A quick peek in the SABC Audio Restoration Section - I am holding...

Bags Farrell works as a sound engineer in the Audio Restoration Section, where they restore and re-master audio.
SABC Audio Restoration is part of the SABC Media Libraries.


At this moment he is working on…

... a collection of LP records, that needs restoring. 
I will clean the LP first, then record it into my computer, restore the audio and then I transfer the audio to a CD.

I follow this process for every LP that will be transferred to CD.


Related post:

Interview with the Audio Restoration Engineer at SABC Audio Restoration department


Blog post by Karen du Toit, Afrikaans Archivist in the SABC Radio Archives.

The new archivist interview: Sound Restoration

Obakeng Phiri
Archivist: Sound Restoration
SABC Radio Archives

Obakeng Phiri is a new archivist tasked with sound restoration in the SABC Radio Archives.
He has been an intern with us for a couple of months, and he started to work here on the 1st of August 2012.

The previous interview with Obakeng was about his internship at the SABC Radio Archives.

His duties are different now than before when he was an intern here.

Obakeng, please tell us about a normal day in your studio.

I am self motivated because I am very passionate about being an audio restoration archivist. 
Every snippet of audio content I work with contains interesting information. It adds to my anticipation of looking forward doing my job each day!

My job involves the separation of sound from the format it was recorded on. It also involves the “cleaning” of sound, getting rid of clicks, pops, scratches and hiss that often plague the original recordings. 
In some instances, the desired sound is so close in character to the noise, that the noise cannot be cleaned so as not to sacrifice parts of the sound that we want to keep. 

The workflow is not complicated, but it must be performed carefully to achieve the best results. 

Every experience in the studio is a learning curve. I learn different subjects from history, politics as well as listening to radio dramas. 
Depending on the mood I am in, every hour is spent on a different subject.  

Tell us more about your collection and the scope of material you need to preserve.

I work with most of SABC’s radio broadcast material, which includes radio dramas, radio features, actuality and many more. One example is a feature programme on Bertha Solomon, pioneer of women’s rights in South Africa.

Do you have an anecdote about an interesting piece of audio material that you have encountered?

The following is in our collection: ‘’I am an African’’ speech by Thabo Mbeki.
It introduces his vision on the African Renaissance, which is about empowering Africa economically and socially.

Why did you want to work here again after you have completed your internship here?

When I first came here for the first time as an intern, I already knew that I wanted to work at the SABC Radio Archives. It felt like I was home! Due to my passion for the job, I was given the chance to prove myself. It paid off in the end!
I am very grateful for it, praise God!

Related posts:

- Interview with an intern at the SABC Radio Archives: Obakeng Phiri

- The value of internship in the SABC Radio Archives


Questions and blog post by Karen du Toit, Afrikaans Archivist in the SABC Radio Archives.

Restoration or destruction in the audio archives

Report about a meeting with British Library’s expert on audio and historical recordings, Will Prentice.

Marius Oosthuizen, our recent Sound Engineer in the SABC Radio Archives, had a meeting with Will Prentice, and gives his views on ten years of research and conversations and actual experience working in this field.

“We are not doing sound restoration, we are destroying historical recordings, legacy material and important radio broadcasts!”

Harsh quote! Let me explain: Experience has showed us that in the last ten years software developers around the world have written algorithms for small software programmes that run with software audio packages on windows platforms. These windows audio programmes are aimed at the consumer market, especially the garage band types, and the noise reduction and audio restoration side of it is inferior when it comes to historical recordings. 

Although these audio programmes and various plug-INS that are available as free download or as cheap as $30 a shot, and they are presented as audio restoration software, they are not!
If a person or an organization like archives or libraries is serious about preserving legacy material, they will not do audio processing on material for preservation purposes. Will Prentice, for instance, adhere to the same practice of no sound processing on audio files, and I agree with him. The audio should be recorded as good as possible at the highest bit rates and kept as is with all the good and the bad on the file.

The cleaning part of the audio only comes into play where a specific broadcaster or client wants to use the audio and needs the clicks and crackles to be taken out. Restoration is specifically driven towards a certain goal, but not for archiving purposes. Software and hardware for audio restoration are developing very fast. Algorithms for audio restoration are getting better and it would be advisable to keep a piece of audio as near to its original for later restoration with better equipment and software if the need arrives.

To all audio archivists and -librarians and would-be sound restoration engineers, do NOT do restoration! Do preservation!

What have you encountered in your audio restoration endeavors for heritage preservation?
Do you agree with this principle of keeping sound restoration to the minimum?

Post dictated to Karen du Toit, Afrikaans Archivist in the SABC Radio Archives.

Related post:
The Weekly Archivist Interview: Sound Engineer in the Radio Archives

Interview with an Audio Restoration Engineer at SABC Audio Restoration Department

Bags Farrell

This is part of a series of blog posts to gain a better understanding of the SABC Audio Restoration, as well as part of a series of blog posts about the SABC Media Libraries. It is a way of generating a better understanding of what we do in the different sections that we belong to.

The interview this week is with Bags Farrell, an Audio Restoration Engineer.

The Audio Restoration Section is responsible for converting the internally recorded collection of records (Transcriptions) to CD and re-distributing the music to all SABC media libraries in the country.  With a constantly changing technology and the switch to digital sound, the Sound Restoration Unit has had to keep up with the changes.

