Members Philter Posted April 6, 2008 Members Share Posted April 6, 2008 I grew up listening to my mother's record collection... a great eclectic collection from the 60's to the 80's, lots of classic rock, Beatles, Tull, the Stones, King Crimson, folk rock earlies like Steeleye Span, lots of weird world music, classical, etc etc etc... Anyway I talked her into letting me borrow them all to digitize. So the question I have is, what software? What I need is something that will let me record in both sides of a record and then drop track markers right onto the timeline, and then burn a CD from there. It would be great if I could also export all the resulting tracks as individual audio files at that point without further editing, etc. I'm coming from the world of DAW's and I haven't cracked a stereo waveform editor for a long time... what program will do this for me? PC or Mac, either is ok. Thanks in advance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Philter Posted April 6, 2008 Author Members Share Posted April 6, 2008 By the way there is no piracy involved here, this is an archival project for personal use!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted April 6, 2008 Members Share Posted April 6, 2008 I unfortunately don't know the answer to your question. I use Pro Tools whenever I have to do this, but obviously, this is much more labor-intensive than using a Numark USB turntable + software or whatever. What weird world music does she have that you really like? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lsits Posted April 6, 2008 Members Share Posted April 6, 2008 Something like this would probably fit the bill: http://www.turntablelab.com/dj_equipment/439/1767/32983.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Richard King Posted April 6, 2008 Members Share Posted April 6, 2008 This program doesn't do the recording part, but it does a great job of removing clicks and scratches from the files once you have them digitized. http://wwwmaths.anu.edu.au/~briand/sound/ I record using my records using this: http://www.goldwave.com/ I bought this thinking it would do all the pop and click removal as well as recording, but I found that the first program does a better job of repair. If you have any multitrack programs there's no reason you can't use it for the capture, assuming you have a turntable and an RIAA preamp. My signal flow goes like this: Kenwood KD500 turntable with Infinity Black Widow tonearm -> Rane PS-1 phono preamp -> Presonus Firestudio (for gain control) -> Firewire input in computer. If you have "hundreds" of albums be prepaired to spend a large part of the rest of your life recording them. I have done about 100 of my collection of about 700 records. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rasputin1963 Posted April 7, 2008 Members Share Posted April 7, 2008 First, check that an album in question is not already available commercially on CD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members deanmass Posted April 7, 2008 Members Share Posted April 7, 2008 You know about these? http://www.thinkgeek.com/electronics/mp3/90a0/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gus Lozada Posted April 7, 2008 Share Posted April 7, 2008 LOTS of patience Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Billster Posted April 7, 2008 Members Share Posted April 7, 2008 Bias Peak. I've been plugging through my LP's too. Record into Peak, use the DSP functions to auto-identify track regions, clean up the track points to zero crossings, set a playlist and burn. I also use SoundSoap for the clicks and crackles when needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Philter Posted April 7, 2008 Author Members Share Posted April 7, 2008 Thanks for the advice everyone. I'm looking through the software you all recommended. I have another question- how do you handle loudness? Do you normalize your audio captures? Or is there a way to calibrate levels from a record player? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Philter Posted April 7, 2008 Author Members Share Posted April 7, 2008 You know about these? http://www.thinkgeek.com/electronics/mp3/90a0/ I had heard of something like that- very cool, I will have to consider something like that as well. Such a nice little solution, I would feel bad for not getting to set up a bunch of wires and preamps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Philter Posted April 7, 2008 Author Members Share Posted April 7, 2008 This program doesn't do the recording part, but it does a great job of removing clicks and scratches from the files once you have them digitized.http://wwwmaths.anu.edu.au/~briand/sound/ Nice tip, thanks very much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Philter Posted April 7, 2008 Author Members Share Posted April 7, 2008 I unfortunately don't know the answer to your question. I use Pro Tools whenever I have to do this, but obviously, this is much more labor-intensive than using a Numark USB turntable + software or whatever.What weird world music does she have that you really like? I like a lot of the different kinds of music I've heard from around the world. I know in particular she has a lot of stuff from areas of China for some reason and it's good. There's one record called "Music from the Tribes of the Golden Triangle" or something like that, very other-worldly stuff to my western ears anyway. Of course I went through all the usual suspects on my own. I was lucky to grow up near a university with a full gamelan and I would go to performances several times a year. I'm still a huge fan of gamelan but I have yet to find a recording that comes close to the real thing. They had these 5-foot tall deep metal bells that would just travel through you when they sounded, hard to catch that in recordings apparently (or reproduce with speakers!) Also seeing the group perform was just a huge part of the music and I find it translates poorly to audio recordings. Every recording I have heard makes it sound like a music box or something, when in real life it's an enormous and complex soundscape. I know she has more stuff in there but I have to dig past all the Donovan and Jefferson Airplane first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMS Author MikeRivers Posted April 7, 2008 CMS Author Share Posted April 7, 2008 By the way there is no piracy involved here, this is an archival project for personal use!!! OK, if that makes you feel less guilty, but you're still guilty. However, given the age of the records and that absolutely nobody will know that you're doing this, I'd recommend that you get a copy of Spin It Again. There's no sensible way to automate actually playing the records, but Spin It Again is about the most sensibly automated