Grandma Death
Reconfiguring & Reconstructing
...can anyone point me in the direction of a good easy to use site that shows one how to remaster old DJ mix tapes onto CDs please.
Idiots guide to remastering old mix tapes....
- Thread starter Grandma Death
- Start date
pk
drink flounce rinse repeat
Yeah...
Just did a search for any one of the FIVE "how-to-master-from-cassette-to-CD" guides I have posted up over the years - they've all now gone.
If I do it again, which I'm happy to do - can they perhaps be archived in some way here, because loads of people want to know how to do this, and it's a job worth doing properly...
?
OK, here goes...
---------------------
AN IDIOTS GUIDE TO CONVERTING TAPE CASSETTES TO AUDIO CD
You have your crusty cassette tape recording from 20 years ago or more, lets say you just found it in the back of your old car or stuffed down a sofa. Probably an a-Ha album or something by Prefab Sprout.
Or perhaps you just want to relive the days of the old skool raver, by shoving a couple of Vicks inhalers up your nose, donning a decorator's mask, dungarees, and dancing all night to the sound of a Hoover played backwards that you recorded way back in '89 from a pirate radio station broadcasting from Strangeways prison.
Your secret is safe, it matters not what is on your precious tapes.
What matters is - you need to make a CD copy of it, as you will never be able to replace the tracks again.
Here's how to do it. It's easy. The following is how to do it professionally.
Sure, you can cut corners if you like, but the idea is to maximize the hidden potential of your cassette recordings and preserve them forever digitally, using a few tricks most people don't bother with. Follow these instructions to the letter, and chances are you might not even be able to tell they were once just tape recordings once they're burned to CD...
You will need:
A small screwdriver, 3mm flat head (watchmakers drivers are best) for azimuth tweaking.
A decent cassette deck:
Don't bother if it's a crap deck, you need one that will allow you to realign the azimuth. You'll learn all about azimuth adjusting in a minute. The deck you need should have a little hole about 4mm in diameter right where the tape heads sit, allowing you to twiddle the screws as the tape plays.
If the tape deck is made by Saisho, Alba, Matsui, Amstrad, or any other cheap brand, just chuck it away, it's not much use, even as a doorstop.
A decent sound card on your computer: or any 44.1k digital recording device like a DAT machine, a real-time CD recorder, or even a minidisc recorder.
Recording direct to your computer is best... more on that later.
Additional equipment that is useful: an equaliser, and if you have the cash, a surround sound processor and a compressor can brighten up and even out the most dull recordings, too.
Before you do anything, bear in mind you might not have played the cassette for a while - so loosen up the spools by fast-forwarding each cassette right to the end, then rewinding it back to the beginning.
This takes out any undue strain in the middle of the recording which could either slow it down or cause it to "wow" the sound, or dip in and out of alignment with your tape heads.
Your tape heads need cleaning before you actually play the tape. Use lighter fuel for the Zippos with a cotton wool bud - though if you're about to convert your entire cassette library into MP3 files (thereby guaranteeing you sainthood status in the world of MP3 filesharing) the very best stuff to use is Isopropyl Alcohol, often sold as "Isoclene".
This is the stuff they use to clean the heads of £60,000 broadcast decks in TV stations so it'll work a treat in your humble little Akai deck.
It's about a fiver a can, though it has many uses (including killing wasps) and every home should have at least one tin of Isoclene, frankly.
Wipe the tape heads in the opposite direction to the path of the tape travel - and clean the erase, record, and play heads with a seperate bit of cloth or tissue, until they're shiny like buttons. You'll need to repeat this process for each 4 or 5 ninety minute tapes you play, for best results.
Once you are happy and ready to start recording, you need to hook your deck up to the computer's sound card (or digital record device - let's assume you're just using a computer for now).
Use fairly decent cables - normally PHONO cables from the deck to a MINIJACK connector into your soundcard, the more expensive soundcards will also have PHONO connectors.
