Canazza, Fantozzi, and Pretto present a methodology to access digitized copies of tape music using mobile devices. The aim is to gather and include the notes, history, and other ancillary information made available by the original musicologist(s), and to faithfully reproduce the audio via the representation of a real-world tape recorder as the user interface (UI) on a tablet or phablet, for example.

The authors describe the development of an Android app called REMIND (Restoring the Experience: Mobile INterfaces for accessing Digitized recordings). The purpose of the app is to recreate “the experience of a reel-to-reel audio tape recorder.” I was unable to find this app on the Google Play Store, but I did find several apps such as Four Reels [1] that also recreate the skills needed to operate a reel-to-reel tape recorder via a digital interface. Three project objectives are outlined in the paper.

1. A simulation of interaction with a tape recorder.

2. Faithful playback of the original audio signal.

3. Retrieval and storage of ancillary information such as annotations, metadata, and splices.

REMIND’s purpose of safeguarding metadata, splices, annotations, and ancillary information from an original recording via mobile devices is a useful and important contribution to the philological accuracy of stored media. However, a small laptop running a free app such as Audacity [2] would facilitate those same tasks using a standard audio editing interface. I am not convinced the UI simulation of a reel-to-reel tape recorder is the best choice for all users, although the authors make a compelling case in favor of this. The addition of a standard audio editing interface may well prove useful as this is something most sound engineers use and would add an alternative useful feature. I have not been able to trial this app, but if it does function as the authors describe, and you are comfortable or enjoy using reel-to-reel recorders, then this app may prove useful.