|
|
|
|
My introduction to wire recordings came through my friend
Garth Forsythe, singer, songwriter, and collector
of musical oddities. He's got about a dozen hours of old wire recordings collected from Lehigh Valley attics. Some of these wires are recordings
of Lehigh Valley and Reading radio broadcasts from the late '40s and early '50s, home recordings of
the family singing & playing the piano, some Bible readings and hymns,
and general clowning around in front of the microphone. Wire machines were never in widespread use; sold only from the late '40s to the early '50s, the machines were quickly replaced by much more convenient and better-sounding tape recorders developed for the home market. As a result, the medium became obsolete not long after its introduction, and a lot of the old wires were just packed away after just a few uses, effectively becoming unintended time capsules. Most of the wires sent to me haven't been heard for 45 or 50 years, some have never been played back at all, and the contents of many of the spools are a mystery. The material I've transferred so far has included weddings, house blessings, anniversary parties, family music performances, Christmas & Thanksgiving celebrations, improvised stories and plays recorded by kids, historic speeches recorded from the radio, reflections on lives lived and ruminations on the future, business meetings, clandestinely recorded dinner parties, phone conversations, and local radio programs. The contents are always fascinating, and they're made more so for the fact that they've laid undisturbed for so many decades. I approach each spool I get with a real sense of discovery. top For service on and full restoration of wire recorders, contact Darren Hoffman at amcmatador@aol.com. You might also want to check out Papasvoice.com - they also offer wire to CD transfers with noise reduction, and do 78 rpm records and reel-to-reel tape transfers to CD or DAT, too. National Public Radio has a program called Lost and Found Sound that features home recordings collected from the last century. If you think you have something that might be of interest, contact NPR at their Quest For Sound web page. top | |
|
A few samples of wire transfers are below... The following clips are in MP3 format - if you need an mp3 player, you can download RealPlayer for free at www.real.com Click here to download a very brief clip from Joe and Vivian's wedding, and here to hear a radio dedication to Bob and Aina the night before their wedding. Click here for a clip from pastor Lange's sermon in church, and here to hear another "practice" sermon. One more clip - an investment pitch read by an unidentified man.
If you have some wire recordings that you need to have transferred to CD, or if you have any questions about the process, please contact me by e-mail, or use the comment form, and I'll get right back to you.If you want to send me your wire, my address is... Dan McKinney 5121 Camp Meeting Rd. Center Valley, Pa. 18034 Make sure you include your name, address, phone number, and email inside the package. When you send the spool, make sure the wire is well-secured so it doesn't loosen or partially unravel during shipping. If the original acetate leader is still on the wire, that should be sufficient to hold the wire in place. If the wire is loose, simply tape the end to the rim of the spool with masking tape. If the spool isn't in it's original box, you can wrap it in aluminum foil for added protection. Make sure the container is well padded so the spool won't shake around in transit. You might want to send the package by UPS or Federal Express, both of which provide tracking numbers so you (and I) can follow the package's progress online. top
*The turnaround time from the day I get your wire to the day you receive your finished CD can take a few weeks, but if you need it fast, I can reduce the time to a few days.Once I've received your wire spool, I'll listen to the entirety of the spool while transferring the signal to the hard drive of my computer. Then I'll get in touch with you and let you know exactly what I've found, and we can decide how much of the content you want transferred to CD. Then, I'll start mastering the content we want on disc. This involves using digital noise reduction tools to reduce hum and buzz, and, as much as possible, the hiss, crackle, and occasional distortion that's inherent to the medium. Particularly faint passages can require special attention to increase intelligibility. I'll then arrange the final program onto compact disc, separating it into separate CD tracks so you'll be able to easily navigate from passage to passage. Whenever possible, I try to present the program on the CD as one would have heard the original wire recording, including the sometimes odd-sounding aural artifacts that are peculiar to the wire machines. However, if there are passages that are too garbled or distorted, I'll leave these off the finished program. A word of caution - sometimes wire spools get tangled to the point where it would be impossible to recover the recording without A LOT of time spent unraveling wire. If I receive a spool that's too badly tangled for me to do anything with, I'll return it at no cost. Wires that are badly kinked or curled will result in bad playback. The sound is affected greatly if the wire skips or jerks over the playback head. Playback can also be adversely affected by breaks that have been spliced. Often the splice knots will slip unnoticed through the playback head, but if the knots are loose or not trimmed neatly, they can cause dropouts. top |
Customer comments... "Dan runs a great service and does a wonderful job. He recently restored hours of old wire recordings that hadn't been heard in years, and it brought back a flood of wonderful memories. The recordings were in bad shape, but he took his time and pieced them together at a very affordable rate. Thanks Dan." Darrell Dorgan, Bismarck, North Dakota. "Dan - the work you did for me in transferring the recordings I had on wire to CD's was excellent. You certainly can use my endorsement." Morris Macy, N.J. "I have nothing but praise for Dan McKinney! I highly recommend him. He did excellent, conscientious, work in transferring my parents' 1949 wedding service from wire onto CDR. After being disappointed by promises made by local audio studios, Dan saved the day by providing a three-day* turnaround on my old wires. Hearing the wedding service again for the first time in 50 years was the highlight of my parents' anniversary!" Mark David Nelson Evergreen, Colorado "Dan - The package arrived today. The CD is wonderful! It was great to hear the family getting together in front of the wire recorder. The solos by 6-year-old John Manchester (who later died in Vietnam and has part of a high school in Maine named in his honor) and his talented Dad (who also died several years ago) were very moving. I think we are all thrilled to hear these voices from the past. Thank you very much once again!" Neil Sheeley, Alexandria, Va. |
$1.50 per finished minute, transferred to CD.This includes digital noise reduction and any necessary editing (trimming silences and garbled signal, editing the program into separate CD cuts). $10.00 per additional CD copy. These rates are based, very loosely, on my basic studio rate of $40.00/hour. A 30-minute wire might take 45 minutes to an hour (or longer, depending on the condition of the wire) to transfer to the computer's hard drive, and judicious editing and noise reduction might take another half-hour or so. Careful rewinding of the wire can take a little while too - rewinding at full speed can be hazardous to the health of the wire. I'll spend whatever time is necessary to get the best possible sound from the wire you send me. top |
|