7 ms·

Extracting Audio from Pictures (2012)

81 points by thegeomaster 9y ago

tjwds 9y ago
Excellent work and a great example of how sometimes the best presentation of archival assets is remediation.
DanBC 9y ago
There are some interesting comments in these old threads: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9596410 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9596410 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5500473 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5500473
Rebelgecko 9y ago
Really interesting article. Unfortunately it looks like media preservation only goes so far: I'm getting 404s for all of the embedded audio files.
- Robotbeat 9y ago
  Yeah, .edu bitrot is the worst.
  - 8bitsrule 9y ago
    After .gov !
- aaroninsf 9y ago
  Peeking at source, and then at Wayback Machine: https://web.archive.org/web/20150524223640/http://indiana.edu/~medpres/Feaster/der-handschuh.mp3 https://web.archive.org/web/20150524223640/http://indiana.ed... https://web.archive.org/web/20150524223754/http://indiana.edu/~medpres/Feaster/sidebar-1.wav https://web.archive.org/web/20150524223754/http://indiana.ed... https://web.archive.org/web/20150524223754/http://indiana.edu/~medpres/Feaster/sidebar-2.wav https://web.archive.org/web/20150524223754/http://indiana.ed... https://web.archive.org/web/20150524223754/http://indiana.edu/~medpres/Feaster/sidebar-3.wav https://web.archive.org/web/20150524223754/http://indiana.ed... https://web.archive.org/web/20150524223754/http://indiana.edu/~medpres/Feaster/sidebar-4.wav https://web.archive.org/web/20150524223754/http://indiana.ed... Thank you, Internet Archive. [EDIT] full page with embedded players works from here: https://web.archive.org/web/20150524223857/https://mediapreservation.wordpress.com/2012/06/20/extracting-audio-from-pictures/ https://web.archive.org/web/20150524223857/https://mediapres...
skookumchuck 9y ago
While the author used software to retrieve the sound, I bet it could be done with photochemical methods onto a copper disk, similar to how circuit boards are etched. Or how soundtracks are photographed onto movie film.
- ada1981 9y ago
  I never thought about this until your comment. Fascinating! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound-on-film https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound-on-film I'm blown away by the complexity of sound that can be conveyed in what seems a simple manner.
  - jacquesm 9y ago
    That's because in essence even the most complex sounds change just one environmental variable: local air pressure.
    - ada1981 9y ago
      I'm falling in love with sound all over again. Yes, that is obvious now that you say it, but I never realized it before. Thanks!
dwringer 9y ago
I like the suggestion from 1890 to use cotton in the ears as a low pass filter to increase fidelity.

81 points by thegeomaster 9y ago

Excellent work and a great example of how sometimes the best presentation of archival assets is remediation.

There are some interesting comments in these old threads: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9596410 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9596410 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5500473 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5500473

Rebelgecko 9y ago

Really interesting article. Unfortunately it looks like media preservation only goes so far: I'm getting 404s for all of the embedded audio files.

Robotbeat 9y ago
Yeah, .edu bitrot is the worst.
- 8bitsrule 9y ago
  After .gov !
aaroninsf 9y ago
Peeking at source, and then at Wayback Machine: https://web.archive.org/web/20150524223640/http://indiana.edu/~medpres/Feaster/der-handschuh.mp3 https://web.archive.org/web/20150524223640/http://indiana.ed... https://web.archive.org/web/20150524223754/http://indiana.edu/~medpres/Feaster/sidebar-1.wav https://web.archive.org/web/20150524223754/http://indiana.ed... https://web.archive.org/web/20150524223754/http://indiana.edu/~medpres/Feaster/sidebar-2.wav https://web.archive.org/web/20150524223754/http://indiana.ed... https://web.archive.org/web/20150524223754/http://indiana.edu/~medpres/Feaster/sidebar-3.wav https://web.archive.org/web/20150524223754/http://indiana.ed... https://web.archive.org/web/20150524223754/http://indiana.edu/~medpres/Feaster/sidebar-4.wav https://web.archive.org/web/20150524223754/http://indiana.ed... Thank you, Internet Archive. [EDIT] full page with embedded players works from here: https://web.archive.org/web/20150524223857/https://mediapreservation.wordpress.com/2012/06/20/extracting-audio-from-pictures/ https://web.archive.org/web/20150524223857/https://mediapres...

skookumchuck 9y ago

While the author used software to retrieve the sound, I bet it could be done with photochemical methods onto a copper disk, similar to how circuit boards are etched. Or how soundtracks are photographed onto movie film.

ada1981 9y ago
I never thought about this until your comment. Fascinating! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound-on-film https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound-on-film I'm blown away by the complexity of sound that can be conveyed in what seems a simple manner.
- jacquesm 9y ago
  That's because in essence even the most complex sounds change just one environmental variable: local air pressure.
  - ada1981 9y ago
    I'm falling in love with sound all over again. Yes, that is obvious now that you say it, but I never realized it before. Thanks!

dwringer 9y ago

I like the suggestion from 1890 to use cotton in the ears as a low pass filter to increase fidelity.