Just make sure you connect in to your LINE LEVEL INPUT on the recorder - because a MIC input will just pre-amplify everything to a deafening level and sound horrible.
Depending on your choice of recording software you may need to select the type of input from your computer's interface, if LINE IN and MIC IN are on a shared port. If you're lucky enough to have any processing equipment such as that mentioned above, then obviously you'll know to plug that in between the deck and the sound card and tweak it accordingly... less is more though!!
Once you're happy you have got decent sound flowing from your tape deck to the computer, you'll need to be able to hear it as best you can... no good listening to the tape deck output, you need to hear what the computer is recording.
If you're dedicated enough to want to monitor everything through headphones, then kudos to you, but loudspeaker systems are more suited to long recording sessions, you can go and make a cup of tea and still hear what's being laid down.
Now we come to the most overlooked yet often most crucial part of making your tape recordings sound as fresh as the day you hit the record button - the azimuth adjustment.
A quick explanation - because it's likely a decent tape collection will have been made using a variety of different recording machines, you need to "tune" each tape to the nice clean machine you are using now to play them back, and by "tuning" them I mean you must align the tape head perfectly to each tape.
The way to do this is to CAREFULLY pop a de-magnetised screwdriver (try it to see if it attracts any little iron screws BEFORE poking it into your deck) into the little hole at the base of the cassette door - you may have to temporarily remove the door to get to the adjustment hole - in some cases there are several holes, the one you want has a screw and often some coloured paint to indicate azimuth - the actual azimuth screw is seated on one side of your playback head (the big silver one in the middle).
Servo based auto-reverse heads on a circular platter are not to be messed with - in fact avoid auto-reverse decks altogether.
Stick in a manufactured cassette, anything you know is reliably recorded from a major record label.
(remember - spool it fast-forward and back again to loosen it up first!)
Now play the first track. If it's something with plenty of high end (cymbals, hi-hats) then it will be easier to do the azimuth tweaking.
Slowly turn the little screw until the sound is as bright as it will go. Don't press too hard into the screwdriver, because when you let go, it will sound different. There is usually a spring pushing up against the little screw to keep it level.
You might need to experiment a bit - but don't turn it too far in any direction or the screw might pop out, then you'll be having no fun trying to get that little sucker back into the hole.
When you're convinced it's not going to sound better - you're now ready to record.
You will be amazed and astounded how much difference this azimuth tweaking makes to the fidelity of your recordings - yet most people just don't bother. It shows too - when MP3 file hunting for those elusive 80's tracks and playing them back, they sound like they were copied underwater by a three year old with messy hands.
Why bother putting useless recordings online, when with a few tweaks they can sound perfect!
You will need to adjust the azimuth for each of your tapes - though manufactured tapes are invariably recorded on the same azimuth alignment so if you're converting a load, it might be an idea to get these out of the way before tackling your crusty rave tapes you recorded on your old Amstrad hifi.
Once you've set the azimuth for that tape up - you shouldn't need to do it again (unless it suddenly goes all dull again).
Right - there are loads of different packages out there for recording audio on your PC or Mac - for the novice I would recommend 'Audacity', or for the Mac use 'Peak', for the pro system you'll have Pro Tools or a version of Cubase.
I prefer to use video capture software with the video function switched off, for several reasons, mainly the amount of effects and editing options this software offers you, but also because I figure if it can handle huge video files to record then it will have no trouble with stereo sound.
Record using the following setting:
For making CD recordings and to get the best possible sound reproduction - record in 44.1k aif file format.
You can always convert these to MP3 afterwards, but keeping your cherished CD master in full quality.
Bear in mind that recording at this high quality will require plenty of hard drive space - ideally create a "scratch disk" on your drive of a few gigabytes, should be enough to record several full albums at a time - roughly speaking a 5 minute track will need 40MB of aif file and only 5MB of MP3, so do the maths if you're short on space.
If you insist that you only want to archive the tape recordings in MP3 format, shame on you, you can figure out the settings yourself!
