AES New York 2013
Historical Event
Sunday, October 20, 1:00 pm — 2:00 pm (Room 1E14)
A Contribution to the History of Field Tape Recording, 1939-1940
Presenter:Nadja Wallaszkovits, Phonogrammarchiv, Austrian Academy of Science - Vienna, Austria
Abstract:
Digital Transfer of The Armando Leça Folk Music Collection
Nadja Wallaszkovits will discuss the restoration, transfer, and digitization of a unique collection of folk music recorded during 1939-1940 in the rural areas and mountain villages of Portugal by the folklorist Armando Leça, in collaboration with National Radio (Emissora Nacional). Her presentation will open with a short introduction of this important field research project, which resulted in the first known collection of recordings documenting rural musical practices from nearly all regions of Portugal. Thereafter, she will present a historical overview of early magnetic tape developments and the birth of audio tape recorder technology, focusing on the characteristics of the individual tape machine used by Armando Leça. The problems of carrier handling, restoration, and transfer of these valuable original tapes will be discussed, along with the judicial use of signal enhancement during the playback process.
