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The Sound Of Fame: Syracuse University's Audio Archive And Edison Re-Recording Laboratory, Frank S. Macomber

The Courier

At first glance the Syracuse University Audio Archive and Edison Rerecording Laboratory looks like an antique shop. Old phonographs, cylinders, posters of a by-gone era are everywhere; there is even a relief of the Victor dog. But there are great differences in action and atmosphere from an antique shop, for at the Archive the "relics" are living machines, and the ancient cylinders are taking on a modern, full-toned life. Here, modern techniques of cleaning, reprocessing and re-recording are giving new sounds for old. Here, the staff is finding ways for the sounds of the past to function as realities in …