots of info out there, for example:

http://irene.lbl.gov/

This approach has been around for a while. Patrick Feaster at IU did it from the photo of a record that no loner exists. This has been posted before, I believe, but here's a link:

http://indianapublicmedia.org/arts/iu-historian-recreates-oldest-gramophone-record-print/

http://www.phonozoic.net/

[wreid75]

If there is anyone out there who has a culturally significant recording in really poor shape it might be possible for you to get your recording processed.  There just hasn't been that many people to come forward with these kind of recordings. 

[Stumblin]

That is an amazing idea. In common with so many such flashes of inspiration, it seems kind of obvious after the fact. Congratulations and kudos to the inventor of this technique. Here's to looking forward to a new generation of rescued recordings.

[Norfolk Slim]

I had assumed that this was something possible for years- but presumably we have been waiting for the technology to get good enough to make it actually work in practice.

Should be fascinating to hear the results- and whether vinyl fans say it loses something in translation!

[wreid75]

"vinyl fans say it loses something in translation"

of course there will be people who will bitch about it, debate if it is played at the right speed, what ever.  most of us however will embrace it it hope.

[TallahatchieTrot]

I welcome this new technology. I have several of those very worn rare 78s--the only copy of "Heart Like RR Steel"-Pm12943 by Patton that has always been used on reissues since it was found in the mid 1960s. I did own the only copy of Bell's "Rosca Mama Blues" that had a bad crack to the label  and was warped on Broadway, but traded It to  a Chicago collector. Only one complete copy of "Tenderfoot Edwards 12952 exists. My copy has a 3 inch bite out of it. There is a very worn copy of Curly Weaver on QRS that I sold in about G+. I own a V copy of Scrapper's Springtime Blues On Champion that could be re-mastered.
 It is the best copy of 3 on Champion. Usually it is the PM issues that seem so worn--but some on Gennett/Champion family also. Have someone contact me about the PM 12943 for this new method of re-mastering.Weird 75.Keep playing on the streets of Chapel Hill. I lived in Greensboro for 5 years and made it to CH a few times. gdw

[Rivers]

I found the thread from June 2012 that Stuart mentioned discussing recreating audio from a photograph. It was a different person, Patrick Feaster.

http://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=8882.msg73836#msg73836

[mutantmoose]

So, at some point, we should be able to do this at home - scan a record, get a sound file, and be all set. (Or, at least make a scan and send it to someone for processing.)

I'm giddy with the thought of my acetate collection (nothing exciting, just lots of old home-made records) being played without the inevitable damage that they take. Wow.