The records that were digitalized involved 32 songs
recorded in the 1940s and 1950s, recorded by singers
that toured through Alberta, Saskatchewan and other
Doukhobor communities, and the songs are mainly about
love and Russian heroes.
Mahonin
explained that all the records were in mono, meaning
they had one very shallow signal. He removed all the
blips, clicks and hisses manually and then cleaned
the file up again digitally.
He
went through each file "layer by layer, removing
the noise, degree by degree. Much like how they restore
old paintings - taking off layer by layer of dirt
or old paint, until you get to the ‘raw stuff,’"
said Mahonin.
To
make the file sparkle, he then converted it from mono
to stereo.
"But
taking a mono signal and simply converting it to stereo
doesn’t really do anything," said Mahonin.
He
said that the signal is then split and the music producer
is able to control the software to put certain frequencies
out of sync.
"It’s
far more intricate and scientific then to just delay
the entire left or right side by a millisecond, and
would not give you the ‘spacial spread’
that this method gives," said Mahonin. "It
doesn’t actually ‘make the record’
stereo, but it has many of the same characteristics
that actually make for stereo sound."
Mahonin
then manipulated and recreated frequencies that weren’t
present on the original records in order to hear the
frequencies that make up the music.
"Basically,
it would be like turning down the treble and turning
down the bass on your home stereo, entirely,"
Mahonin said.
The
project and remastering is a lot more involved than
people think, Mahonin said.
Funding
for the project came from the Columbia Basin Trust
and Columbia Kootenay Cultural Alliance.
The
finished CDs are now available to purchase at the
Doukhobor Discovery Centre, and Ewashen said they’ve
already sold some in the few short days that they
have been available. |
