Getting Back Into the Groove
Posted on July 27, 2004
Filed Under Music, Science |
In the corner of a California university laboratory, two men are battling against time to perfect a machine that will read old recordings - using special microscopes to scan the grooves - and software that can convert those shapes into sound.
The danger has always been that the act of playing old wax recordings would destroy the artifacts. Two subatomic physicists—to be clear, it is not the pair of physicists who are subatomic—are devising a way to use their technology to safely read the grooves on deteriorating wax cylinders. Once the image is digitized, a computer will be able to translate the data into its audible counterpart.
This is great news for historians of all types; we will soon be able to hear famous historical characters like Abraham Lincoln and Florence Nightingale in addition to original performances of American folk music collected all over the country.
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