The preservation of sound archives: A computer science based approach to quality control

n/dThis thesis summarizes the author\u2019s work in the last years, which have been spent in the effort of establishing an organic connection in the many aspects involved in the preservation of audio documents. This has been achieved living first hand experiences in archival institutions and in academic research laboratories. The result is a multidisciplinary set of knowledge that is herein presented within the framework of a scientific methodology, the guiding thread of which is a computer science based approach to the quality control in the preservation process. The thesis is organized in five parts. Part one explores the field of preservation with a focus on ethics and philology, reporting the positions of the most authoritative representatives within the international archival community with respect to the cultural dilemma of supporting preservation. In the light of these positions, the author proposes her own methodology for preservation, and details an operational protocol reflecting the theoretical principles. Part two describes the original software that the author has developed with the aim of achieving a greater control over the quality of the preservation process, supporting and automatizing its related activities. Part three reports the results of chemical, mechanical and audio analyses that have been conducted in order to advance the understanding of one of the most common restoration methods for magnetic tapes: thermal treatment. Part four describes the research projects in which the author has collaborated and within the scope of which most of the work presented herein has been carried out. The archives involved have proved an invaluable testbed for the definition of the methodology, allowing the author to perfect the procedures in the light of the problems of real-world archives. Finally, part five moves in the directions of an advanced research field in the preservation area, focused on artistic interactive multimedia installations. Sound is one of the elements that contributes to the creation of the artistic experience, and every aspect of audio preservation is comprised in this field, with the additional problems of dealing with multiple media and with real-time interaction. This parts includes important case studies that the author has taken care of, among which an interactive multimedia installation presented at the Expo 2002. During the author's work in the archives, among the most requested missing tools was an exhaustive list of symptoms and signs of degradation that affecting different types of audio media. The substantial appendix closing this work includes the summary, obtained by crossing several sources and aligning overlapping/contradicting definitions

Digital Philology in Audio Long-term Preservation: A Multidisciplinary Project on Experimental Music

This paper presents the methodology of a multidisciplinary project aimed at the preservation of the audio collection of the Centro Studi Luciano Berio, coordinated by and carried out at the laboratory for audio preservation and restoration of the Centro di Sonologia Computazionale (CSC) in Padua. The expected output of the project is a digital audio collection of preservation copies that meet the requirements of accuracy, reliability and authenticity necessary to serve as a valid documentary source for scholarly studies. The paper addresses the problem of digital philology applied to audio documents, and provides salient information about the implementation of the digitization process

The challenge of preserving Interactive Sound Art: A multi-level approach

Installation art flourished in the XX century and its impact on the contemporary artistic production today is acknowledged worldwide. However installations are threatened by a life expectancy that is significantly shorter than that of other cultural materials, including audio-visual media. This article addresses the topic of preserving interactive multimedia installations, showing why they are refractory to preservation, and why the current practices for preservation do not have ready solutions for these problems. The authors introduce a functional categorisation of documents, in the form of an original multi-level approach to preservation

Digital Philology in Audio Long-term Preservation: A Multidisciplinary Project on Experimental Music

none2This paper presents the methodology of a multidisciplinary project aimed at the preservation of the audio collection of the Centro Studi Luciano Berio, coordinated by and carried out at the laboratory for audio preservation and restoration of the Centro di Sonologia Computazionale (CSC) in Padua. The expected output of the project is a digital audio collection of preservation copies that meet the requirements of accuracy, reliability and authenticity necessary to serve as a valid documentary source for scholarly studies. The paper addresses the problem of digital philology applied to audio documents, and provides salient information about the implementation of the digitization process.noneFederica Bressan; Sergio CanazzaBERNARDINI BRESSAN, Federica; CANAZZA TARGON, Sergi

Metodologie e nuovi strumenti informatici per la tutela delle memorie sonore: il caso dell\u2019archivio storico della Fondazione Arena di Verona

L'articolo presenta i risultati del progetto di ricerca REVIVAL (2009-2012), finalizzato alla realizzazione di una piattaforma hardware/software capace di supportare il processo di conservazione attiva dei documenti sonori dell'archivio storico Fondazione Arena di Verona, con un'attenzione particolare per il protocollo operativo e il controllo della qualit\ue0. Sul piano scientifico, i risultati di maggiore rilievo del progetto sono stati: (a) l'allestimento di un ambiente di lavoro permanente all'interno dell'archivio stesso; (b) il trasferimento di competenze dal gruppo di ricerca al personale archivistico; (c) la definizione e la realizzazione di un insieme di analisi fisico-chimiche da condurre sui nastri magnetici; (d) lo sviluppo di un ambiente informatico in grado di aumentare il controllo sul processo di ri-mediazione dei documenti sonori per mezzo di procedure automatizzate e controlli ridondati. Sul piano culturale, il progetto si \ue8 distinto per aver scoperto, recuperato e ripristinato documenti di pregio mai pubblicati, in copia unica e di grande valore economico e musicologico, come esibizioni dal vivo di artisti della levatura di Luciano Pavarotti e Pl\ue1cido Domingo