cleaning up a normal -bias tape recording

T

thunderstation

New member
My band was recorded live on a cassett recorded directly from the board. We really like the tape because the performance was reall up and for a normal bias tape it's not as awful as I would have thought. The band asked me if I could clean it up using some of my recording equipment. I own a Tascam 488 desk. so Iplayed the tape into the tascam, sending it through agraphic equalizer. then I utilized the bass & treble controls of the 488 as best I can. Now I want to dub it into a cd player (specifically a Tascam cc-222 mkll) I was going to send it through a compressor then another equalizer before it gets to the cd deck but I was wondering if there was anything else I could do to improve the quality (besides re- recording the band on 1" tape and using the cassett for 22 target practice).
thanks for listening to all this and I'd appreciate any comments or ideas
 
it's a normal bias cassette tape. I'd like to cut out as much of the hiss and to try and clear up the tape.
I know it's never going to be a "good" quality, but I thought I'd try to get as clear a recording as I can using EQ, and perhaps some compression. I'd like to know if anyone knows if there's anything else that would help
 
There is a product called Sound Soap by Bias-Inc and I've had really good results with even the basic version (which costs about $50.00.) You will have to process your track several times to really get the hang of the software. It helps to clean up hiss, scratches on records, and various other noises.
Felix
 
if you're working in analog (which is the way to go i'd say!), then i would use the compressor kinda heavily (the hiss might go in and out but it might sound cool) and mess with the EQ a bit. don't fight the hiss! depending on the music, you could also add some echos and stuff. whenever i have problem in recording, i generally opt for one of three choices: 1) re-record it; 2) emphasize the problem; or 3) cover it up. there is always a creative solution to a creative problem!
 
lonewhitefly said:
if you're working in analog (which is the way to go i'd say!), then i would use the compressor kinda heavily (the hiss might go in and out but it might sound cool) and mess with the EQ a bit. don't fight the hiss! depending on the music, you could also add some echos and stuff. whenever i have problem in recording, i generally opt for one of three choices: 1) re-record it; 2) emphasize the problem; or 3) cover it up. there is always a creative solution to a creative problem!
Click to expand...

thanks for the input. #2 emphasise the problem, got me thinking about capitalizing that it's a live tape.
If I can emphasize that sound it might give the tape a more exciting feel and all the pops and hiss might actually add to the overall feel and sound to the performances
 
thunderstation said:
thanks for the input. #2 emphasise the problem, got me thinking about capitalizing that it's a live tape.
If I can emphasize that sound it might give the tape a more exciting feel and all the pops and hiss might actually add to the overall feel and sound to the performances
Click to expand...

Depending where it was recorded, some of my live recordings in big venues have huuuge echos and reverbs from the room, so i try to make it as 'dry' as possible. Adding reverb and any sort of compression is a big no no for me for those recordings. Only EQ and ... that's about it. When it's a live recording and i'm using tape, generally hiss isn't a problem because a) i track pretty hot when recording live b) the hiss doesn't stand out as much because the performance is usually very energetic and echoey and loud.

All this said I used to record rehearsals on 4 trck cassette and it sounded great to me but I can see the quality of normal bias cassette being annoying when repeated listening is desired.
 
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