Tony Hunter loves his audio.
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Just as well, because for a big part of this year he has been digging through archival recordings produced in Canberra as far back as 1972.
It is all part of an ArtSound FM heritage preservation project funded by the ACT's Community Centenary Initiative fund.
As part of the project Hunter, who is an ArtSound FM volunteer specialising in audio recording as well as being a keen archivist, has acquired a massive collection of recordings, most of which is in the custody of the ACT Heritage Library.
The bulk of the collection comes from ArtSound's own recordings beginning in 1983, but some go back a decade earlier from other sources.
His labour of love has had him drown in a sea of more than 3000 items, including reel-to-reel tapes of all sizes, Betamax videos and cassettes in a bid to catalogue the vast collection and preserve them on computer file.
And he has uncovered some doozies.
There are recitations from some of Australia's famous poets such as Judith Wright and Kenneth Slessor, early Arts interviews, radio drama, jazz performances from the likes of Don Burrows and George Golla, classical concerts, big band shows, folk concerts, documentaries and more.
There's a lecture from former prime minister Gough Whitlam and a series of chats by women talking about their memories of pre-federation Canberra.
''There is some fabulously historic stuff here,'' Hunter said.
''And so much of what I have uncovered is unique. We have the first concert ever recorded by ArtSound and so much other fascinating audio.''
One delight for Hunter, who is also a skilled musician, has been discovering his own connection to the archives.
Having played in a number of Canberra bands over the past few decades, including bluegrass, swing, jazz and pop outfits, he has been amazed to hear himself on many of the recordings.
''It is absolutely wonderful to be reconnected with performances I have never heard,'' he said.
''I'm littered right through the collection, which was a surprise.''
The aim of the project is to feature the restored recordings as broadcasts through next year's centenary celebrations.
ArtSound FM board member Susanne Roberts said the community radio station saw great value in cataloguing and restoring the old recordings.
''The catalyst of course was the centenary and we will be able to broadcast the material as part of the celebrations next year and also make them available in digital format to the community radio network across Australia,'' she said.