Just out of curiosity, how do cassette tapes fare? Have they been known to have these type problems, too?
Richard -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Dennis Bathory-Kitsz Sent: Wednesday, April 09, 2008 7:02 AM To: finale@shsu.edu Subject: DON'T TEST: Re: [Finale] copying reel to reel tapes I'm on deadline but had to jump in here. This tape-baking is something that I do for restoration clients, and although I replied to Vivian privately, I have to respond to this message before folks do the wrong thing. [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote, on 4/9/2008 5:15 AM: > 2) The baking process he refers to is a last resort; let's start with > the first resort. If you know these are gummy tapes, this is the first resort for some very good reasons. > 3) Let's ssume you still own a reel-to-reel player that works (not a > safe assumption unless it's direct-drive; if there are rubber belts > involved, they have a finite lifetime). If you do have one that works, > play one of the tapes and see for yourself what condition it's in. Do NOT play the tapes. Whether they are gummy, flaking, non-Mylar, etc., amateur handling can damage them. Even in otherwise good situations, splices can fail and tangle the tapes unexpectedly. There are ways of handling tests, and just playing a tape isn't the place to start. > 4) At level one of detioration, there will be drop-outs, because the > glue that attaches the magnetized iron particles (which is how your > signal is encoded) to the (usually) mylar tape base also has a > lifetime. Some of the magnetized iron can literally fall off over > time. If you open the box and there's rust-colored dust in it--that ain't good. Mylar and usually paper tape binding is good. Acetate tape loses its binding, sometimes catastrophically. All tape types (and there are others) can be damaged by "test" playing, especially for those who used thinner tapes (especially .5 mil Mylar) back in the day when these were popular with home recordists or people who wanted to get a lot of recording time and didn't realize the consequences. Even playing thin tapes can ruin them linearly with folds and creases. Playing tapes with poor binding can cause oxide to fall off. > 5) At level two of detioration, which is what you are worried about, > serious fluctuations in termperature and humidity (particularly > humidity) while in storage will actually turn some or all of the > iron/glue/mylar product into congealed gunk. If that's your situation, > you need to follow Christopher's instructions. Depending on the degree > of gunkiness, baking may or may not save a portion of your material. Gumminess is not an issue of storage. It's an issue of long-term chemistry with certain formulations of tape, including very well stored Ampex mastering tapes from the 1980s. These will go gummy irrespective of how they were stored; my own top-of-the-line Ampex masters from this era are all gummy, while most of the Maxell masters are fine. > 6) It's a little late for this, but reel-to-reel archivists have > always recommended end-to-end rewinding of all your tapes once a year. > That way, if a process of adhesion to the next layer has begun at a > low level, they will get "aired out." If your tapes are still in > playable condition, please consider doing this in the future. Do NOT -- repeat do NOT -- rewind potentially gummy or flaky tapes. With gummy tapes, even if the layers are not stuck together (which is rare, except at splices), this will cause the gummy surface to heat, stick, pull off oxide and create clots of oxide on the tape surface that have to be removed by hand. The gummy tape will ALWAYS get caught in the guides and usually snap and make a tangled mess. With flaky tapes, the oxide will shear off in great sheets before there's time to stop it. When I prepare old tapes, I test first, then if working with a tail-out tape that requires winding to the front, I slowly wind on a special jig with the oxide OUT and not in contact with any hardware. Handle tapes as little as possible; clean and repair splices first. > I have a huge reel-to-reel collection, and the dire predictions about > the shortness of the half-life of the medium are greatly exaggerated. > The first tapes I made in 1957 are still in perfect condition; and > keeping them this way is not the mission impossible it's sometimes made out to be. 1957 was likely acetate. Depending on how those were stored, they will either be in perfect condition, warped (they are organic materials), moldy, flaking, etc. You do NOT want to find out they're about to flake into a pile of oxide when you're test-playing or -rewinding them. If the tapes in question are masters or only copies, find someone who has done restoration and get some advice FIRST. They should give you a free or nominal cost recommendation on one of your tapes. If they've done gummy or flaky tapes before, they will know almost immediately. Should yours be gummy tapes, the baking process is not difficult (and you can do it yourself with a proper baking setup with inexpensive equipment -- NOT a kitchen stove), but also requires knowing if the tapes contain splices or have other problems (including splicing different lots of tape together). Everyone who does restoration has personal approaches to this problem, but please do not test-play, rewind, etc., yourself. (As with anyone who does repairs, I charge double or more if a customer has attempted to fix stuff themselves first and made things worse.) Dennis _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.519 / Virus Database: 269.22.10/1367 - Release Date: 4/9/2008 7:10 AM No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.519 / Virus Database: 269.22.12/1373 - Release Date: 4/11/2008 9:17 AM _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
