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INA Selected Radio Broadcast Collections: A Long-Term Audio Restoration Project

Title (author1): 
Mr
First names (author1): 
Emiliano
Surname (author 1): 
Flores
Institution: 
Gecko
Country: 
FRANCE
Other authors: 
Mr Vincent Fromont
Presentation type: 
spoken paper
Date: 
28 Sept Wednesday
Start time: 
1635
Venue: 
LoC Madison Building: Montpelier Rm.
Abstract: 

The topic of our presentation shall be the digital audio restoration of 4,000 78rpm instantaneous discs and 1,300 hours of 1/4 inch magnetic tapes of the French radio archives from the 1950's. This important restoration project was managed by the French company, GECKO, that specializes in audio archives digitization and restoration. The project was performed under close guidance of french collection owner, Institut National de l'Audiovisuel (INA). Brussels-based Equus restoration engineer Marc Doutrepont was also involved as part-time partner. Our paper shall begin with the evocation of the global context which enabled this unique collaboration between Gecko, Equus and INA. Beyond technical expertise lies a story of deep understanding and trust, and the acceptance of long-term communication expectations on both sides throughout the running of the project. On a more technical side, the following topics shall then be developed : beyond traditional digital audio restoration processing (declicking, denoising, EQing and dynamic processing), techniques for the best possible mono extraction of any media, attenuation of typical 50's tapes "grumble" noises, wow attenuation, spectral dynamics processing, level management, and pre-mastering with the archive's historical properties in mind. The following related sub-topics shall also be mentioned: quantities and how to deal with them, and the historical value of processed material (radio interviews, concerts, dramas, entertainment shows, political debates, and more). Our presentation shall be widely illustrated by sound examples and/or videos/photographs. The two persons involved in the presentation shall be Emiliano Flores (audio restoration team manager at GECKO) and Vincent Fromont (audio restoration team manager at INA).