By MAY WONG, AP Technology Writer
SAN JOSE, Calif. - Two physicists have discovered a way to digitally
map old, archived audio recordings and reconstruct the sound.
Four years after hearing a radio report on the challenge of
preserving aging audio recordings, particle physicist Carl Haber's
newfound method of rescuing the classics is music to archivists'
ears.
Haber and a fellow physicist at the Lawrence Berkeley National
Laboratory, Vitaliy Fadeyev, have found a way to digitally map the
grooves in warped or damaged shellac records and wax cylinders — and
play them back using a sort of virtual needle.
To do so, they use the same optical scanning method — powered by a
microscope and computer technology — that physicists employ for
measuring the journeys of subatomic particles.
The technique detects and filters any scratches, as well as clicks
and pops from dust. It works with vinyl, too, though such records
aren't as fragile to need it.
Roughly 2.5 million music and spoken-word recordings are stored in
the Library of Congress (news - web sites) — the project's sponsor —
but some are more than a century old and very delicate. Archivists
risk further damage if they use a real stylus to play and re-record
them.
"This marks a whole new direction for sound archiving," said Mark
Roosa, the library's director for preservation. "They're
reconstructing sound as we had never imagined would be possible, even
if there are cracks in the cylinder."
The physicists hope their research will ultimately lead to a machine
to preserve and enhance public access to sounds of history.
"Archivists want tools that will allow them to copy recordings with
as little intervention as possible," Haber said. "It's starting to
almost look like there could be a Xerox machine for recordings."
Saving The Music
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