Club
Kaycee serves up the sounds and sights of the Golden Age of Kansas City
Jazz - from the Marr Sound Archives in the Department
of Special Collections at the Miller Nichols Library, University of Missouri
- Kansas City. 
The
RealPlayer®
software is needed to enjoy the sounds offered throughout this site.
The Marr Sound Archives is a division of Special Collections at the Miller Nichols Library of the University of Missouri - Kansas City. The sound preservation studio in the Marr preserves modern as well as obsolete audio formats, and its digitizing and RealAudio capabilities allow it to provide world-wide access to sound recorded on almost any analog or digital source.
The Marr is equipped to digitize sound from a wide-range of analog sources, including cylinders, wire recordings, discs records, and cassette and open-reel tapes. The sources are reproduced using professional equipment appropriate to the format. Discs are transferred using a Technics SP-15 direct drive turntable with an SME tone arm, which can track discs ranging from 5 to 20 inches. A wide variety of styli are employed to accommodate variations in groove width and depth common to early disc recordings. Open-reel tapes and cassettes are transferred using properly calibrated and maintained professional tape decks. Wire recordings and cylinders are transferred on historic machines retrofitted with electric pickups. It is important to obtain the best audio signal possible from the source. A digital copy is only as clear and dynamic as the transfer from the source recording.
Digitizing
the Analog Sound SourceAs the source is reproduced, the audio signal passes through
a PrismSound AD/124 analog to digital converter, making
the transition from analog wave form to digital information. A CEDAR
noise reduction system is utilized at this point to remove pops, crackles,
and other noise sources. The digital signal is then transferred to the SADIE
digital audio workstation operating in tandem with a host PC. The sound file
is stored in SADIE as a 16bit, 44.1kHz, stereo .WAV file. The screen to the
right shows SADIE's visual representation.
Editing
the Digitized Sound File The digital sound file is then edited, equalized and compressed in the SADIE digital workstation as needed. The editing process is non-destructive and any changes to the sound file can be undone with a click of the mouse. This screen displays the sound file in the digital editing process. The blue section shows the sound file undergoing fading - the angled line ascending across the blue section shows the fade edit, rising from silence to full level, creating a clean, smooth edit. This digital editing feature permits the creation of a seamless, continuous sound file drawn from numerous sources. For example, Truman's 1948 speech at the Democratic Convention (available soon on the Project Whistlestop site), was assembled from five different Signal Core discs edited together in the studio to create a single continuos sound file.
The edited .WAV file is then saved (shown right) to the C: drive of SADIE's host computer, which is networked to a second computer operating in a Windows environment. The original, unedited audio file is stored on one of SADIE's two proprietary hard drives, which are not networked.
The .WAV file is then moved from the C: drive of the host computer to a second PC, which is connected to the library's network and the backbone of the Internet. On this networked computer, the .WAV file is then converted to a RealAudio file utilizing RealProducer Software.
The process involves three steps - the first is to match
the content of the sound file to the appropriate RealAudio format as prompted
on the screen. For example, the higher fidelity required for stereo music
files is not needed for the streaming of a voice-only file, which does not
contain as broad a range of frequencies. The RealAudio Producer software discards
the high and low frequencies not present in a voice sound file, enabling further
compression of the file.
RealAudio Producer then confirms and displays the parameters of the encoding.
Step
Three: After encoding, the RealAudio file is ready to be moved to a RealAudio Server running RealAudio server software to permit streaming of the audio file as required by the end user. Unlike MP3 files which are downloaded in their entirety by the user, RealAudio files are streamed, offering a measure of security. Furthermore, as an audio delivery mechanism, RealAudio has many advantages since the file is streamed in a manner compatible with the users speed and mode of connectivity to the Internet. Users must, of course, have the RealAudio Player software installed on their computer in order to hear RealAudio sound files. The quality of the RealAudio file is roughly equivalent to AM radio.
Over the Library/University network, the file is moved from the PC running RealAudio Producer to the RealAudio Server on the same network, using a simple drag-and-drop procedure (right).
RealAudio-produced files can also be transferred to non-networked servers via File Transfer Protocol (FTP), right, or even emailed.
Kansas City history during the Jazz Age is the focus of Kansas City: Paris of the Plains, a special UMKC exhibition that went on display at the Miller Nichols Library on October 26, 2000. (See photos of the exhibition.) The exhibit examines the social, cultural, literary, and political heritage of jazz-age Kansas City and draws upon the unique materials held by the Special Collections Department and the Marr Sound Archives. Items from the Kansas City Museum, the Kansas City Public Library, and several private collections are also represented in the exhibit. Kansas City: Paris of the Plains is also available as an online Web exhibit featuring audio selections from the Marr Sound Archives, links to other points on the Internet, and additional images and expanded narratives. The Web exhibit will be a permanent contribution to Kansas City’s heritage for the KC 150 sesquicentennial celebrations.
Address
Before a Joint Session of the Congress. April 16, 1945This speech was digitized by the Marr Sound Archives as requested by the
Truman Presidential Library for public access as a special feature of the
Truman Library's Website CONTINUING
THE FIGHT: Harry S. Truman and World War II.
The President spoke in the House. The address was broadcast over the major
radio chamber shortly after 1 p.m. and the address was broadcast over the
major radio networks. (Click the image to the right to hear the speech.)
Other
Presidential SpeechesThe Marr Sound Archives has also digitized several other
presidential speeches as a participant, along with the Truman Library, in
the development of a new Presidential
Studies Collection at UMKC. (Click the image to the right to
hear these speeches.)
This audio component of the collection compliments more than 2 million pages
of presidential documents and 1,500 books relating to the presidency that
are being transferred from the holdings of the Truman Library to the Miller
Nichols Library. The new Presidential Studies Collection at UMKC will allow
these materials to be more centrally available to students, teachers and the
public in the Greater Kansas City area.
Digital Projects by the Department of Special Collections, Miller Nichols Library, University of Missouri-Kansas City: A Demonstration Given at the Missouri Digitization Project Conference and Expo, February 8th, 2001, St. Louis, MO.
Presented by Chuck Haddix, Curator, Marr Sound Archives, and Robert Ray, Special Collections Librarian, Miller Nichols Library, University of Missouri - Kansas City
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