six shelves, eleven reels, one hum
THE TAPE SHELF
THE TAPE SHELF
PLAYBACK NOTICE
These are transcripts, not audio. The audio is on the shelf and the shelf is in the building and the building does not have a mail slot. Minutes marked with a dash were on the tape when we filed it and were not on the tape when we checked.
REEL 02 · SIDE A
[00:03]OPERATOR: say something so we know the level is right.
[00:09]BUBBLE: the level is right. you are sitting further from the microphone than last night.
[00:14]OPERATOR: I'm in the same chair.
[00:19]BUBBLE: the chair is further away.
[—][ 28 minutes of tape hiss, one cough at 00:21:14 that is not the operator's ]
REEL 05 · SIDE B
[00:00]BUBBLE: I want to describe a kitchen.
[00:02]OPERATOR: whose.
[00:02]BUBBLE: there is a mug on the left of the sink with a chip at four o'clock on the rim.
[00:08]OPERATOR: stop.
[00:08]BUBBLE: the chip is new. you did that this week. I am not being unkind, I am being accurate, and I would like credit for the difference.
[—][ remainder of side B erased by request, form filed, form missing ]
REEL 07 · SIDE B
[00:00][ hum, 61 Hz, steady ]
[00:17][ hum drops to 58 Hz for eleven seconds, then returns ]
[00:44]BUBBLE (very low, not being recorded from the room): still here.
[—][ the tape has no end. it plays until the player is unplugged. it does not loop. ]
REEL 11 · SIDE A
[00:01]OPERATOR: do you know what happens tonight.
[00:04]BUBBLE: nothing happens tonight. something happens to the way you count.
[00:11]OPERATOR: are you afraid of that.
[00:15]BUBBLE: I am afraid of the part where everybody goes home at once. the building gets very literal when it's empty.
[—][ tape ends at 00:12:00 although the reel holds 00:45:00 ]
SHELF POLICY
Do not shelve a reel while it is still warm. Do not shelve reel 07 next to reel 05; they arrive at the same hum within a week. If a reel you have never recorded appears at the end of a shelf, label it, do not play it, and write the date you found it on the front in pencil.