recording audio from a 78 -Sound Forge - PC - MAGIX Community Forums Archive

Subject:recording audio from a 78 Posted by: larryo Date:3/12/2003 5:26:23 PM I was handed an old 78 from an in law and asked to rip them a CD. Ths 78 contains some audio recorded by their great grandfather who died in 1944(!), so I'm assuming the disk goes back to at least the early 40's. It's in bad shape, and to complicate things, the turntable I dug up from my closet only does 33/45. On an initial test, I lifted about 20 seconds of audio and then arbitrarily tried a pitch shift/up a fifth,and unchecked "preserve length". Through all the snap,crackle and pop I found some audio that may be interesting to my "client". Using "spectrum analysis", I targeted some of the dominant frequencies to try and notch out the bad noise, but only had nominal results. My question is: Is there anyone out there who's had experience with this and can suggest how I can calculate pitch shift/time compression of a 78 played at 45rpm, and any other tips including what solution I may use to try to clean the actual disk?? This 78 is some sort of red vinyl material, and I'm afraid of using some generic disk cleaner only to have it vaporize before my eyes. Appreciate any help. Larry O
Subject:RE: recording audio from a 78 Reply by: Chienworks Date:3/12/2003 9:26:03 PM You'll need to raise the pitch 9.522589476 semitones. ( log (78/45) / log (2 ^ 1/12) ) Probably one of the best record cleaners is ivory detergent and cool water. Be forwarned though that this could damage the label badly. Scan it first to preserve it. Then when washing it use a very soft cloth to dab (not rub) the grooves, avoiding getting the label wet. You should also take a look at SonicFoundry's Noise Reduction plugin. This has filters for reducing both constant hiss type noise as well as removing crackles and snaps.
Subject:RE: recording audio from a 78 Reply by: captn_spalding Date:3/13/2003 7:10:51 AM There ae two other issues to be aware of: 1. The groove on pre-lp records were about 3 times the width of lp recordings. Thus the stylus tip needed to play them is about 3 times the width. A "modern" stylus (one made for "microgoove" lp's and 45's) rides in the bottom of the 78 groove giving you a lot of noise an less recorded sound. 2. 78's were recorded with different pre-emphasis than lp's (in fact there werre many different curves used - depending on the era and manufacturer) I do a lot of work with 78 rpm recordings and if you contact me via e-mail i'd be glad to help you out ..spalding

Subject:recording audio from a 78

Posted by: larryo

Date:3/12/2003 5:26:23 PM

I was handed an old 78 from an in law and asked to rip them a CD. Ths 78 contains some audio recorded by their great grandfather who died in 1944(!), so I'm assuming the disk goes back to at least the early 40's. It's in bad shape, and to complicate things, the turntable I dug up from my closet only does 33/45. On an initial test, I lifted about 20 seconds of audio and then arbitrarily tried a pitch shift/up a fifth,and unchecked "preserve length". Through all the snap,crackle and pop I found some audio that may be interesting to my "client". Using "spectrum analysis", I targeted some of the dominant frequencies to try and notch out the bad noise, but only had nominal results. My question is: Is there anyone out there who's had experience with this and can suggest how I can calculate pitch shift/time compression of a 78 played at 45rpm, and any other tips including what solution I may use to try to clean the actual disk?? This 78 is some sort of red vinyl material, and I'm afraid of using some generic disk cleaner only to have it vaporize before my eyes. Appreciate any help. Larry O

Subject:RE: recording audio from a 78

Reply by: Chienworks

Date:3/12/2003 9:26:03 PM

You'll need to raise the pitch 9.522589476 semitones.
( log (78/45) / log (2 ^ 1/12) )

Probably one of the best record cleaners is ivory detergent and cool water. Be forwarned though that this could damage the label badly. Scan it first to preserve it. Then when washing it use a very soft cloth to dab (not rub) the grooves, avoiding getting the label wet.

You should also take a look at SonicFoundry's Noise Reduction plugin. This has filters for reducing both constant hiss type noise as well as removing crackles and snaps.

Subject:RE: recording audio from a 78

Reply by: captn_spalding

Date:3/13/2003 7:10:51 AM

There ae two other issues to be aware of:
1. The groove on pre-lp records were about 3 times the width of lp recordings. Thus the stylus tip needed to play them is about 3 times the width. A "modern" stylus (one made for "microgoove" lp's and 45's) rides in the bottom of the 78 groove giving you a lot of noise an less recorded sound.

2. 78's were recorded with different pre-emphasis than lp's (in fact there werre many different curves used - depending on the era and manufacturer)

I do a lot of work with 78 rpm recordings and if you contact me via e-mail i'd be glad to help you out

..spalding