Here you will find answers to frequently asked questions related to digitizing audio. Questions are divided into three categories: The first one answers questions about the project, the other focuses on the issue of audio documents in general, and the third offers opportunities to get closer to the project’s activities and engage them. If you do not find the answer to your question here, please do not hesitate to contact us. Gradually, we will expand the set of questions to serve as a source of practical project information.
NEW PHONOGRAPH
A: Our project connects old and new: historical sound carriers and playback devices, and new methods, such as how to take care of them and how to make them accessible to the general public. That’s why we have created a name that describes our efforts to link the past, present and future – a connection that currently does not exist in the field of audio documents in the Czech Republic, and one we want to implement.
A: The project was prepared over the course of three months. This time was spent looking for partners from national institutions and universities and gradually forming the framework of the whole project – from storage and rescue of the oldest recordings, through the creation of methodologies and a plan of how to best educate coming generations. The project will last until the end of 2022.
A: For the most recent news, take a look at the News section of this site and follow our social networks. If you would like to request specific information about our project, please use our contact form.
A: The project staff are based in the National Museum’s Czech Museum of Music. If you want to find us, we request that you arrange a personal meeting via our contact form.
A: New Phonograph is a project that works under the auspices of the National Museum and is managed by Project Manager Filip Šir, who manages the project team. Its members are representatives of various institutions, namely the National Library of the Czech Republic, the Library of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic and the Department of Information and Library Studies of the Faculty of Arts of Masaryk University (KISK).
SOUND DOCUMENTS
A: Our project focuses on phonograph cylinders and standard gramophone records.
A: The care and handling of physical historical media has its own boundaries, but it is only one part of our mission to preserve audio documents for future generations. There are several reasons for this approach: firstly, the number of devices capable of playing historical recordings is very limited. With the absence of playback devices, the audio documents are de facto inaccessible. Secondly, audio documents age. That is, they will not be playable forever. Therefore, they must be transferred to digital formats as part of long-term preservation. Thirdly, our goal is to make audio documents as accessible as possible. That’s why we publish them through a digital library that you can conveniently access from anywhere. Simply safeguarding the physical carrier is not an option.
A: Nowadays, transcription of an analog signal to digital is very simple. Technologies are available for every step and are not especially expensive, with the exception of playback machines. It also mainly depends on the purpose for digitisation and the related choice of appropriate resulting formats. We therefore recommend that you write to us and we will try to advise you as to how to achieve the best quality of the signal recorded on various audio media.
A: Yes, however, recordings that fall under the copyright law (that is, not yet 70 since the death of any of the authors or performers) can be played only within an institution that holds the recording in its own collection. More related copyright information can be found here.
HOW TO CONNECT WITH US
A: All positions are currently occupied at this time.