How do I play RealAudio sound files? How do I play .wav sound files? Do I have to pay for the Windows Media(tm) Player software? How do I install the Windows Media(tm) Player software? Why can't I see the texts and listen to the recording at the same time? The sound samples are not playing. Why? Why do the recordings sound choppy or of poor quality? Which sound samples are better, RealAudio or .wav?
56k modem sound mp3
Before you contact russianpoetry.net with troubleshooting requests or comments about sound sound file playability, please read RealAudio's Help and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ). Most common questions about installing and using the RealAudio player are answered there. It is a good idea to test the RealAudio player first with a file on your computer's own hard drive, such as the "welcome.ra" file that comes with the player, before trying to listen to recordings on russianpoetry.net.
To listen to .wav and .mp3 sound samples you need to install the Windows Media(tm) Player on your computer. It's FREE and easy to install. If you do not have the Windows Media Player, you may get the Player now. You might also choose a non-Microsoft program, like the popular and excellent Winamp, which you may get here.
While installing the Media Player, you'll specify your Internet connection speed. Choose between 14.4K, 19.2K, 28.8K, 56K Modem/ISDN, 112K Modem/Dual-ISDN, T1/Lan, or Unknown/Other. If you do not know your connection speed, ask your network administrator or refer to your modem documentation
While installing Windows Media Player, you'll specify your Internet connection speed. Choose between 14.4K, 19.2K, 28.8K, 56K Modem/ISDN, 112K Modem/Dual-ISDN, T1/Lan, or Unknown/Other. If you do not know your connection speed, ask your network administrator or refer to your modem documentation.
This problem seems especially prevalent for users of outdated versions of Netscape which inexplicably opens sound files into the existing page. If you have Internet Explorer, you might try it, or you might try the latest Netscape version, which seems to have fixed the old problem. As a last resort, you might try right-clicking the link and choosing "Open in a new window" or "Save" and then open the file while viewing the desired page.
Many of the recordings were recorded nearly a century ago on poor analogue equipment. The "CD-quality .wav" files are more or less exact duplicates of the best extant copies of these recordings (digital copies of analogue recordings). Furthermore, many of these files are very large and therefore will only stream (start playing immediately) on faster connections such as a T1 line or cable modem. If a .wav sound file starts playing and then stops or sounds choppy, use your player's (or browser's) playback controls to pause playback until the sound file has finished downloading to your computer, then resume playback. You may also choose to save the files to your computer and play them back at a later time.
Our RealAudio recordings are designed to stream (start playing immediately) even over slower modems, while the .wav and .mp3 files are designed to sound better. If you have a 14.4, 28.8, or even 56k modem, click on RealAudio. If you have a fast Internet connection (e.g., ISDN, T1 line, ADSL or cable modem), or if you just want to hear higher quality samples, choose .wav files.
In order to transfer the cylinders to digital format andsubsequently the web, the Library's Archeophone, a specially made machine designed by Henri Chamoux, was used. TheArcheophone is a universal cylinder player that uses electricalreproduction and modern styli (such as Stanton or Shure cartridges)to play back any of the varieties of cylinders made including 2 and 4minute standard, intermediate and concert cylinders. The Archeophoneallows for very fine control over the playback speed, correction ofeccentricity, playback at half speed, and when used concurrently withthe computer program Sound Forge (or another digital audio editingsoftware program), transferring a cylinder to the digital .wav formatis usually straightforward and quick. Correcting eccentricity is themost time consuming portion of the process. All cylinders were playedback on the Archeophone, using either a two minute stylus or a fourminute stylus as appropriate. Cylinders were played at standard Edison speeds, typically 160 for black wax and Blue Amberol cylinders. Brown waxcylinders were pitched by ear and usually ended up being recorded at 140rpm. Actual cylinder recording speeds may vary and thus our playback speeds may not be entirely accurate. However, attemptingto correctly pitch each individual cylinder would not only be incredibly time consuming, but would probably not result in a greater percentage of accurately pitched cylinders. Each cylinder was captured as a .wavfile on the library's Digital Audio Workstation. Some transfers soundbetter than others, but after consulting with Chamoux we feel that awider variety of styluses to match with individual cylinders would behelpful.
