The audible and the inaudible in a post-digitised world: Preserving both sound and object

Abstract

Analogue audio materials often exhibit indexical traces of recording, editing and playback that offer insight to society’s relationship with recorded sound as it has changed over time. The obsolescence of analogue audio media has rapidly ushered the experience of sound recordings into the digital environment. As archives race to digitise analogue media before the media degrade too far to allow playback, it is important to capture a holistic representation of sound recordings. This paper addresses the challenges to preserve and make accessible the physical and often inaudible content of analogue audio media. The paper outlines approaches to enrich preserved content of audio recordings, especially as data must stand in for a physical encounter with the media, and illustrates ways to enhance the access experience that encourage discovery and research of the creative practices of audio recording.