Introduction:
In my many years of audio production and development, I had not yet until now, undertaken a project of this size. In addition to what the Museum already had on file, many others in the nearby communities were encouraged to 'drop off' various tapes or vinyl records - not necessarily for inclusion in this site, but to hopefully at least 'capture' the material in a standard digitized form, while we could, and while this project was undertaken.
It would be financially unfeasible for the Museum to host a site with every piece of Doukhobor recording ever collected. A site of this magnitude would be simply cost-prohibitive - to reproduce and restore the audio, to develop the site itself, and of course to host.
What we did though, was digitize all of the materials we could so that there would at least be a digital 'record' of this material, but limited the volume (size) of this site to those albums and tapes which the Museum previously had in their archives. Perhaps some day, a like site could be developed with the additional tapes and cassettes we received and digitized, but did not make available on the Internet.
Selections:
There was no magic process by which songs were included or not on this site. On some of the featured albums one can hear all the original album's cuts. On others, only a few of the cuts were presented. This had nothing to do with the quality of the choir or artist, but rather, the quality of the track itself. Unfortunately, some albums had so many scratches and/or impurities that even the magic of modern technology couldn't restore these.
The Process:
For those that may be interested, we first started the project by digitally recording every album and tape we had using some very high-end computer-based audio hardware and software. These recordings were then stored onto a huge hard drive and backed up on DVD format (in typical .wav form) so they would never be lost.
Using the source material, each track itself had to edited - that is, it had to be digitally spliced (from Side One of an album or tape) to make sure there was no front or end noise, and indeed each 'cut' within the album became in fact, a separate digital track. Each of these edited tracks was then backed up and stored on DVD, which is now part of the digital archive records of the Doukhobor Village Museum. In most cases, each track was readjusted for a more-constant volume when compared to other tracks on the site. Additionally, we used various software to de-click scratchy records or de-hiss tapes. And in some cases, where records were originally taken from a recorded tape because the vinyl itself no longer exists, we used both processes.
Some scratches and clicks were removed using editing software. Not every track received this degree of attention but noticeable scratches were removed. Below is an interesting display of what a track with a click looks like when captured. Click on the Before button to hear the actual click; click the after button to hear it removed by literally deleting the section. (The click itself is less than one thoudand of a second in length. The human ear hears this but doesn't notice it when it's gone)
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Here,
a close-up shows a spike where the click in the track resides. Click
the Before button to hear the spike. |
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Magnified
closer , the spike in the waveform (the 'click') has now been cut
out, leaving no audible proof. |
Here is a few-second sample of a 'before and after' comparison of just one of the tracks that was captured. Play the Before button to hear a few seconds of the original recording. Play the After button to hear it restored. Play the Noise button and you will here what was removed as 'noise' from this track using digital audio technology.
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For those who have done this sort of audio processing,
they know how long a process it is to restore an inferior record and edit
as described - consider the amount of tracks within this library and it
is a job one would only want to do once in his or her life! (Fortunately,
that was the precise reason we embarked on this task - so no one would
have to restore these old vinyl and tape recordings again, and in digital
form, the music would be preserved and safe from the ravages and effects
of wear and tear, or the adverse effects that age, or elements such as
humidity or other, has on these old recordings).
Most of the recordings in this archive can no longer be purchased; thus
the reason for this archive. In the case of newer recordings, we hope
that if you enjoy them, you will support these artists by purchasing their
CDs and tapes.
We also hope you enjoy the result of our efforts for years to come - it
is after all, our Doukhobor heritage.
Ron Mahonin
Project Director
October 2003