For the streaming audio format, two Quicktime file format optionswere made for those who want instantaneous playback: a larger,higher-quality broadband version in Quicktime format using an mp3codec at a sampling rate of 22.5 kHz with a data rate of 56 kbit/sec(the same as the mp3 format file), and a smaller, lower-quality 56kmodem dial-up connection version in Quicktime format using an mp3codec at a sampling rate of 16 kHz at a data rate of 20 kbits/sec. Wefound this file would stream over a 56K modem connection, with fairlygood quality.
The listener may find the sound quality on some of the cylindersto be quite poor at times, especially with the brown wax-cylinders.Although we have tried to select both interesting and high-qualitycylinders, it is important to keep in mind that in comparison tomodern mediums like LPs or CDs, or even electrically recorded 78s,the cylinder format had its limitations and furthermore, time has notalways been kind to many cylinders. Certainly, there are a variety ofnoise reduction methods, both hardware and software, but we foundthat when applying them to our cylinder collection, it not onlyreduced the background noise and hiss, but took out some of the musicas well and in some cases left artifacts. Therefore, the cylinderspresented are essentially unaltered from their original sound. If wehad access to Cedar noise reduction equipment or another system ofsufficiently high quality, we would have made at least one cleaned upand de-noised file for web delivery.
Without cataloging the collection, there is no point in digitizingit. People need to have an access point to the bibliographicinformation on the cylinders. Item level cataloging is an importantcomponent of UCSB's program for managing our collections of historicaudio recordings. Syracuse University's Belfer Audio Archive hascataloged many of their cylinders and while there is overlap betweenthe collections, a large percentage of our collection is unique. Weused and expanded on their source copy whenever possible. We upgradecataloging to the standards set for cataloging of historical soundsrecordings at UCSB, including complete tracings for composers andperformers, uniform titles when necessary and subject headings. Allcylinders digitized for this project are cataloged in Pegasus,the UCSB Libraries' online catalog. In the advanced search mode, thepatron can limit their search to just cylinder recordings.
Additionally, links are provided in the catalog record which takethe library patron directly to the audio file. One of the largestdeterrents to using a collection of historical sound recordings suchas this is that because of the fragility of the media, patrons do nothandle the recordings and library staff have to make a copy of eachrequested item. For all but the most dedicated or desperateresearchers, this is usually too much work. Library patrons areincreasingly becoming used to online journals, e-books and electronicindexes. To have to use a physical object, let alone one that mayrequire a wait of several days to be copied and access, is becomingtoo much for the patron who simply wants to hear a particular styleof music, or an old pop song, or an example of early 20th centuryperformance practice.
Modems originally allowed you to send data over a network that was designed to only carry voice. Because of that, the communication method between two modems had to be in the audible hearing range (or it would not get carried on the phone line). This is no longer needed because the phone system can now carry both voice and data at the same time (DSL).
The sounds were there all the time, you just needed to pick up the phone to hear it. The reason they played it over a loudspeaker to start with is so you could hear if somthing went wrong with the connection (busy signal, wrong number, a person picked up instead of a modem on the other end, etc).
Because the modem speaker was turned on by default, to give the user the feedback that something was happening during the handshake. With the proper setup of the AT commands you could have 3 modes - always on for speaker, totally silent during operation, and the default with speaker turned on during connect.
The whistles and chirps and buzzes that you hear when a modem is going through its initial handshake process is a test of the telephone line quality. A modem send precisely specified sounds and the other listens see what it actually hears on the other end. This way the modems know how clear the line is between them and what sort of frequencies they can use to communicate with each other. The more frequencies they can use and the lower the noise, the higher the speed they'll be able to communicate at.
If a connection ever failed due to connection quality, it would generally fail during this initial handshake process. And if you were listening, you could usually tell why (e.g. you got an answering machine on the other end instead of a modem). 2ff7e9595c
Comments