Sound achievement

Southampton University researchers are the first recipients of an international prize that rewards outstanding contributions to research in the field of image and sound preservation.

The team of five academics and research staff has been awarded the James A Lindner Prize for their Sound Archive project, which uses non-contact scanning to preserve mechanically-recorded sound recordings in a digital format.

The team’s non-contact scanning technique involves optically measuring the surface of cylinder and disc recordings to create a digital representation of the recorded surface, using instruments normally associated with surface engineering. This digital surface map may then be post-processed by software to recover the sound. The technique has particular relevance to rare or damaged sound artefacts that are deemed 'unplayable' by conventional stylus playback methods.

Prof John McBride from the School of Engineering Sciences at Southampton University said: ‘Early wax cylinders are unstable and at risk of deterioration. A non-contact method of sound reproduction ensures that no pressure is exerted on these fragile artefacts, meaning that no further damage is caused to the grooves during playback.’