Cooking Star Wars Audio Reels

Author: NeverarGreat
Date: 9-Dec-2015, 10:59 AM

Author: NeverarGreat
Time: 9-Dec-2015 10:59 AM
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Is this article for real?

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/12/hot-yoda/419454/#article-comments

I am not an expert on audio preservation, but I would have thought that digitizing this stuff would have happened a long time ago.

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Author: TK428
Time: 9-Dec-2015 12:41 PM
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It’s very real. All magnetic tape deteriorates with time and must be baked to keep the tape from flaking or dropping out. This is the case for multi-track master tapes (records) and television broadcast (video/audio).

Audio engineers have done it for all of your favorite records master tapes, I imagine. Even if they have been digitized I imagine they try and preserve the original tapes for posterity.

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Author: Z6PO
Time: 9-Dec-2015 5:00 PM
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Actually for a long time there was whale oil used in the formula for the magnetic tapes, but sometimes in the late seventies it was replaced with synthetic oil that is not as stable and those tapes after many years became sticky and could not be played back. The baking of the tapes has the effect to reduce the stickiness enough to allow for the tapes to be played back one more time.

Han: Hey Lando! You kept your promise, right? Not a scratch?
Lando: Well, what’s left of her isn’t scratched. All the scratched parts got knocked off along the way.
Han (exasperated): Knocked off?!

Author: pittrek
Time: 9-Dec-2015 5:02 PM
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I always wondered what EXACTLY baking means. For me baking is a method how to produce delicious cookies and I can’t really imagine how can you bake a magnetic tape - if you put that thing in an oven it should burn, shouldn’t it?

Author: SilverWook
Time: 9-Dec-2015 9:30 PM
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IIRC, Puggo bakes old reel to reel video tapes all the time. I’m sure he could explain the process.

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Where were you in '77?

Author: DuracellEnergizer
Time: 10-Dec-2015 12:20 AM
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I’m guessing using a microwave for the process is a definite no-no.

Author: dwsiddall
Time: 15-Dec-2015 9:40 AM
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I don’t think they are trying to save the tapes for posterity, but rather to get them to a state so that they can be played one more time and be digitized for posterity.