I have recently figured out how to digitally record my analogue cassette tapes. While I realize that working from a two track is not the preferable way to go, I am wondering whether there are any suggestions or guidelines as to which digital effects/processing methods may be helpful in cleaning up or enhancing the digital mix. Kind of a broad question, I know. But thanx for any and all information, advice or suggestions.
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Digitalizing Cassette Tapes
- Thread starter mayan
- Start date
Well, if you have really good metal tapes that were made on a quality deck encoded with at least Dolby C and, you’re good about keeping the heads clean and aligned, I doubt you’ll need to do much of anything to them. If on the other hand you’re trying to clean up some not-so-good-sounding tapes (which I’m assuming), there are some software utilities that can be of help. Cool Edit 2000 is probably the best and most popular. This isn’t the expensive Pro version, but a much cheaper one for mixing down with, and it’s very good for doing exactly what you’re talking about. It’s a little pricey though. I believe it cost about $70 and comes with a noise reducer that may be of help to you. You can also spend another $50 to buy a plug-in they have available for cleaning up pops and clicks from old worn vinyl records. Of course, it will work just as well for cleaning up sounds from any analog source.
Obviously you can get rid of a lot of those annoying pops and clicks yourself by doing a manual edit, (i.e. finding them in the waveform and deleting them), but a program like this will do it for you pretty well and with a lot less headache. It’s really great for cleaning up old live recordings (did somebody say, “bootleg”? not me!) before burning them to a CD so you can sell…ah, um…give…them to your friends.
Good Luck
Obviously you can get rid of a lot of those annoying pops and clicks yourself by doing a manual edit, (i.e. finding them in the waveform and deleting them), but a program like this will do it for you pretty well and with a lot less headache. It’s really great for cleaning up old live recordings (did somebody say, “bootleg”? not me!) before burning them to a CD so you can sell…ah, um…give…them to your friends.
Good Luck
Thanks so much for your suggestion. A little more about the tape...it was made by directly feeding the synths (via sequencer) into the amp and tape deck. There was no compression/limitation/eq etc. and I noticed that the sound on the tape was MUCH different than the original mix. I realize that there isn't much that can be done vis a vis the individual MIDI tracks as they are long gone...BUT, I'm wondering what dynamic processing might help the mix now that I've put the songs back on harddisk.
Compression, compression, compression!!!
That’s the magic word in the recording industry. ALWAYS use compression on individual tracks as you’re recording the multi-track masters, and then, put your mixer’s master outputs through a compressor again while mixing down to a 2-track master. (This is where a patch-bay comes in real handy). About the only thing you don’t need to compress is a drum machine, since the drum samples are already compressed. Not only will compression keep your levels nice and even, i.e.-will bring the low volume sounds up and will bring the sounds that are too loud down, but there are certain instruments that just seem to breath and sound more open and natural with it. This is especially true of acoustic instruments. I can’t imagine anyone getting a good guitar sound (electric or acoustic) without the use of a compressor. And forget getting a decent vocal without one!
I still think Cool Edit is the way to go for you. It has compression and limiting that’s very adjustable, and also has several different types of EQ to choose from, which might be of help to you. Also has reverb, delay etc…
The old Pros always say that the best EQ is "NO" EQ and that’s certainly true. If you use the right mic and position it correctly in the right sounding room, you should never have to use EQ. Unfortunately, most of us don’t have thousands of dollars to spend on mics and such, so we use EQ and do the best we can.
Try Cool Edit. You may never get your wav file to perfection but you can certainly make it better!
Good Luck!
That’s the magic word in the recording industry. ALWAYS use compression on individual tracks as you’re recording the multi-track masters, and then, put your mixer’s master outputs through a compressor again while mixing down to a 2-track master. (This is where a patch-bay comes in real handy). About the only thing you don’t need to compress is a drum machine, since the drum samples are already compressed. Not only will compression keep your levels nice and even, i.e.-will bring the low volume sounds up and will bring the sounds that are too loud down, but there are certain instruments that just seem to breath and sound more open and natural with it. This is especially true of acoustic instruments. I can’t imagine anyone getting a good guitar sound (electric or acoustic) without the use of a compressor. And forget getting a decent vocal without one!
I still think Cool Edit is the way to go for you. It has compression and limiting that’s very adjustable, and also has several different types of EQ to choose from, which might be of help to you. Also has reverb, delay etc…
The old Pros always say that the best EQ is "NO" EQ and that’s certainly true. If you use the right mic and position it correctly in the right sounding room, you should never have to use EQ. Unfortunately, most of us don’t have thousands of dollars to spend on mics and such, so we use EQ and do the best we can.
Try Cool Edit. You may never get your wav file to perfection but you can certainly make it better!
Good Luck!