[QuadList] OT Bell Tone Record--Try ASRC list--

[Ted Langdell]

Optical may be an option, regardless of the disc's composition.  The question is cost?

http://newsdesk.si.edu/factsheets/early-sound-recording-collection-and-sound-recovery-project

and http://bio16p.lbl.gov/volta-release-2013.html

It doesn't appear to be lacquer from the photo.  Looks much like a larger version of the small aluminum disc my dad recorded.

If the person on the disc is of some reknown or a historical figure, a library or museum might want to accept the disc into its collections, do work necessary to safely recover the content and provide a digital file of the disc to the donor.


Here are some things to consider, courtesy of Eric Jacobs, of The Audio Archive, whom I have used to transfer client's discs:
http://www.theaudioarchive.com/TAA_Disc_Overview.htm

Scroll all the way to the bottom for details about Aluminum discs, on which the grooves were cut directly into the alumnimum discs.

Here's a separate page about transcription discs... a different animal.
http://www.theaudioarchive.com/TAA_Resources_Disc_Transcription.htm

Hope this helps.

Ted

Ted Langdell
Secretary
Skype: 	TedLangdell
e-mail:	ted at quadvideotapegroup.com

Seventh Annual Lunch at NAB at 12:30pm on Tuesday, April 08, 2014
Meet/Eat at Booth L-8 in the hallway between Central and North Halls
At the MUSEUM OF BROADCAST TECHNOLOGY display
NAB 2014, Las Vegas, April 7-10, 2014
Free Exhibits Pass registration! Use our number: LV9822. Free passes end March 21!



On Mar 15, 2014, at 5:46 PM, couryhouse at aol.com wrote:

> 
> might be good to have it optically  read.
>  
> laquer  can instantly  crumble......
>  
>  
> In a message dated 3/15/2014 4:08:24 P.M. Mountain Standard Time, ted at quadvideotapegroup.com writes:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Mar 15, 2014, at 1:56 AM, Scott Thomas wrote:
> 
>> 
>> A TV director I follow on Twitter had this question:
>> https://twitter.com/LiveTVDirector/statuses/444589406549065729
>> "This Bell Tone record is the only known recording of my great uncle Leo from 1941. He died in WWII. How do I play it? "
>> 
>> The link has the image of the record.
>> 
>> I figured this would be a bit more involved than just getting a turntable. Any ideas?
> 
> You are correct.  
> 
> Stylus type, dimensions, shape, tracking force, turntable direction and speed all play a role in not damaging the disc, and getting the full fidelity from the recording.
> 
> The Association for Recorded Sound Collections list might be helpful. 
> Start here: http://www.arsc-audio.org/index.php
> 
> A series of closer pictures showing the label, logo, surface of the disc, particularly with a fine-division ruler or something else to show the groove spacing could help. 
> 
> Measurement of the disc thickness might offer some clues.  
> 
> The writing on the bottom of the bell isn't clear, but may have some helpful details.
> 
> Since the logo bears reference to being registered with the US Patent Office, that might offer some information about the company involved, location and possible dates.
> 
> http://www.uspto.gov/
> 
> A search of both trademarks and patents might be necessary to determine whether the Bell Tone logo was registered before the Patent Office became the US Patent and Trademark Office.
> 
> I did a bit of searching and didn't seem to come up with anything related to either a recording company or a type of recording method.
> 
> Anectode:
> 
> I had an aluminum disc my now 99-year old dad recorded on a trip to the Empire State Building in the early 30s.  It was packaged with a bamboo stylus for (safe?) playback on a 78 rpm phonograph with removable stylus pickup.  
> 
> On a trip to the Empire State Building in 1968, I think that the same booth he used to record his disc was still there... in the elevator lobby of the observation deck, if my gray matter storage system is working well.
> 
> I can't recall what I used to make a transfer multi-decades ago.  I think I managed to kluge something to use the bamboo stylus. 
> 
> Ted
> 
> Ted Langdell
> Secretary
> Skype:  
>   TedLangdell
> e-mail: ted at quadvideotapegroup.com
> 
> Seventh Annual Lunch at NAB at 12:30pm on Tuesday, April 08, 2014
> Meet/Eat at Booth L-8 in the hallway between Central and North Halls
> At the MUSEUM OF BROADCAST TECHNOLOGY display
> NAB 2014, Las Vegas, April 7-10, 2014
> Free Exhibits Pass registration! Use our number: LV9822. Free passes end March 21!
> 
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