Abstract
Multimedia archives face the problem of obsolescing and degrading analogue media (e.g., speech and music recordings and video art). In response, researchers in the field have recently begun studying ad hoc tools for the preservation and access of historical analogue documents. This paper investigates the active preservation process of audio tape recordings, specifically focusing on possible means for compensating equalization errors introduced in the digitization process. If the accuracy of corrective equalization filters is validated, an archivist or musicologist would be able to experience the audio as a historically authentic document such that their listening experience would not require the recovery of the original analogue audio document or the redigitization of the audio. Thus, we conducted a MUSHRA-inspired perception test (n = 14) containing 6 excerpts of electronic music (3 stimuli recorded NAB and 3 recorded CCIR). Participants listened to 6 different equalization filters for each stimulus and rated them in terms of similarity. Filters included a correctly digitized “Reference,” an intentionally incorrect “Foil” filter, and a subsequent digital correction of the Foil filter that was produced with a MATLAB script. When stimuli were collapsed according to their filter type (NAB or CCIR), no significant differences were observed between the Reference and MATLAB correction filters. As such, the digital correction appears to be a promising method for compensation of equalization errors although future study is recommended, specifically containing an increased sample size and additional correction filters for comparison.
Highlights
Niccolo Pretto,1 Edoardo Micheloni,1 Anthony Chmiel,2 Nadir Dalla Pozza,1 Dario Marinello,1 Emery Schubert,3 and Sergio Canazza2
If the accuracy of corrective equalization filters is validated, an archivist or musicologist would be able to experience the audio as a historically authentic document such that their listening experience would not require the recovery of the original analogue audio document or the redigitization of the audio. us, we conducted a MUltiple Stimuli with Hidden Reference and Anchor (MUSHRA)-inspired perception test (n 14) containing 6 excerpts of electronic music (3 stimuli recorded NAB and 3 recorded CCIR)
When stimuli were collapsed according to their filter type (NAB or CCIR), no significant differences were observed between the Reference and MATLAB correction filters
Summary
Niccolo Pretto ,1 Edoardo Micheloni, Anthony Chmiel ,2 Nadir Dalla Pozza, Dario Marinello, Emery Schubert, and Sergio Canazza. E implications of these needs are complex when it comes to historical music recordings In this context, research on the preservation and restoration of sound documents has been developed in the information engineering area and, in particular, in the multimedia field, augmenting the innovations introduced for storage and retrieval technologies [1]. We present tools to compensate for errors (in choosing the equalization curve) introduced by the re-recording technicians. In this way, if an archivist or musicologist notices that a preservation master has been produced using the wrong equalization curve, it can be changed without having to recover the original analogue audio document (which may have deteriorated in the meantime)
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