Re: KLI Compilation / "The KLI's Greatest Hits"

[Volker Tanger <volker.tanger@wyae.de>]

Greetings!

I've made a number of live-recordings and "archival rescues"of tapes
now, so I guess I could give you a (virtual) hand with your problems.
If you have questions, just ask.


> I have some recordings of songs, etc. from several
> qep'a'mey.  I have meant to work up a KLI compilation tape
> for a while (and I actually got one started a few years ago,
> woo), but I just got a CD burner and I thought CDs might be
> a better alternative if I can make it work.  

Definitely! CDs don't suffer from demagnetization as cassettes do.
OTOH if a CD degrades, it will jump from perfectly ok to completely
unusuable. I don't have long-term (>5yrs) experience with CD-Rs, but
up to now they still look fine (if not exposed to direct sunlight).


> Question: what
> is the best way to get the recording(s) from cassette tape
> to my computer so that I can burn them onto a disc?  

I suggest you should use a decent sound card - most of the on-board
"sound thingies" (AC97) don't have the quality to rescue the sound
material as their frequency curve will cause more sound degradation.

Second you need a sound recorder / wave editor for your PC. Good
shareware examples are CoolEdit / Goldwave. Plug your cassette deck
(line output) into the PC (line input) and start recording. You'll
recognize extreme (digital) distortion if you set your input
sensitivity too high - and barely usable (hussssshy) sound if you set
it too low. The graphical wave representation is a good indicator on
the level - try to cover ~half of the band area - but be careful that
peaks NEVER touch the ceiling. 

Clip the crap at the beginning/end (easy with the graphical editor)
but leave a bit (1/100 second is enough) to do a fade-in (beginning)
or fade-out (end) so you have a clean level to start/end the track.
Often when simply cutting you start at a (slightly) different level
than zero which is highly audible as sharp crack. The fading mitigates
this problem.

Next step could be to filter the input. A de-noiser probably will be
needed - examples are Steinberg Clean and a CoolEdit filter. Plus
material could need enhancements in dynamics, high and low band.
Usually filter programs have tools for these problems included.
Experiement a bit with the settings until your sound is good.

Let me know when you encounter problems - or you succeded (i.e. the CD
is available).

Qapla'
	yabHuj

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   Volker Tanger		      Khemorex Klinzhai
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