This year I have decided to digitise everything— all of those boxes of “stuff” which haven’t been peered into for years. There’s some pretty interesting stuff in those boxes. The first ‘release’ will be a project from my radio days.
So my big project starts with the digitising four x 30-minute reel-to-reel master tapes. That’s 1,500 metres, just under a mile, of magnetic 1/4-inch tape. I hit up a couple of community radio stations in my area, hoping they could digitise them for me. No one had reel-to-reel machines anymore.
Online, there are a few companies that offer digitising services. I chose one in Canberra, which has contracts with the National Archive and NSW State Library. They only do film, video, and audio. The company is called DAM Smart. They recommend a company in Melbourne , DataCommIT, for photos, slides, negatives, and documents. The cost per 30-minute audio reel was AUD125 (USD75).
My tapes have gone with me everywhere over their last three and a half decades, including to the United States and back. I had no idea what condition they were in. As it turns out, they were in pretty good condition and have digitised reasonably well. I agree, I had a listen to the files, and they’re OK, all things considered.
Yesterday, I spoke with the CEO of DAM Smart about my project. He made a few observations:
- The tapes were in pretty good condition as they were on Agfa tape. He said Agfa and Ampex hold up well over time. Others don’t always.
- Tapes are susceptible to humidity. I explained where I lived (a subtropical place) and he suggested I take them out of the plastic bags as that can create a microclimate for mould. They had been buried in the middle of documents for all of these years and, in my opinion, this may have helped with preservation.
- Not only did they digitise the tapes, they cleaned them before use. Following their cleaning, these tapes would probably survive another 50 years before deteriorating beyond use. I thought this was amazing.
- Reel-to-reel tapes are best stored upright, like books, as when lying flat, the plastic reels can become warped.
I did tell him that soon the tapes and other ephemera will be donated to an organisation for future archiving so ongoing storage won’t be an issue for me.
For my radio friends who have boxes of tapes (reels or cassettes), take note. I highly recommend DAM Smart.
Watch this space for the upcoming release of the tapes. You’ll want to take a listen.
ENDS