I did moderate that panel (AES RP1) featuring the extraordinarily talented Jamie Howarth (Plangent Processes), Michael Graves (Osiris Studio), Cheryl Pawelski (Omnivore Recordings) and Steve Rosenthal (Magic Shop Studios, now known as Magic Shop Archiving and Restoration Services aka MARS). The experience and brain power on this panel was a marvel. We talked about collaboration between archives and record labels, working together to refine best practices around digitization both for preservation purposes and to please discerning music fans, navigating the technological challenges of archival collections that span decades and formats. One big takeaway: simply abiding by technical standards is not enough; we need skilled technicians, well maintained and calibrated playback machines and high quality A/D conversion in order to properly digitize and preserve audio recordings. We all know a 192k wav file can sound like a shadow of its analog self if the playback deck is out of alignment or caked in half a century of grime.
This also got me thinking about deepening my own skill set. I can calibrate an ATR-104 in my sleep, but I also know that there is much I don't know about adjusting headstacks to deal with unusual tape formats, curling tape, damaged tapes. Who is going to teach me this stuff? And, to put it bluntly, who's going to be around in another 10, 20, 30 years to teach anyone this stuff? There are videos tutorials available through ARSC, but nothing beats face-to-face, hands-on training. So... that's on my mind. Stay tuned.
Then I hopped a bus to tour Iron Mountain! We all signed NDAs and swore off our smart phones, so I have no pictures of the facility, the stunningly ornate Art Deco elevator doors, the vaults, the rows and rows and rows and rows and more rows of stored media. But I do have this picture of me and Steve Rosenthal on the roof with the Hollywood sign barely legible in the distance: