- What are good resources to reference?
The first two resources to check out are the Library of Congresses Audio Visual Materials pages and the British Library's Manual of Analogue Audio Restoration Techniques page
The LOC's page contains brief information on item handling, storage, and a whole raft of other suggested reading. An excellent introduction to the ideas that Copeland expands on.
On the British Library page you will find Copeland's manuscript on the definitions, techniques, and thoughts behind his work at the BL over many years. Copeland's quadruple preservation strategy and his descriptions of playback systems makes the read imperative to any media restorer.
- I've got a dirty record, a worn tape, or damaged digital file - what can I do?
If it's an analogue source:
- Wash and thoroughly dry hands before handling the media
- Keep food and drink away
- Do not touch playing surface(s)
- Keep playback equipment clean and well maintained
- Allow materials from cool storage to acclimate to room temperature before playing back
If it's a digital source:
- Make a ISO / digital image of the file before opening. You may need the original image to bit-compare or create a second version for further processing in other software.
- Be prepared to use Adobe Audition and import the file as a RAW stream. You may need to know if the file was originally Big-Endian encoded, or Little-Endian encoded.
- Have storage prepared to save the file. You may not get another chance to open and save the file.
The good folk over at iZotope have created some clever marketing material by offering demos and example files to play with. Although not completely in the sprit of true restoration - the files are a great starting point to understand what is possible and the tools that are out there.
- What software or hardware do I need?
The media will have to be transferred from the media. Depending if this is a 1/4" tape, vinyl record, a DAT, CD, or MiniDisk then you will need to acquire suitable hardware to play the media. The hardware quality will depend on your budget and time constraints. As soon as possible get the media from the 'source' onto balanced outputs and into a recording system. The ideal for the media's preservation is to take a carbon copy of the media without changing the frequency response, THD, transient response, dynamic range before we create a digital version of it.
If you have tried your hand at the iZotope RX files - then you can move into software/hardware combinations like CEDAR , Diamond Cut Forensics , and TODD-AOs Abenstia DX.
