[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: Digitizing taped interviews



Steve, to enhance the sound quality of tapes, you might consider acquiring a
sonic maximizer. This is a relatively cheap device (less than $100) that you
can purchase at most music stores. You connect it between the tape source
and your recording device. Sonic maximizers have the ability to digitally
enhance low and high end frequencies independently, unlike normal tone
controls which tend to enhance one frequency at the expense of another. The
sonic maximizer does this by correcting phase changes that occur in analog
recording processes, restoring them to a more natural live sound (I confess,
I don't really understand how this thing works! This is what the manual
says). They are very easy to use, consisting of a high and low dial that you
simply adjust until you have the sound you want, meaning you don't have to
be a studio technician to use one. I have an extensive collection of
cassette and reel-to-reel tapes, including radio station recordings my
brother made in the 60's and 70's (he would just start the recorder and let
it run for hours, capturing the music, news, ads, everything). I've also
been playing and recording music since the early 70's. I've been able to
take some pretty murky sounding recordings and enhance them considerably
with this device. A particularly nice feature is it seems to have the
capability of providing greater distinction and separation to individual
instruments in a band recording, out of recordings that originally sounded
like a mish-mash. Again, can't explain exactly how it works, but it does.

Dwight Wallis
Records & Distribution Services Manager
Multnomah County Fleet, Records, Electronic & Distribution Services
2505 SE 11th Avenue
Portland OR 97202
phone: (503)988-3741
fax: (503)988-3754
dwight.d.wallis@co.multnomah.or.us

A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!

To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to listserv@listserv.muohio.edu
      In body of message:  SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname
                    *or*:  UNSUB ARCHIVES
To post a message, send e-mail to archives@listserv.muohio.edu

Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
     http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html

Problems?  Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <rschmidt@lib.muohio.edu>