seperating tracks from lps

[coonsanders]

hi gang

how do you change edit the sound after you seperate tracks from an lp?is there a tutorial 4 this?thanks

lenny

[waxcylinder]

What sort of editing do you want to do?

And when you say you have separated them, do you mean that you have labellled up the tracks in an Audacity project - or have you already used export multiple to create a set of WAV files (one part LP track)?

WC

[coonsanders]

that was fast...seperate the tracks one by one the how to adjust the vu meters so the wont go into the red and cause distortion...when i did it the other way e.g. seperate each track one by one and id adust thje vu meters accordinly

lenny

[waxcylinder]

You need to set the level for the whole LP before you commit to the recording, try finding the loudest parts (with experience you can larnto spot these on the LP surface) - or review the whole album side. It is reasonable to assume that the engineers have set a level for thw whole album. Record so that you peak at a max of -6db or even lower - if you are using Audacity set at its default 32-bit float then you will have plenty of headroom to amplify later (I normally anplify up to -2.0dB as the last step in my production process prior to exporting).

I have two methods of loacating the intertrack gaps:

1) If I am listening to the LP while I record it I label the tracks as it records with CTRL+B (for cursor position) or CTRL+M (for record position).

2) If recording is a background task, after the recording is complete I just zoom out to fit the project to the window and then it is usually easy to spot the intertrack gaps.

I prefer to record and edit one side of an LP at a time as it gives a smaller working set in the project.

WC

[coonsanders]

hay waxy

thanks......so doing each song seperatly or as a whole i still have to find the high points and adjust it accordinately huh...its never easy huh..
thanks

lenny

[whomper]

if you separate the cuts from the lp and save individually then
if you do them separately , you can just use amplify to bring them all up to the same level with no muss or fuss. you dont have to find anything. the amplify function does that and know how much to increase each track. just pick something like -1dBFS and do NOT click the allow clipping box. the playback meters will not go red.

Now for recording it , just do a sample of a minute at the beginning and end to see what your maximum average level is . then set the gain so it will be at -24dBFS. you will not go into the red unless you are doing some really hardcore heavy metal rock group in which case set the level at -36dBFS or -48dBFS.

after you record you can maximise the sound on each track with amplify. it does all the work. the only thing you have to do is make sure you record low enough on capture.

then burn the cd.

[coonsanders]

hi
thanks..i do have audicity but am using goldwave so i have to trry and apply this to goldwave...thanks...but dont you have to find the highs so you can use it to adjust it?so yo9ur saying dont mess with the vu meters?even if they r going into the red?

lenny

[whomper]

i am saying that for recording into audacity (or any DAW)
you set the vu meter average to be about -24dBFS from teh average level that you get playing the first and last minute. this gives you enough margin so that any very loud parts will not clip. you can go lower safely. no reason to go higher as you will fix the levels with amplify later on. some people only use -18dBFS but why risk clipping?


i am saying that for editing before playback
that amplify automatically handles the levels so it does not clip

[coonsanders]

ok thanks...


lenny

[steve]

i still have to find the high points and adjust it accordinately

That is the best way to do it. The really important thing is to avoid distortion because it sounds bad and is virtually impossible to fully repair it if it's distorted.
If the recording level goes into the red at all it will cause some amount of distortion.

The Audacity manual recommends:

We recommend setting the recording volume so that the highest peak of a recorded signal will reach about -6 dB away from clipping. -6 dB is equivalent to a height of 0.5 on Audacity's default waveform display.

http://manual.audacityteam.org/index.ph ... ding_Level

The more recording you do, the better and quicker you will become at guessing a suitable recording level. The recording level is not particularly critical. As long as you have a waveform that is clearly visible and does not go into the red, that should be close enough for a good recording.