But a word of warning - once you've copied your cassettes to MP3, and chucked away all those old tapes, if your hard drive suddenly dies then you've lost everything - at least with the CD mastering method you've got a full quality backup as well as a custom CD library!!
Just did a search for any one of the FIVE "how-to-master-from-cassette-to-CD" guides I have posted up over the years - they've all now gone.
If I do it again, which I'm happy to do - can they perhaps be archived in some way here, because loads of people want to know how to do this, and it's a job worth doing properly...
?
OK, here goes...
---------------------
AN IDIOTS GUIDE TO CONVERTING TAPE CASSETTES TO AUDIO CD
You have your crusty cassette tape recording from 20 years ago or more, lets say you just found it in the back of your old car or stuffed down a sofa. Probably an a-Ha album or something by Prefab Sprout.
Or perhaps you just want to relive the days of the old skool raver, by shoving a couple of Vicks inhalers up your nose, donning a decorator's mask, dungarees, and dancing all night to the sound of a Hoover played backwards that you recorded way back in '89 from a pirate radio station broadcasting from Strangeways prison.
Your secret is safe, it matters not what is on your precious tapes.
What matters is - you need to make a CD copy of it, as you will never be able to replace the tracks again.
Here's how to do it. It's easy. The following is how to do it professionally.
Sure, you can cut corners if you like, but the idea is to maximize the hidden potential of your cassette recordings and preserve them forever digitally, using a few tricks most people don't bother with. Follow these instructions to the letter, and chances are you might not even be able to tell they were once just tape recordings once they're burned to CD...
You will need:
A small screwdriver, 3mm flat head (watchmakers drivers are best) for azimuth tweaking.
A decent cassette deck:
Don't bother if it's a crap deck, you need one that will allow you to realign the azimuth. You'll learn all about azimuth adjusting in a minute. The deck you need should have a little hole about 4mm in diameter right where the tape heads sit, allowing you to twiddle the screws as the tape plays.
If the tape deck is made by Saisho, Alba, Matsui, Amstrad, or any other cheap brand, just chuck it away, it's not much use, even as a doorstop.
A decent sound card on your computer: or any 44.1k digital recording device like a DAT machine, a real-time CD recorder, or even a minidisc recorder.
Recording direct to your computer is best... more on that later.
Additional equipment that is useful: an equaliser, and if you have the cash, a surround sound processor and a compressor can brighten up and even out the most dull recordings, too.
Before you do anything, bear in mind you might not have played the cassette for a while - so loosen up the spools by fast-forwarding each cassette right to the end, then rewinding it back to the beginning.
This takes out any undue strain in the middle of the recording which could either slow it down or cause it to "wow" the sound, or dip in and out of alignment with your tape heads.
Your tape heads need cleaning before you actually play the tape. Use lighter fuel for the Zippos with a cotton wool bud - though if you're about to convert your entire cassette library into MP3 files (thereby guaranteeing you sainthood status in the world of MP3 filesharing) the very best stuff to use is Isopropyl Alcohol, often sold as "Isoclene".
This is the stuff they use to clean the heads of £60,000 broadcast decks in TV stations so it'll work a treat in your humble little Akai deck.
It's about a fiver a can, though it has many uses (including killing wasps) and every home should have at least one tin of Isoclene, frankly.
Wipe the tape heads in the opposite direction to the path of the tape travel - and clean the erase, record, and play heads with a seperate bit of cloth or tissue, until they're shiny like buttons. You'll need to repeat this process for each 4 or 5 ninety minute tapes you play, for best results.
Once you are happy and ready to start recording, you need to hook your deck up to the computer's sound card (or digital record device - let's assume you're just using a computer for now).
Use fairly decent cables - normally PHONO cables from the deck to a MINIJACK connector into your soundcard, the more expensive soundcards will also have PHONO connectors.
