There's Treasure Everywhere!

[elfs]

Record Labels

A long time ago, Omaha and I bought a box of records — that's an analog audio format encoded onto discs of vinyl, kids! — somewhat at random, from an elderly couple at the same garage sale where we first bought Kouryou-chan's copy of Hooked on Phonics. Looking back through my LJ, I see that my first mention of it was February 11, 2003, meaning that Omaha and I bought the box in the Summer of 2002. We brought the box home, discovered that our turntable wouldn't turn, and promptly forgot about the box.

Omaha's been in a cleaning frenzy the past day or so, and we decided to tackle the box. What we found was a treasure trove. We're convinced that what we have is a DJ's personal collection of albums from the 1900's through the early 1940s. The oldest album in the collection, of those that even have dates, and most of them don't, is from 1903– 105 years ago.

Unfortunately, what we did not know when we bought the box was that someone had spilled motor oil into it. Many of the albums are damaged beyond repair. We're going to salvage what we can, and if I can fix or buy a turntable, I'll try to record and FLAC as many of them as I can. Does anyone know what the legal status of stuff like this? This is just an amazing collection, all 78 RPMs of Bing Crosby, Tommy Dorsey, and many others that I've never even heard of.

Comments

[codeamazon.livejournal.com]

My (bio)father owned record stores for years, and hauled an enormous collection of collectibles around for a long time. (OR->NY->OR->CA->WA iirc.) I wouldn't be surprised if he still has some, though last time I called to see if he was free he was waiting for some guy from (Denmark?) to come buy a large chunk of them.

I suspect he'd be happy to talk about cleaning and such. I think his specialization was a bit later than that, but he might also know who to talk to about older stuff.

[omahas.livejournal.com]

I actually have all of the hardware and software for recording from a turntable...mixer with AUX plugins, all the correct cords, proper software that hijacks the audio direct to lossless format, etc. We just need a good turntable. :D

Copyright Protection

[andreloire.livejournal.com]

If your question about "legal status" is about copyright... then from http://inventors.about.com/od/copyrights/a/expiration.htm is:

When Copyright Protection Becomes Public Domain
The data below will let you know when you can safely use a piece of art or music without permission because it is now in public domain after copyright protection expiration, or how long the copyright protection will last.

Published before 1923 - now in public domain

Published from 1923 to 1963 - When published with a copyright notice © or "Copyright [dates] by [author/owner]" - copyright protection lasts 28 years and could be renewed for an additional 67 years for a total of 95 years. If not renewed, now in public domain.
--------------
which means for anything from 1924-early 40s, you'd have to research the copyright to be certain.

Re: Copyright Protection

[beanish.livejournal.com]

Additionally, when it comes to music recordings, copyright and public domain laws differ from state to state within America, so be certain to check with a local lawyer about this -- things from 1923 and earlier might not be in the public domain for your state.

(Why yes, the copyright laws for music are a complete mess, and they're only getting worse.)

Re: Copyright Protection

[ewhac.livejournal.com]

This doesn't sound right to me. Copyright is enabled Constitutionally, and Congress is specifically empowered legislate it. By operation of the Tenth Amendment, the States therefore don't get to muck with Copyright.

[clemtaur.livejournal.com]

Finding a Turntable that will do 78rpm is going to be tricky.. The needle and cartridge are different, so speeding up a standard 33/45rpm table isn't a good idea..

To get a clean sound from some of my old worn vinyl, I spread a thin coat of vegetable oil on the record, for a last time recording to tape. This cut the hiss down to bearable levels. Alas, I lost my 33/45/78rpm turntable when my Bus was looted..

[kengr]

The Ion USB turntable comes with a copy of Audacity. And for 78 rpm records, you just record at 45(?) and tell Audacity to shift the frequencies accordingly. I haven't had to do it, so I haven't looked closely at the instructions, but apparently it's fairly straightforward.

[solarbird]

Turntables are yet not difficult. Mine doesn't do 78, or I'd offer to loan. I have a phono pre-pre-amp (to take magnetic cartridge output up to line level) that I'm not using; it's old, but you'll need it if you're dealing with an amp without phono input.

It strikes me as reasonable to think that any slate discs you have that are motor-oiled could be recovered with the proper technique.

eta: Oh, and if you don't know, "nonbreakable" or "unbreakable" means vinyl rather than slate, even if 78rpm.

[danlyke.livejournal.com]

I got, for somewhere around a hundred bucks, a turntable that appears as a USB microphone. It only does 33 and 45, but it's easy in Audacity to correct for 78s.

I too wonder about the legal issues, some of the stuff I've got is as recent as the 50s, some is early 1900s.

[hydrolagus.livejournal.com]

I have a spare turntable that you're welcome to have/borrow (depending on whether you want it to permanently occupy space). I have heard also that if you get the right connectors you can plug the stereo into your computer's microphone jack and record them that way, converting them into MP3s afterwards.

[acelightning.livejournal.com]

[smarier.livejournal.com]

If you have ones which are completely ruined with no chance of salvage, I'm looking for records to use as decorations for my dance at Norwescon.

[ionotter.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't write off any of the damaged records just yet. Contact a professional and ask them how you'd clean such a thing. You might be able to get away with using a solution of dish soap or similar degreaser, unless the plastic itself it melted.

[antonia-tiger.livejournal.com]

Most 78 rpm records are made of shellac and will be damaged by cleaning solutions containing alcohol. I don't know what the motor oil will have done to them.

I expect Elf has already bookmarked 78rpmrecord.com (78rpmrecord.com/repair.htm)

[shockwave77598.livejournal.com]

Alcohol also destroy vinyl. I tried an experiment once where I had a brush across the record that dribbled out 99% isopropyl just ahead of the needle. The idea was to make dirt float up and be out of the needle's way while also lubricating the needle/groove interface just before passing. And as it evaporates, there was no problem with residue.

it worked splendidly with spectacular crisp highs - for one play only. AFter that the grooves were trashed and the record was worthless. So I abandoned the experiment.

As an aside, trying to mount this on the tonearm itself didn't work, as no counterweighting trick would adapt to the decreasing mass of the alcohol in the reservoir.

[lucky-otter.livejournal.com]

If you have some really old records, contact someone who recovers such things. They can often be very hard to read and require specialized equipment to piece together the parts of the grooves that are usable. I've talked with some people who do it as a hobby, because they don't want the old recordings to be lost, so you may be able to find someone who'll recover them for free - at least for the ancient stuff.

Can't find their card right now, but if I remember, I'll comment again.

[lovingboth]

In addition to what's been said, I remember seeing that someone has developed software that will recreate the sound from a scan of the disc (it looks at how wide the grooves are!)

[shockwave77598.livejournal.com]

The smithsonian museum has that. It is quite slow and labor intensive, however.

[shockwave77598.livejournal.com]

Did the motor oil attack the vinyl and the grooves? If so, they can only be used for wall ornaments. Too bad you didn't say something half a year ago - I just gave away my turntable and last records.

Hi from the distant past :)

[eddvick.livejournal.com]

You own the records, so you own the right to rip it for your own purposes. I expect you know that.

Sounds Like Shellac (http://ade42.blogspot.com/) is a blog of a man in Australia who restores and posts old 78s.

There are also any number of podcasts on iTunes, like Shellac Stack (http://www.claxtonola.com/78rpm/shellacstack.html) which hasn't been updated in a while but still has old shows available, and The Sounds of 78s (http://homepage.mac.com/rfwilmut/PodcastRW/index.html).