About

Recording

The equipment. I'm using a P3 twin ghz processor main board computer with a creative sound blaster sound card. There are probably better sound cards made, but they are not readily available where I live. The sound blaster is a decent card so we should be okay. For playback, I picked up a pioneer cassette deck especially for the job. I don't have the model number in front of me, but it was the best one in the shop when I was there. It has high fidelity capabilities and all available noise reduction technology. To capture the sound, I'm using Sound Forge 5 on win xp. I save in wav format, then use cdex to convert to mp3. For storage I then burn both formats to dvd using ezcd 6 on a plextor PX504A.

The method. Recording is a laborious process, one that almost takes the fun out of the shows. Play the tape and set recording levels. Then rewind and try for a good take. If the levels turn out to be too high or too low, then rewind, re-adjust levels, and do it over. If I listen to the show while recording, I stop at the end, crop leading and trailing silence, normalize the signal to constant levels, fade in and out of the beginning and end segments, equalize if necessary, then save. Then repeat for the next show. If I don't listen while recording, I do both complete sides (there's an auto return play) and save one large file. If the levels are too high or two low, it has to be done again. If it's okay, I then go back over the file and find the start and finish locations for each show, slice the large file up into segments, and do all the things I'd do if listening and doing them one by one. Once saved, I convert to mp3 and listen to each file to be sure it recorded correctly and plays back fine. If not, go back and do it again. If yes, make notes about the episode, name the file appropriately, then do the next tape.