Just make sure you connect in to your LINE LEVEL INPUT on the recorder - because a MIC input will just pre-amplify everything to a deafening level and sound horrible.
Depending on your choice of recording software you may need to select the type of input from your computer's interface, if LINE IN and MIC IN are on a shared port. If you're lucky enough to have any processing equipment such as that mentioned above, then obviously you'll know to plug that in between the deck and the sound card and tweak it accordingly... less is more though!!
Once you're happy you have got decent sound flowing from your tape deck to the computer, you'll need to be able to hear it as best you can... no good listening to the tape deck output, you need to hear what the computer is recording.
If you're dedicated enough to want to monitor everything through headphones, then kudos to you, but loudspeaker systems are more suited to long recording sessions, you can go and make a cup of tea and still hear what's being laid down.
Now we come to the most overlooked yet often most crucial part of making your tape recordings sound as fresh as the day you hit the record button - the azimuth adjustment.
A quick explanation - because it's likely a decent tape collection will have been made using a variety of different recording machines, you need to "tune" each tape to the nice clean machine you are using now to play them back, and by "tuning" them I mean you must align the tape head perfectly to each tape.
The way to do this is to CAREFULLY pop a de-magnetised screwdriver (try it to see if it attracts any little iron screws BEFORE poking it into your deck) into the little hole at the base of the cassette door - you may have to temporarily remove the door to get to the adjustment hole - in some cases there are several holes, the one you want has a screw and often some coloured paint to indicate azimuth - the actual azimuth screw is seated on one side of your playback head (the big silver one in the middle).
Servo based auto-reverse heads on a circular platter are not to be messed with - in fact avoid auto-reverse decks altogether.
Stick in a manufactured cassette, anything you know is reliably recorded from a major record label.
(remember - spool it fast-forward and back again to loosen it up first!)
Now play the first track. If it's something with plenty of high end (cymbals, hi-hats) then it will be easier to do the azimuth tweaking.
Slowly turn the little screw until the sound is as bright as it will go. Don't press too hard into the screwdriver, because when you let go, it will sound different. There is usually a spring pushing up against the little screw to keep it level.
You might need to experiment a bit - but don't turn it too far in any direction or the screw might pop out, then you'll be having no fun trying to get that little sucker back into the hole.
When you're convinced it's not going to sound better - you're now ready to record.
You will be amazed and astounded how much difference this azimuth tweaking makes to the fidelity of your recordings - yet most people just don't bother. It shows too - when MP3 file hunting for those elusive 80's tracks and playing them back, they sound like they were copied underwater by a three year old with messy hands.
Why bother putting useless recordings online, when with a few tweaks they can sound perfect!
You will need to adjust the azimuth for each of your tapes - though manufactured tapes are invariably recorded on the same azimuth alignment so if you're converting a load, it might be an idea to get these out of the way before tackling your crusty rave tapes you recorded on your old Amstrad hifi.
Once you've set the azimuth for that tape up - you shouldn't need to do it again (unless it suddenly goes all dull again).
Right - there are loads of different packages out there for recording audio on your PC or Mac - for the novice I would recommend 'Audacity', or for the Mac use 'Peak', for the pro system you'll have Pro Tools or a version of Cubase.
I prefer to use video capture software with the video function switched off, for several reasons, mainly the amount of effects and editing options this software offers you, but also because I figure if it can handle huge video files to record then it will have no trouble with stereo sound.
Record using the following setting:
For making CD recordings and to get the best possible sound reproduction - record in 44.1k aif file format.
You can always convert these to MP3 afterwards, but keeping your cherished CD master in full quality.
Bear in mind that recording at this high quality will require plenty of hard drive space - ideally create a "scratch disk" on your drive of a few gigabytes, should be enough to record several full albums at a time - roughly speaking a 5 minute track will need 40MB of aif file and only 5MB of MP3, so do the maths if you're short on space.
If you insist that you only want to archive the tape recordings in MP3 format, shame on you, you can figure out the settings yourself!
