Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project

The Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project is part of the Special Collections at the University of California Santa Barbara. An IMLS National Leadership Grant funded the program in 2003. In all almost 8,000 cylinder recordings have been digitized.

Cylinder recordings were first produced on tinfoil in 1877. In the 1880s, soft wax cylinders were invented only to be displaced by hard wax cylinders in the 1890s. In 1906, celluloid cylinders replaced wax cylinders. These were manufactured until 1929 when disc records became the sole format for sound recordings. This project provides increased access to these interesting early recordings.

Collection Principles: The goal of the project is the preservation and digitization of as many cylinder recordings as possible so cylinders of all materials and content are included. The project digitized all 7200 cylinders contained in UCSB���s special collections. Also cylinders from the Library of Congress and Bowling Green State University were digitized. The project continues to digitize cylinders and has information on how to donate cylinders to be digitized.

Object Characteristics: Most of the recordings are available as MP3 files, unedited 24-bit wav files, and streaming audio, which uses QuickTime. ���Cylinders were transferred using a French-made Archeophone, using custom Shure styli from Expert Stylus in England. The audio was converted from analog to digital using a CEDAR ADA and captured at 44.1KHz with a bit depth of 24 bits in Steinberg Wavelab software running on a PC.��� In all there are about 36,000 audio files, which occupies roughly 2 TB of space on the university���s server.

The collection is searchable and arranged into different categories to allow for easy browsing. These categories include genre (examples are cakewalks, Hawaiian music, sermons, and whistling), instrument, topical subject (such as Prohibition and World War I), and ethnicity.

Another great feature on the site is Cylinder Radio where expert curators put together a program of recordings in streaming audio. This is compatible with iTunes and WinAmp (though I could not get it working with iTunes on my computer). Programs include Popular Songs of World War I, American Vaudeville, and Pioneers of Audio Theater.

Metadata: The metadata provided is fairly extensive. It includes the title, performer, composer, issue number/label of the cylinder, year of release, notes, collection name, and item location. The project provides no other background information about the recordings or topics except as through a general history of cylinders and as introductions to the radio programs.

Intended Audience: On the Project Overview page is a disclaimer which explains the decision to digitize potentially offensive materials such as ���Irish character songs.��� These materials are available since the project feels they provide valuable insight into the time period for researchers. Therefore, the project is intended to appeal to scholars as well as the general public.