Disc, tape, film, cylinder, or wire on which sound vibrations have been registered so that the sound may be reproduced; and paper rolls on which the notes of a music composition are represented by perforations in the paper and from which sound can be mechanically produced.
Special class of sound recording to which the item belongs (e.g., a cylinder).
Contains blank (#) or a fill character (|).
Playback speed of the sound recording. This code is only intended to relate to the playing speed of a sound recording rendered on a mechanical device.
Configuration of playback channels for a sound recording.
Width of the groove of the recording for discs or the pitch of the groove for cylinders.
Diameter of an open reel or disc, or the dimensions of a cassette, cartridge, or cylinder.
Width of the tape.
Number of tracks on a tape.
Final tape production master that is used to make a disc master or a tape duplication master.
Sound tape produced from the master tape.
Negative disc master that is used for the preparation of the mother from which more serviceable and longer lasting metal stampers can be made.
Includes discs or tapes issued as limited pressing or limited issue for private distribution.
Exact copy of the original disc recording pressed from the disc master. From the metal mother a negative metal stamper is made to press discs for distribution.
Negative metal part, produced from the mother in an electroplating procedure, from which 500 to 750 discs may be pressed.
Either one finished disc or one of a very limited pressing is made, designed to be examined aurally before a decision is made to proceed with a pressing.
Type of disc, cylinder, or tape is not known.
Kind of material used in the manufacture of sound recordings (both instantaneous and mass-produced). This code is only intended to relate to a sound recording rendered on a mechanical device.
Kind of cutting of the grooves used on a disc.
Vertical cutting, with no lateral information intended for reproduction.
Compact audio discs are coded n as they are pitted rather than cut.
Playback characteristics for sound recordings, including special equipment or equalization necessary for proper playback. This code is not used to indicate special processes used during recording unless those processes must be applied during playback.
National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) standard was used for the transcription of the recording and NAB playback equalization is required.
Comité consultatif de la radiodiffusion (CCIR) standard was used for the transcription of the recording and CCIR playback equalization is required.
How the sound was originally captured and stored. Sound recordings should be coded for the original capture and storage techniques, regardless of the physical format of the manifestation being cataloged or whether the sound content of the manifestation being cataloged has been enhanced using other techniques.
Recorded sound originally captured using an acoustical horn and diaphragm and stored directly on a surface such as a disc or cylinder. Most acoustical recordings date from the era beginning in 1877, when the first practical commercial recording machines were developed, until the mid-to-late 1920s, a transitional period marked by the release of the earliest electrical recordings in 1925.
Recorded sound originally captured using microphones and other electrical equipment and stored directly on the surface of a disc. All recordings that were made with microphones and other electrical equipment used direct storage beginning with the earliest electrical recordings in 1925 through the late 1940s. More recent commercial recordings marked "direct to disc" or some equivalent phrase also used this technique. Also known as electromechanical recording.
Recorded sound originally captured electrically and stored using digital techniques, which became available in the 1980s. Such recordings may be identified as "digitally recorded" or by use of a similar phrase on the label or package. However, designations such as "digital remastering" or "digital mixing" are post-capture and storage processes and are not meant to suggest that the original capture or storage techniques were digital.
Sound recordings which were captured using electrical techniques and stored as modulations and pulses on a magnetic surface. Most recordings made from the late 1940s until the transitional period from the early 1980s through the early 1990s are analog electrical recordings.