way of dealing with the recording. You can drop the needle in a few places and it will find a good record level setting, you can set it to stop recording after a certain amount of silence, so if you start a record recording and forget about it, you won't record three hours or runout grooves. It has a reasonable de-click algorithm, and, except for live albums that don't have bands of silence between songs, it does a good job of automatically inserting track markers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tradivoro1 Posted April 7, 2008 Members Share Posted April 7, 2008 Just as an FYI... Having done this for a couple of albums, this is the truth of the matter... If you just want a straight recording of the vinyl record, it's just going to take you the amount of time of music that's on the record, and then separating the files.. However, if you're going to try to clean it up, it's going to take a lot of time per album.... there's a lot of trial an error in eliminating clicks and pops and noise... How much clicks and noise can you remove without affecting the fidelity too much is definitely tricky... With some records, it just can't be done, they're too far gone... The best advice is, someone else mentioned, get CDs of those records... You can find them used on Amazon a lot of times for very cheap... From a time and energy point of view, sometimes that is the best option... I only do this for records I can't find a CD of, or a new recording of anywhere... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Philter Posted April 7, 2008 Author Members Share Posted April 7, 2008 OK, if that makes you feel less guilty, but you're still guilty. I thought that it was legal to create copies for personal use... was I wrong? Sometimes the anti-piracy vibe here is a little overboard... Copying CDs, records and cassettes you own for personal use Since 11 December 2006, it has been legal to make copies of sound recordings you own for your own personal use, on a device that you own. The copy may, but need not be, in a different format. For example, you may copy music from CDs you own to: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMS Author MikeRivers Posted April 7, 2008 CMS Author Share Posted April 7, 2008 I thought that it was legal to create copies for personal use... was I wrong? Let's say it's subject to a lot of interpretation. It's clearly legal to make a backup copy. It's cloudy whether it's legal to make a copy of your mother's records for your personal use. People in the trade feel obligated to say something about it, but don't let that stop you from doing whatever you want, for your own purposes, in the privacy of your home. Just don't leave those WAV files on your computer in a directory that's shared on a file sharing network. That's how the music police are working now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Billster Posted April 7, 2008 Members Share Posted April 7, 2008 Thanks for the advice everyone. I'm looking through the software you all recommended.I have another question- how do you handle loudness? Do you normalize your audio captures? Or is there a way to calibrate levels from a record player? You need a phonograph preamp. I use the Rolls VP-29. The new USB equipped turntables handle this internally, and I think there's some software tools that apply the appropriate EQ curves, but without the riaa approved phonograph specs, you get tinny junk sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members philbo Posted April 7, 2008 Members Share Posted April 7, 2008 I've used a program called Singulator which auto-numbers consecutive WAV files, starting a new file after a gap of silence that you can set. I haven't found the 'killer app' for doing this. My ideal program would: Prompt you for the artist and album title, then pull in the track lists from the web and auto-number and -name the WAV files, with an option to use the LAME MP3 encoder and then auto-fill ID3 track info. It would additionally either access a scanner or automatically pull in .jpgs from the web to keep the album art. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jeff da Weasel Posted April 7, 2008 Members Share Posted April 7, 2008 Sometimes the anti-piracy vibe here is a little overboard... I'm pro piracy. Arrggghh, me matey! Swab the deck, or ye'll walk the plank! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jeff da Weasel Posted April 7, 2008 Members Share Posted April 7, 2008 People in the trade feel obligated to say something about it... I don't! If he'd said, "I'm going to digitize hundreds of albums and post them all on a shared directory," I might. But I don't feel compelled to even mention that crap when he's doing this for his own completely understandable reasons that don't take a penny out of anyone's pockets. Pirate away, baby. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMS Author MikeRivers Posted April 7, 2008 CMS Author Share Posted April 7, 2008 I'm pro piracy. Arrggghh, me matey! Swab the deck, or ye'll walk the plank! No, that's "Walk the plank or we'll swab the deck w' ye'." or something like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jeff da Weasel Posted April 7, 2008 Members Share Posted April 7, 2008 No, that's "Walk the plank or we'll swab the deck w' ye'." or something like that. Well, I'm not as experienced of a pirate as you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Philter Posted April 8, 2008 Author Members Share Posted April 8, 2008 Just don't leave those WAV files on your computer in a directory that's shared on a file sharing network. That's how the music police are working now. I don't file share. I have actually never downloaded or uploaded an illicit audio file in my entire life. And I can grin while getting lectured, sort of. Piracy sucks so I agree with you anyway. For me it's akin to using cheat codes for a video game. That's a sure way to kill the fun of the game for yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Philter Posted April 8, 2008 Author Members Share Posted April 8, 2008 The best advice is, someone else mentioned, get CDs of those records... You can find them used on Amazon a lot of times for very cheap... From a time and energy point of view, sometimes that is the best option... I only do this for records I can't find a CD of, or a new recording of anywhere... I'm playing stay-at-home dad with a 2-month old baby at the moment... from a time and energy point of view I need a point and click project right now! But I understand what you are saying and I imagine I will end up with some of this stuff from CD's. I'm looking forward just to playing through it all though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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