1. Please tell us a little bit about yourself. (Where you grew up, where and what you studied and your work experience before you joined the SABC Audio Restoration Section)

I have always been interested in sound. I used to do my own cassette to cassette editing before I even joined the SABC. I started work at the SABC in Main Control, where we would link up Regions and Studios for recordings or for discussions. One program I recall that we had to link up was “Test the Team”, where the quizmaster was in Cape Town, one team member was in Durban, another in Johannesburg and the third in Pretoria. Things didn’t always run as smoothly as they sounded when the program was broadcast!  From Main Control I moved to what was the called “Productions”, where we recorded programs for later broadcast.
Today, almost everything that is broadcast is “live”. In the past, it was all pre-recorded!! Whilst in Productions, I completed a Drama course and moved into the Drama studios. When Drama closed, I moved into Audio Restoration.

2. Please tell us about a normal day in your Studio. What audio do you give priority to?

My normal day starts with the collecting of a pile of records (Transcriptions) from Maryna’s office and then transferring them into the computer. As they go into the computer, they go through a set of machines that remove most of the surface noise, e.g. crackles, clicks and excessive hiss. Any noises that get through the first set of machines are removed using computer software. The tracks are then numbered, as per the information provided and the Restored Audio is transferred to CD.
No specific priority is given to any audio, but if a request comes in for a record to be transferred to CD for imminent broadcast, it is then given priority!

3. Tell us more about your collection and the scope of material you need to preserve in the Audio Restoration Section.

The Transcription Department was established to give up-and-coming artists a chance to record their music professionally, at no cost to themselves, and have it on a record for their private use. It also became a repository of local artists and local music for the SABC to promote local talent. In later years, it became a means of recording and preserving our local music.

  4. Do you struggle with technical difficulties, and if so, what?  

The biggest technical difficulty I had was switching from PC to Apple Mac computers. Everything I do with audio is done on an Apple and when I first started using the machine, it was very difficult switching to a new computer. My technical training for studio work was very good, so the biggest technical difficulty I have is to get styli for my turntable!

5. If you have an anecdote about a specific piece of interesting audio, please share it with us.

The most interesting piece I did was not necessarily the audio that I restored, but rather the circumstances.
I was approached by a presenter and asked if I could help him. He presented me with four pieces of a Bakelite record, that he had knocked and broken that morning! I started the restoration process by sticking the record together with masking tape. I then had to record the record into the computer. Although the music was only about ten minutes long, it took about five hours to record. The stylus wouldn’t track the grooves properly, so every time the stylus jumped a groove, I would have to go back and re-record! Eventually it was ready for processing. I started by taking out all the thumps, then the crackles and clicks and lastly the hiss. It was then transferred to CD. The original record was recorded in 1933. The CD today sounds as if it was recorded yesterday in the studio!! 

5. Tell us why you enjoy doing the work that you do.

Everyday brings new challenges!

Questions and blog post by Karen du Toit, Afrikaans Archivist in the SABC Radio Archives.

Francois en Lucille se gesamentlike sangloopbaan strek sedert 1968.


As sangpaar en as soliste verskyn in die tydperk 9 langspeelplate: hulle tree byne 3000 keer op die verhoog op en onderneem ook twee Europese konsertreise. Plaaslik het hulle in drie televisiereekse opgetree en in 1991 verskyn hulle eerste opname van geestelike liedere.

Hiervan sê Francois en Lucille:

“Dit is voorwaar ‘n voorreg om na soveel jare ons talente op die wyse te kan gebruik uit erkentlikheid teenoor ons Skepper vir geleenthede deur die jare en vir ‘strome van seën’ in ons private sowel as ons professionele lewens. Ons dank ook aan die duisende luisteraars wat deur die jare aan ons bly glo het en in besonder aan Johan Coetzer wat hierdie plaat geinisieer het”.

Regisseur/Programmering/Akoestiese klavier: Harold Schenk
Opname-ingenieur: Cesar D’Almeida
Musikante: Tromme en perkussie: Stef Kruger (kitaar); Blackie Swart (trompet)
Ondersteunende stemme : Coleske-broers.
Opname datum: Junie 1991

Maryna Barnard, SABC Audio Restoration

“Erogenous Botch Under Cover”

Sound Restoration prepared a George Thatcher recording titled “Erogenous Botch Under Cover.”


George Thatcher first came to South Africa in 1979 as principal bass trombonist in the Cape Town Symphony Orchestra.

In 1981 he went to South America to play in the Orchestra Municipal de Caracas and a year later returned to play bass trombone in the National Symphony Orchestra. George is an extremely creative and versatile musician and the compositions on this record deserve recognition.

Before coming to South Africa, he played trombone in the Al Hirt Orchestra, Disneyland Band and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra.

While in South Africa, he played in many jazz groups and he was a very popular and much respected session musician.

The producers of this recording was Simon Lomberg, Ekkie Eckhart and Fanie van Staden. The record was recorded by Welti Welthagen, and the recording was done in M2, Broadcast Centre, Auckland Park in January 1987.

Maryna Barnard, SABC Audio Restoration Section

Audio Restoration 1

The Audio Restoration Section of the Media Library is responsible for the restoration and re-mastering of audio. The Audio is obtained from recordings of local artists, recorded in various SABC Studios around the country, between the years 1950 and 1986. These recordings were made by the SABC to promote local talent, as well as provide local content for broadcast purposes. 

Most of the audio is sourced from vinyl records. These are washed, cleaned and then recorded into a sophisticated computer for digitizing, electronic cleaning and transfer to CD.

All the necessary data, e.g. song titles, composers, artists and writers, is captured. We then design covers and sleeves for the CD, which contains this captured data. If necessary, the CD will also be duplicated here.

When the process is finished, the master CD is stored, the duplicates are distributed and the CD is used for broadcasting as and when necessary.
- Maryna Barnard, Bags Farrell, Sound Restoration Unit