Nadja Wallazskovits during her Seminar 'Recovering Sound Archives'.
During three days, specialist in restoration Nadja Wallazskovits shared with the assistants about audio restoration with her seminar 'Recovering Sound Archives'. This event was develop with the collaboration of Señal Memoria, an institution responsible for strategically save and promote the sound and audiovisual patrimony of RTVC: Sistema de Medios Públicos (Public National Radio and Television). The seminar was presented during the XIII National Encounter of Sonic and Audiovisual Archives in Bogotá with the support of the Ministry of Culture of Colombia at the University Jorge Tadeo Lozano. To the Seminar assisted a selected group of specialists in restoration from sound libraries, archiving companies and institutions from the public and private sectors from all over the country.
The first day, Mrs. Wallazskovits specified the restoration processes in the analog domain. During the whole day the assistants were able to learn different techniques and processes of physical restoration, analysis of physical damage in the material, types of tapes, physical methods for restoration in analog tapes, and machine calibration. All of this processes were exposed in several practical processes conducted by Nadja.
During the second day, the seminar continued working on machine calibration but in the afternoon evolved to vinyl restoration, specifying the classes of vinyls, restoration processes and physical restoration of the vinyl elements working directly with turntables and several cases of damaged vinyls that were needed to be restored.
The last day was focused in the digital domain. Initially Mrs. Wallazskovits worked on the analog-digital transfer. Continuously, digital restoration was specified and the different methods in digital restoration according to different cases exposed dying the seminar. Also, how to clean digitally the signal, equalization and remastering the signals were presented in a practical way to the assistants.
Mrs. Wallazskovits studied musicology and sound engineering in Viena and has been working as a sound engineer for national and international companies in recording since 1987. In 1998 she joined to the Phonogrammarchiv, where she coordinates the department of audio as specialist in restoration, rerecording, and digital archive. Nadja is consultant in technology of archiving for national and international institutions and has presented several seminars and trainings in sound restoration. Also, she works as an invited professor in the University of Viena and the University of Applied Sciences HTW in Berlin. Currently, she is the Vice President of the Technica Committee of the International Association of Sound and Audiovisual Archives (IASA), former Vice President of the Central Europe Region of the Audio Engineering Society (AES) and is member of the AES Technical Committee and Training and Education Committee of the IASA.