But a word of warning - once you've copied your cassettes to MP3, and chucked away all those old tapes, if your hard drive suddenly dies then you've lost everything - at least with the CD mastering method you've got a full quality backup as well as a custom CD library!!
pk
drink flounce rinse repeat
So, finally.... Start the tape off, and then hit record on your computer.
You can end each recording in the gaps between tracks to give you smaller files, or you can just record the lot and split them up later, depends how you want to do it, but this will probably depend on the recording - radio stations are non-stop and so harder to see where tracks begin and end in the edit - same applies to DJ mixes.
The editing is a creative process - try and use fades and appropriate stop points if possible, it's worth it.
It's also worth bearing in mind that a good method of splitting the recordings up every ten minutes or so is desirable, otherwise your burned CD will be over 70 minutes long but only one track - Track 1 - and the only way to get to a bit near the end is to sit and scroll through the entire recording...
Trick is to try it on one favourite album or recording session, see if you can burn it properly to CD or make MP3 files from it, then you'll be an expert, and you'll know how to fade in/out, and generally make it sound more professional.
Something to be aware of, especially if the sound quality dips in and out, and it sounds as if the cassette tape is about to be chewed up - the little square sponge pad that sits on a strip of metal just under the tape itself might be loose - inevitably some of your tapes will require open heart surgery to get the best out of them - leave them to last... you could operate on them whilst recording from the reliable cassettes.
Reseat the little metal clip that holds the tiny sponge in the retaining slots either side of the central tape path, if it needs it.
If a tape snaps (then you should have listened to me and spooled it right through to the end and back first!) fixing it isn't hard, as long as it's fairly clean and unchewed.
Just open the cassette shell, pull both ends out, observing the path of the tape carefully, cut the stretched bits off and use some thin sticky tape UNDERNEATH the tape to rejoin the two bits together. Cut off any surplus tape from the sides with sharp scissors or a razor.
Never stick the tape above, because that bit will eventually meet the tape head and cover it in sticky stuff.
Either way - once you're sure you've digitised it into your computer and burned it to CD, chuck the original tape away, it is a potential tape deck killer.
Best of luck!
pk
You can end each recording in the gaps between tracks to give you smaller files, or you can just record the lot and split them up later, depends how you want to do it, but this will probably depend on the recording - radio stations are non-stop and so harder to see where tracks begin and end in the edit - same applies to DJ mixes.
The editing is a creative process - try and use fades and appropriate stop points if possible, it's worth it.
It's also worth bearing in mind that a good method of splitting the recordings up every ten minutes or so is desirable, otherwise your burned CD will be over 70 minutes long but only one track - Track 1 - and the only way to get to a bit near the end is to sit and scroll through the entire recording...
Trick is to try it on one favourite album or recording session, see if you can burn it properly to CD or make MP3 files from it, then you'll be an expert, and you'll know how to fade in/out, and generally make it sound more professional.
Something to be aware of, especially if the sound quality dips in and out, and it sounds as if the cassette tape is about to be chewed up - the little square sponge pad that sits on a strip of metal just under the tape itself might be loose - inevitably some of your tapes will require open heart surgery to get the best out of them - leave them to last... you could operate on them whilst recording from the reliable cassettes.
Reseat the little metal clip that holds the tiny sponge in the retaining slots either side of the central tape path, if it needs it.
If a tape snaps (then you should have listened to me and spooled it right through to the end and back first!) fixing it isn't hard, as long as it's fairly clean and unchewed.
Just open the cassette shell, pull both ends out, observing the path of the tape carefully, cut the stretched bits off and use some thin sticky tape UNDERNEATH the tape to rejoin the two bits together. Cut off any surplus tape from the sides with sharp scissors or a razor.
Never stick the tape above, because that bit will eventually meet the tape head and cover it in sticky stuff.
Either way - once you're sure you've digitised it into your computer and burned it to CD, chuck the original tape away, it is a potential tape deck killer.
Best of luck!
pk
