How to Improve Recording From Tape to Computer With Audacity
Image editors can turn bad photographs into excellent photographs. Audio editors do the same with sound. They can turn poor recordings into outstanding recordings. Audacity is an audio processing program that records, edits and enhances audio waveforms. It is free and has over 25 useful effects. If you have a poor-quality audio file on your computer that you transferred from a tape recorder, import it into Audacity and convert that recording into a high-quality digital recording.
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Instructions
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Click the Windows "Start" menu and type "Audacity." Select "Audacity" from the list of results to open the program.
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Press "CTRL+O." Audacity will display a list of files on your hard drive. Select your audio file and click "OK." The program will import the file. In the main viewing area, you will see two horizontal graphical displays running from left to right. These displays show the waveforms for the left and right stereo channels of the recording.
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Press the space bar to listen to the recording. Make a note of audio problems that you hear. Common issues are low volume, uneven volume, background noise, hum, and too much low- or high-frequency sound.
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Press "CTRL+A" to select the waveforms.
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Click "Effect" at the top of the screen to view the available audio effects. The fade-in and fade-out effects affect how the recording plays. Other effects, such as Normalize, Compressor, Bass Boost and Equalizer affect how the recording sounds. Use the latter effects to improve the quality of the recording.
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Select "Equalization" from the list of effects to open the Equalization window. Many audio files derived from cassette tapes require equalization. Audio engineers apply equalization to boost or lower certain frequencies in an audio recording. The process is similar to manipulating the sliders on an equalizer found on a CD or audio player. Increasing the low frequencies will increase the bass. Lowering the high frequencies will decrease the treble.
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Click the blue horizontal bar in the Equalization window and drag it up a fraction of an inch. Click "Preview" and listen to the recording. It will have more treble because you boosted the high-range frequencies by moving the bar up. Next, drag the bar down and preview the recording. You will hear more bass. Adjust the bar until you are pleased with the sound of the recording and click "OK." Audacity will apply the effect to the waveforms and close the Equalization windows.
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Experiment with the other effects in the Effects menu. Each one has a window and a "Preview" button. If your recording has too much noise in the background, apply the "Remove Noise" effect. If the audio has extreme variations in volume, such as might exist in a spoken-word recording, apply the Compressor effect. If you apply an effect and want to undo it, press "CTRL+Z" to undo the change.
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Press "CTRL+S" to save the project. An Audacity project remembers all changes that you make and allows you to continue working on the recording later.
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Click "File" and select "Save as WAV" or "Save as MP3" to save the enhanced recording. Audacity will save the file in the selected format.
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Tips & Warnings
In addition to correcting audio problems, you can also experiment with some of the enhancement effects such as delay and echo.
References
Resources
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