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Music Software [Issue
#20]
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Transfer your old tapes to CD and MP3 By
Perry B.
SoundSoap 2
(Software
Bias Inc.)
I had all these old
tapes lying around. Keepsakes from my childhood, “bootleg” recordings
of favorite bands, some cool demos from virtually unknown bands of the ‘80s
that never made it to CD, that kind of stuff.
The tapes were starting
to deteriorate significantly plus some of my favorite songs were on there and
I wanted to have them on CD and my iPod. But good luck trying to get an old, horrible-sounding
tape sound like a CD, right? Wrong!!! Enter my Mac laptop (Ed. Note: this article
applies to PC users equally), Garage Band, and SoundSoap 2: Bias Inc’s simply
incredible noise removal – audio enhancement and restoration tool.
OK. So let’s take this one step at a time. I am confident that anyone can
do this with only a simple understanding of how a computer works and an hour or
so to become familiar with the basic navigation of the software.
First, make sure you have the required cable. You need a Mini To RCA (Monster
makes a good one for about $7 at Radio Shack). Connect that to your stereo’s
line out and in your computer’s line in. Put the tape in and cue it to the
beginning of the song or other audio you want to transfer.
After you complete the installation process of SoundSoap 2 (a breeze), open Garage
Band and create a new file and name it. Make sure to choose Line In as your device
for sound input under Sound Preferences in your computer’s System Preferences
before you go any further. Great! Now go to the Track menu and select “New
Track.” From the window that will open select “Real Instrument”
and “Basic Track” and “No Effects” from the left and right
columns respectively. Make sure “Stereo” is selected and click OK. Hit
the Record button and immediately start playback on your tape player. The audio
is now being recorded in your computer. Make sure you leave the hiss in the beginning
of the tape to be recorded. Don’t cue the song right to the point where the
music begins. We will need the hiss when we are cleaning up the audio later in
SoundSoap2. So, the song is done and we’ve stopped the tape player and Garage
Band. Now select “Export To iTunes” from the File menu. Find the file
in the iTunes Library and drag it to the desktop. You should have a file on your
desktop with the extension “.aif.”
You are now ready to experience SoundSoap’s magic! Open SoundSoap 2. From
the File menu choose “Open Media File.” In the finder window that will
open locate the sound file and select “Open.” Clicking the “Play”
button (bottom left of the interface) will start playing the song. Use the spacebar
to stop the playback then take the top triangle (slider) and drag it to all the
way to the left. Click “Learn Noise” then click “Play” (or
hit the spacebar). SoundSoap 2 will analyze the various frequencies and create
a noise profile that it will use to eliminate that annoying tape hiss and other
noise from your old tapes. Experiment with the “Noise Tuner” and “Noise
Reduction” knobs as well as the “Noise Only” button where you can
hear the noise you’re cutting off (if you hear music of course, adjust the
“Noise Tuner” knob so you are only cutting the noise). The oval shaped
window in the center of the interface helps you to “see” the audio that
goes in (with the noise - left side) from the one that goes out (without the noise
- right side). Click the “Off” and “On” buttons while playback
to compare the effect of the clean-up! If your tape is in really bad shape use
the “Enhance” slider on the right to add some oomph to the audio. Like
what you hear? Click the “Apply” button. After you are done select “Save
As” and choose a different name for your audio file (keep the original until
you are absolutely 100% satisfied with the audio clean-up job). Voila! If you
want an MP3 or an AAC for your iPod import the file in iTunes and convert to desired
file format.
See? Very easy! But don’t be fooled. SoundSoap 2 is a serious tool and is
used by professionals every single day in studios around the world. Once you get
the hang of it you can really do this with your eyes closed. It took me a little
over an hour to completely transfer, clean-up, and burn onto a CD a 40 minute
tape. And you can do that with your old LPs, video footage, live recordings, etc.,
as well. Have fun!
SoundSoap 2 is available from the nice folks at Bias (www.bias-inc.com) for the
ridiculous price of $99 (which now and for a limited time includes a copy of their
recording/editing/processing application Peak Express 5).
Sponsored Ad: Cassete To Cd Mp3 Converter Digi-Deck
SoundSoap 2
Bias Inc.
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