Academic thesis

Nikolai Exner: Phonograph cylinders: Problems at restoring and securing and translation of information of waxen recorders back

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Overview:  
 
Abstract: The phonograph invented 1877 by Thomas Alva Edison was used by etnologists for recording music from all over the world for a long time. Between 1893 and 1943 about 15000 cylinders were collected and are nowadays stored in the Museum of Anthropology Berlin. The cylinders which mainly consist of stearic acid, metallic soaps and waxes are analysed by IR-spectroscopy. Damages caused by high humidity, change in temperature and physical shock are brittleness, cracks and breakagees, white coating and mould. This paper deals with the conservation and restoration of the cylinders and with extracting their information. Modern digital data-processing methods for recording are applied and problems caused by these methods are discussed.

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Keywords: Phonograph cylinders, waxen recorders, securing information
Details:
  • academic institution: Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft Berlin
  • kind of theses:  Diplomarbeit
  • main Tutor:  Prof. Ruth Keller-Kempas M. A.
  • assistant Tutor:  Prof. Dr. Matthias Knaut
  • date:  1997
  • Language:  German
  • pages:  85
  • pictures:  95

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