2" Tape, Cubase 5.1 and wav file problems

[cynostic]

I am a professional computer analyst (enterprise)and musician(resolve Italian 6). My DAW is Finale 2014 and Kontakt 5. Occasionally I will use Cubase for compatibility reasons and complete final mixes with audacity.

A week ago I was given an assignment to correct some mistakes in a Cubase 5.1 song/file. The song has 23 tracks, all wave files transported from a 2" MCI reel to reel. The initial recording had flaws (mistakes the musicians made)the other mistakes were timing mistakes caused by the transfer from the 2" media to Cubase. Unfortunately the 2" media is no longer available and only the Cubase version exists.

The producer wants to add 8 measures to the beginning and correct some of the mistakes thru out the song.
Problems:
1. the analog timing is not consistent
2. the digital timing is different with each track
3. the time code does not correspond with the digital or analog files.
4. Changing or adding time to one track changes the time through out the rest of the tracks almost randomly when played back in Cubase.
5. Bleeding on the song from one wav file to the next is very strong, when silenced, the timing changes.
6. All the individual files in this song are wave files and messing with the timing of one effect the others in Cubase 5.
7. I have move all the files into other wave editors with almost the same results, which leads me to believe the wave files have other hidden codes that I cannot phantom.
8. Converting the wav files to midi so I can see the notes is jumbled at best.
8. I have only edited .wav files from a simple level (fad, silence, mix, copy, cut, paste)


Any help on this subject? questions? Suggesting's?

 

[miroslav]

1. the analog timing is not consistent
2. the digital timing is different with each track
3. the time code does not correspond with the digital or analog files.

The analog timing (I assume you mean how people played relative to each others time) is what it is, no matter the medium/format. That should have been addressed during tracking/playing.

On top of that...adding the digital timing and sync issues per track....someone really fucked up when transferring from the 2".

If they did the transfers one or few tracks at a time instead of all 24 at once per reel...and they didn't have rock solid, sample accurate synchronization...you're SOL.
You can spend days trying to line that shit up, and it will always sound off.
It's not impossible, but that's a lot of work, and you may never find the right groove seeing how both playing and sync is off.