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Digitization Progress
Progress of the Aadam Jacobs collection digitization
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Music Fan's 10,000 Concert Recordings Turned into Online Archive
Got story updates? Submit your updates here. ›A grassroots effort to preserve a trove of rare live recordings captures the raw energy and DIY spirit of the indie and punk rock eras.Chicago TodayAadam Jacobs, a longtime music fan in Chicago, surreptitiously recorded over 10,000 concerts from the 1980s through the early 2000s, capturing early performances by artists like Nirvana, R.E.M., and The Pixies. Now a team of volunteers is working to catalog, digitize, and upload the recordings to the Internet Archive, creating an invaluable online treasure trove for music lovers. Why it matters Jacobs' collection provides a rare, firsthand glimpse into the indie and punk rock scenes during their formative years, preserving performances by both legendary acts and lesser-known artists that may have otherwise been lost to time. The project highlights the passion of music fans and the power of grassroots archiving efforts to safeguard cultural history. The details Jacobs began recording concerts in 1984 using basic equipment like a borrowed Dictaphone and a Sony Walkman-style tape recorder. Over the decades, he amassed over 10,000 recordings, often sneaking his gear into venues despite initial resistance from club owners. After a 2023 documentary brought attention to Jacobs' collection, volunteers reached out to help digitize and catalog the tapes. The process involves transferring the analog recordings to digital files, cleaning up the audio, and meticulously documenting song titles and setlists. Jacobs made his first concert recording in 1984.Jacobs recorded Nirvana's debut show in Chicago on July 8, 1989, over two years before the release of 'Nevermind'.A local filmmaker made a documentary about Jacobs' collection in 2023.Volunteers began digitizing Jacobs' recordings in late 2024.Jacobs stopped recording concerts a few years ago due to health issues. The players Aadam JacobsA longtime music fan in Chicago who surreptitiously recorded over 10,000 concerts from the 1980s through the early 2000s.Brian EmerickA volunteer who travels to Jacobs' home monthly to transfer the analog recordings to digital files.Neil deMauseA volunteer engineer in Brooklyn who helps clean up the audio and provide metadata for the digitized recordings.Bob MehrA writer who profiled Jacobs in 2004 for the Chicago Reader, calling him one of the city's cultural institutions.Kurt CobainThe 20-year-old frontman of the band Nirvana, whose debut show in Chicago in 1989 was recorded by Jacobs. Got p...
A fan's recordings of over 10,000 concerts are being preserved online
It’s the summer of 1989 in Chicago, and music fan Aadam Jacobs starts to record a live concert with a small Sony cassette recorder in his pocket. The gig is a fledgling rock band’s debut show at the small club called Dreamerz. Before they start playing, the band’s lead singer announces to the crowd: “Hello, we're Nirvana. We're from Seattle.” This early tape of the global rock sensation Nirvana, over two years before the release of their celebrated second album 'Nevermind', is one of more than 10,000 concerts recorded by Jacobs. Now, volunteers in the US and across Europe are organising, digitising, and uploading these tapes onto the Aadam Jacobs Collection, hosted on the non-profit online repository Internet Archive. The tapes were recorded over four decades and document musical acts from the 1980s through to the early 2000s. From R.E.M. and The Cure to Tracy Chapman, Jacobs' collection is a treasure trove of early-career performances from celebrated artists and hidden gems from smaller musicians. After filmmaker Katlin Schneider’s 2023 documentary about Jacobs titled Melomaniac (aptly named after someone afflicted with music-mania), a volunteer from Internet Archive reached out to him, asking if he would like to preserve his collection. “Before all the tapes started not working because of time, just disintegrating, I finally said yes,” Jacobs said. Jacobs began this labour-of-love in 1984, recording a concert on a Dictaphone-type device that he borrowed from his grandmother. As a teenager who would tape songs off the radio, Jacobs recalls how someone suggested an alternative: “I eventually met a fellow who said, ‘You can just take a tape recorder into a show with you, just sneak it in, record the show.’ And I thought, ‘Wow, that’s cool.’ So I got started." He purchased a Sony Walkman-style recorder soon after. “I was using, at times, pretty lackluster equipment, simply because I had no money to buy anything better,” he said. Later, Jacobs moved onto digital audio tape and solid-state digital recorders. Today, digitizing and archiving the numerous boxes of Jacobs’ tapes is a work-in-progress. Once a month, Brian Emerick - who is tasked with transferring the analog recordings to digital files - travels to Jacobs’ house and picks up 10 to 20 boxes, each containing between 50 to 100 tapes. The digital files Emerick produces are then sent to volunteers who mix and master the recordings before they are uploaded to the online collection. Emerick has digitised...
Chicago Music Fan Uploading Collection of More Than 10,000 Live ...
The collection (housed via the Internet Archive) now spans over 2,000 digitized recordings and represents a couple decades of live music. Get Pixies Tickets Here "I don't have enough life left in me to digitize everything I have," Jacobs told the Chicago Reader back in January. "And it's just decaying.
Volunteers digitize 10,000 concert recordings into online archive - MSN
Jacobs' recordings capture the formative years of indie and punk rock, as well as rare hip-hop and experimental performances. Many sets feature early-career moments from now-legendary acts ...
