Making Progress on the KWR Tapes

Discovery: Saving these as mono MP3 files will not save much space at all. I will leave them as stereo files (though the source is definitely monaural). All files 128 kbps stereo--plenty big for spoken word files.

Currently digitizing the 1971 Brendan Sexton tapes; I was able to digitize tapes during the day with no problem. Some items:

Raw Masters

• 22 files
• no changes in bit rates
• log final lengths
  

Side Masters

• volume adjusted
• monaural
  
• eq fixed
  

Tracks

• ideally >10 minute sections
• add ID3 tags
• add photos of the original tapes

Syntax

A1_001.mp3

KWR UAW Tapes - Technical Notes

Source Recordings

The recordings exist in Compact Cassette format; all tapes are low noise/normal bias quality from commercially-available brands, including Maxell, BASF, Scotch, and Ampex. It is not clear if these cassettes are copies of original tapes or if they were made directly from the source programming (one tape is labeled "original," which would suggest that it was recorded in real time at the event). It would appear that all recordings were made with a hall/room PA system as the source. The make and specifications of the source tape recorder(s) is unknown. Programming is almost certainly monaural in all cases.

Digitization

Two cassette decks were used for source playback: JVC KD-D50 and Yamaha KX-W392. In both cases, playback was in the normal bias position with no noise reduction circuit engaged. Digital encoding was performed with a Zoom H2 Handy Recorder in mp3 format at 128kbps stereo. Recordings were then adjusted for volume and EQ using PolderBits software. Editing was performed to limit track length to 10 minutes. ID3 tags with track identification were added using Apple iTunes software. Files were archived as audio CDs, as well as CR-ROM copies of the final files.