A METHODOLOGY FOR DIGITIZING WAX CYLINDERS presented by Melissa Widzinski and Dan Figurelli

The Association for Recorded Sound Collections presents the following program from its 52nd Annual Conference in Baltimore, Maryland in 2018:

A METHODOLOGY FOR DIGITIZING WAX CYLINDERS
Presented by Melissa Widzinski and Dan Figurelli, Indiana University's Media Digitization and Preservation Initiative.

As part of the Media Digitization and Preservation Initiative at Indiana University, the audio preservation team was tasked with digitally preserving approximately 7,000 wax cylinder recordings. The vast majority of these are field-recorded cylinders made between 1893 and 1938, recorded in 60 different countries around the world. Each cylinder is a unique, one-of-a-kind recording that requires special care and calibration. In this presentation we will discuss how MDPI digitizes these cylinders using the Endpoint Audio cylinder playback machine. We will detail specific procedures used in assessing the condition of the cylinder, centering with the help of a laser to reduce wow, making adjustments to the machine and tonearm, overcoming tracking issues, capturing in the reverse direction, stylus selection, and choosing the appropriate speed for each cylinder. We will also discuss our procedures for gathering technical metadata, creating five different files for each transfer, and the role each file plays for long-term preservation.

Note: Two wax cylinder examples were redacted due to public access restrictions.

MELISSA WIDZINSKI has been an Audio Preservation Engineer at the Media Preservation and Digitization Initiative at Indiana University since 2015. She specializes in digitizing deteriorating analog audio recordings on wax cylinder, aluminum disc, lacquer disc, and magnetic tape. Melissa holds a B.S. in Sound Recording Technology and a B.M. in saxophone performance from SUNY Fredonia. She also has experience in live sound, recording studios, and radio.

DAN FIGURELLI is an Audio Preservation Engineer at Indiana University. He works extensively with wax cylinders, lacquer and aluminum discs, and analog tape. He has preserved such notable collections as the "Edward S. Curtis Collection", "The Orson Welles Materials," and the "George Herzog Standing Rock Collection", which was added to the 2017 National Recording Registry. Dan has done extensive work in live sound and recording studios across the country before joining MDPI in 2015.

MDPI Project: https://mdpi.iu.edu; https: //blogs.ipu.edu/mdpi

THE ASSOCIATION FOR RECORDED SOUND COLLECTIONS (www.arsc-audio.org) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation and study of sound recordings, in all genres of music and speech, in all formats, and from all periods. ARSC is unique in bringing together private individuals and institutional professionals—everyone with a serious interest in recorded sound.

Editor: Melissa Widzinski