yvette@citris-uc.org

Yvette Subramanian

290 Hearst Memorial Mining Building, the Maria & Dado Banatao Conference Room, UC Berkeley

Please join us for a talk by Carl Haber, Senior Scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, entitled "Imaging the Voices of the Past: Using Optics to Restore Sound Recordings." The talk will take place at noon on October 18 in 290 HMMB, UC Berkeley, as part of the CITRIS Research Exchange.

 


"Imaging the Voices of the Past: Using Optics to Restore Sound Recordings"

by Carl Haber, Senior Scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
12:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 18 in 290 HMMB, UC Berkeley

Watch talk online

Part of the CITRIS Research Exchange at UC Berkeley. The complete schedule for the fall semester is online at RE-fall2006.

As always, these talks are free, open to the public and broadcast live online at mms://media.citris.berkeley.edu/webcast.

Abstract:
Sound was first recorded and reproduced by Thomas Edison in 1877.  Until about 1950, when magnetic tape use became common, most recordings were made on mechanical media, such as wax, foil, shellac, lacquer, and plastic. Some of these older recordings contain material of great historical value or interest but are damaged, decaying, or now considered too delicate to play.
This talk will begin with a discussion of the history and technical basis of sound recording and the issues faced by archives and libraries as they strive to preserve, and create greater access to, these valuable materials.  Recently, a series of techniques, based upon optical metrology and image analysis, have been applied to restoring historical sound recordings.  Preservation studies on discs, cylinders, and dictation belts, and a project, with the Library of Congress, to develop an imaging workstation for disc media access will be described.
These topics, and prospects for the future,  will be illustrated with sounds and images.
Additional information can be found at http://www-cdf.lbl.gov/~av

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