Jim Regan -- Site Reviews

Lost & Found Sound As an element of historical record, sound is rarely the first medium that springs to mind -- it can't be bound into a book like text or photographs, and as soon as playback devices are involved, most minds will move straight to video tape. Still, there are fragments of both our personal and common histories for which an audio record is all that survives, and in turning to them, we may be surprised at how effective a medium this is -- both in terms of documentation, and in renewing forgotten memories and emotions. Proof of the power of 'aural history' can be found at Lost & Found Sound. Started last January as a weekly segment on NPR's "All Things Considered", Lost & Found Sound spent twelve months introducing listeners to a 'century of sound' -- then, through a companion Web site, made each episode available around the world, as well as around the clock. The design of the site is simplicity itself -- with neither bells nor whistles, and only three mouse clicks from the homepage to actually playing the audio files that give the site its reason for being. Such simplicity is not only efficient, it can also be pleasing to the eye, as is the case with Lost & Found's opening page, containing only the L&FS logo ----based on a 78 RPM (or perhaps 33 1/3) record label---- and the site index. The latter takes visitors to a catalog of sounds that is truly impressive in its breadth -- from World Wars, to steam locomotives, to audio samples of the "mental hygiene films" of the 40s and 50s. Other episodes cover the mass response to the preaching of Aimee Semple McPherson, and the very personal perspective of an 8-year old, listening to the 1960 World Series. Techniques in sound restoration are featured, as well as 'dead media,' dead languages, the sound of the Northern Lights, a silent film star's singing talents, and a collection of incoming messages recorded by a Los Angeles answering machine. (And if that's still not enough variety, keep in mind that there are roughly 40 more episodes to sample.) Each episode is given its own page, with RealAudio feeds, (14.4 or 28.8 streams) a brief introduction to the subject matter, and additional links -- which may include related outside sites, photographs, or listener feedback to an episode that struck a universal chord (as was the case with the World Series program). Running time is generally between ten and fifteen minutes. During 1999, listeners were also encouraged to nominate their own audio artifacts to the program, through a voicemail number that, by the end of its operation, had received 1500 calls. Sixteen episodes of the series resulted from this open call, and as well as appearing in the main index, they're also listed separately on their own Quest for Sound page. (As with the other episodes, the stories behind these recordings are often as compelling as the recordings themselves.) Other categories include Audio Artifacts, a full list of the program's Collaborators, which specifically lists a number of "listeners", (after all, someone had to sift through all those recordings) and a Scrapbook of items that the producers couldn't fit into broadcast episodes. Though none of the audio streams that I sampled were ever interrupted, sound quality varied over several visits -- presumably due to traffic -- and you may need to make more than one visit to get best results. Listeners to All Things Considered will also be able to hear new episodes -- on a monthly basis -- through the year 2000. Lost & Found Sound can be found at http://www.npr.org/programs/lnfsound/. Jim Regan provides 'Today's Links' to the e--Monitor. He lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.