Equalizing an old cassette recording

M

McMike1

New member
Hi.
I have a thirty year old tape recording of a hand bell choir. Probably done on a basic portable cassette recorder. I want to burn a CD, and I've got it to the PC with decent levels. But equalization is the problem.

I did a noise reduction sample to get out the tape hiss.

In the raw recording, the bass and mid octave bells are too quiet, and the treble bells too loud and shrill. The presence is pretty good in terms of bright natural reverb. But warmth seems more elusive.

So I tried a sort of flat-topped inverted W on the EQ, rolled off sharply above and below the extreme frequencies. It was a definite improvement. But the bass was then too boomy, the mids got a little muddy, and the treble still shrill, or if I rolled the treble off more, too flat. Bringing up the bass also accentuated the mic noises, perhaps movement by the operator, but I can live with that.

Any way, additional efforts at tweaking sent me down the rabbit hole.

I can live with it as it stands under my first iteration, if I could just pull back a bit of the shrillness to make it more listenable. My goals are modest, just a listenable recording to share among a couple friends.

Any generic advice?

Thanks.
 
1) Could the tape have been recorded with some sort of noise reduction that you're not using?

2) Just tilt and EQ and add some verb post-EQ...?
 
Massive Master said:
1) Could the tape have been recorded with some sort of noise reduction that you're not using?

2) Just tilt and EQ and add some verb post-EQ...?
Click to expand...


Thanks, I played with the playback a bit and it did not seem as if adding dolby changed anything.

I am not sure I can tilt using my audacity editor. If I understand what that means, it is some sort of software add-in for eq programs?
 
Which noise removal did you use? The process can be quite damaging if not deftly handled - and even then deftly handled may leave issues. I'll wait for more info before suggesting.
 
I would try to EQ without the noise reduction. Cassette Tape tops out at 15k so you can low pass a lot of your hiss out at that crossover. If you notch & sweep your low frequencies with a narrow Q you may find the sweet spot for the low end then widen the Q as needed. Using a multi-band compressor might work on any harsh upper mids. Finally, you could try a sonic enhancer like Waves Vitamin to bring back clarity.
 
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