Optical Imaging Study
of the 1878 St. Louis Edison Tinfoil Recording
from the
miSci (museum of innovation
and science)
Schenectady, New York
Last Update 24-October-2012
This site provides information about the digital restoration of
an Edison tinfoil record which dates from 1878.
The restoration was done as part of a larger project to restore,
preserve, and create digital access to sound recordings using non-invasive
optical methods. This project is a collaboration between Lawrence Berkeley National
Laboratory and the Library of Congress.
·
General reference to the Berkeley
Optical Sound Restoration Project is at http://irene.lbl.gov/ ·
·
Link to miSci
www.miSci.org
·
Additional details on the methods can
be found in 3D-Scanning.pdf
·
A description of the project to
restore the 1878 tinfoil is Tinfoil_files\Restoring the 1878 St. Louis Foil.pdf
·
Powerpoint of a presentation given at miSci about the
recovery of the recording, included embedded audio Tinfoil_files\MISCI-Edison-2012-POST.pdf
·
A short video clip of the scan Tinfoil_files\MVI_3097.MOV
·
A close-up clip Tinfoil_files\MVI_3096.MOV
·
A image of the scanning system Tinfoil_files\IMG_3089.JPG
·
A close-up image Tinfoil_files\IMG_3091.JPG
Audio files in WAV format
>>Recommended
playback version: Full length filtered playback of the tinfoil Tinfoil_files\foil_top_ewc-DC-FIRFoil1CH.wav
The foil is easier to listen to if broken into distinct
sections. The sections are from the
filtered version.
Section 1: Quiet lead-in with only the sound of the folds
(see image above) Tinfoil_files\Leadin-filter.wav
Section 2: Brass instruments Tinfoil_files\Music-filter.wav
Section 3: Mary Had a Little Lamb Tinfoil_files\Mary-filter.wav
Section 4: Laughter Tinfoil_files\Laugher-filter.wav
Section 5: Old Mother Hubbard Tinfoil_files\Old-Mother-Hubbard-filter.wav
Section 6: Laughter and more speaking Tinfoil_files\More-laughter.wav
Full length
raw playback of the tinfoil Tinfoil_files\foil_top_ewc.wav
Berkeley Lab research supported by
The Institute of Museum and Library Services
The
Library of Congress
The
National Archives and Records Administration
The
National Endowment for the Humanities
The
University of California at Berkeley
The
Department of Energy
The
Mellon Foundation
The
John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
The
Smithsonian Institution
miSci tinfoil preservation efforts are supported by
Save
America’s Treasures
The National
Endowment for the Humanities
The
Institute of Museum and Library Services”
Carl Haber
Physics
Division
Lawrence
Berkeley National Laboratory