collage

collage

Friday, November 19, 2010

Better Living Through MONO part 2

I hope everyone is enjoying the most recent post, and what I perceive to be improvements on the overall sound of the files. I would like to make some clarifications though....
When I say "that's the way they were meant to be listened to", I speak specifically of MONO records. Perhaps I should have elaborated on my "Dark Side Of The Moon" comment. There are several 45 from the late 60s that were recorded and released in stereo. The Californians "Nausea Beast" is a fine example, or better yet, all the Seeburg 45s which were released ca. 1966. If that's the way they were released, that's the way I'll keep them. But the vast majority of these records are in mono, and the ones recorded and released in stereo are few and far between. As far as the recording of the files, I am using Adobe Audition 3. A fine peice of software in my opinion. I use it because I was able to get my hands on an affordable copy, and I'm very familiar with the interface. In saving files to mp3 though, it only allows 128k max when saving to mono. I believe it's because when saved to stereo, it's actually two mono files side by side so to speak, and it's not necessary to keep the files "split". Much of this is pure mumbo jumbo to me, but there are forums on the web that explore this topic. The bottom line is, let your ears decide, and remember, we are dealing with an old technology here. There is only so much sprucing up you can do before you start messing up the original product. Thanks to all for the comments and support. I'm enjoying some sunny weather here in Florida till next monday, and will start working on a new batch of records next weekend. In the meantime, I'm keeping my eyes open for cool records down this way. I wish you all a great Thanksgiving and a nice weekend. Cheers!

16 comments:

  1. Hi Dan

    Thanks for referring me to your earlier post on Australian garage (if it was you?). I am working through your blog but had not got that far back. I hope you are enjoying the sun of Florida - the cold weather of your home state seems to be a common theme in your commentary. Here in Oz we are coming into summer - time to go surfing!!! Any sixties surfing pop also greatly appreciated. I can't offer much comment on your technical set up, but they sound great through my stereo connected to my computer. Paul

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  2. As always, thanks for another great batch of 45's. If you're still looking for a way to get good sounding files, I strongly recommend Click Repair. It is in my opinion the best software for removing surface noise from scratchy records without sacrificing quality, and that's just using the default settings... Suffice it to say, whatever software you choose, or if you choose to use none at all, I will always be in awe of your seemingly bottomless collection of quality 45's, and I thank you for sharing them with us all. Have a great thanksgiving.

    Peace and blessings

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  3. Speaking of sprucing up, have you ever tried ClickRepair? It does a great job of getting rid of clicks and pops without destroying the integrity of the sound (unlike SoundSoap which in my opinion is only good for getting rid of 60 and 50 hum and rumble. It is cheap at only $40, you can try a trial version for free. I use the Mac version and wouldn't be without it, below is the link...

    http://www.clickrepair.net/software_download/clickrepair.html

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  4. Thanks to all for the advice on "Click Repair". I'll definitely look into it. Adobe does a fairly decent job getting rid of the crackle, but like any of these sound editors, too much of it ruins the entire file. Like I say, this is a work in progress consantly evolving. Thanks to all of my new freinds and visitors,(the 100,000 visitor milestone was reached last week!) especially our new friend from down under. I hope your summer is fantastic. As I sit here writing this on a hotel balcony by the ocean in sunny Florida, my mind drifts to my home in Upstate New York where it is also sunny. But only 45°F which is about 7°C for the rest of the world. I've got another three days down here which I'll try to enjoy to the fullest. In the meantime I hope all of you are digging on the posts. Be back soon......

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  5. Dan, I'm in Tarpon Springs. You should have brought your records on vacation and run them through my Technics 1210 with it's big Ortofon mono cartridge into the Rane ME60 EQ. It's like a defillibrator for them old slabs of vinyl (lol). Filters are great for crackle but I still prefer to cut them ticks out by hand...millisecond by millisecond. Gosh, wish I could go back up north, but I'm stuck here in Florida. Darn.

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  6. Thanks for the offer! I may take you up on that one of these days. We'd be spinning records for weeks! Trust me. Bieng up north with old man winter waiting right around the corner is the LAST place you'd want to be. I love a nice snow around Christmas time and the holidays, but once Jan. 2 comes around, I've had it!

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  7. Hi there-

    In one of your January 2010 posts you had a record by the Talon Brothers that included the song I Think There Is Something Sleeping In My Refrigerator. J. Talon was my dad. He died in 1991 and I've been looking for his music for YEARS. I recently got a huge collection of cassette tapes that had been in storage since the early 90's and have been digitizing them. One of the tapes had the refrigerator song on it- It's the first time I've heard this one! It's so much different than a lot of his other music, so I looked it up online and found your site. Where did you get this record? Do you have any other Talon Brothers, Revolution or Johnny Talon music? If you do, please let me know!

    Thanks!
    Laura Talon
    om_talon@yahoo.com

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    1. Laura, I live in the Houston area and back in the 70's an entertainer named Johnny Talon sang at a local venue called the Houstonaire Club located at the Houstonaire Hotel. He sang in his Nite Club Act and wore a Velvet type Tuxedo. He had dark hair that was very thick and combed ala Elvis. Could this have been your Dad? Did he play the Nite Club Circuit? He sang Popular songs of the time.

      Rgds, Dale R, Miller

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    2. Hi Dale-

      That definitely sounds like my dad. My mom used to make his stage outfits- I remember a dark blue velvet tux & a maroon tux he had. It's funny (and awesome!) how many people seem to remember him! He was such an interesting character- it's weird getting to know him as an adult through music & memories of people who met him or saw him perform. Thanks for the response! :-)

      Laura
      om_talon@yahoo.com

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  8. This stuff is amazing Dan.

    Sorry I can't get over the pond to buy you a drink.

    A million thank you's for these gems.

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  9. Great to visit here again.My ISP has just credited me 8gb for this month sooo...I'm gonna use it up right here on your fantastic site.Thanks again for all these GREAT songs.

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  10. Laura, It's a pleasure to hear from you and I'm glad you've found my site. I'm very sorry to hear of your father's passing. He left us with what I consider a very cool record. I found this one at a record show in Syracuse, NY back in 1986 and I've seen it only one other time on an Ebay listing. I think that was within the past year but I can't say for sure. Someone has also posted it on You Tube. Unfortunately I have no other copies of this or other music by your father. Would it be possible to get some more info on his other groups and projects? I've been contacted by several people who were either in one of the bands featured in this blog, or, as in your case, whose parents were in one. I'd love to do a feature blog on some of these groups. Write me directly at truebelievers@live.com if you'd like. It's a pleasure to make contact with you, and thanks so much for contributing my blog.
    Dan

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    1. Hi Dan-

      I've actually found some of his music on eBay- two records! Unfortunately, I haven't found the refrigerator song on vinyl yet. I would LOVE to hear more of this kind of thing. I'm an audio engineer now and play bass in a band that has a very similar sound. At some point (hopefully before the end of the year!) I'm going to record a cover of this- I'll send it your way when I'm done. I can't believe I didn't ask this before, but is there a b-side to this? If so, what's the title? I wish I could contribute more- all I have are a few pictures and recordings. I'm happy to send them your way if you think they'd be useful though!

      Laura

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  11. Hi dan - thanks for all the great music. I can't seem to find the link here. Can you let me know if it is here, or if you can re-post it? I would appreciate it , thanks.

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  12. Never mind, I found it for #47. Thanks again.

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  13. No problem Gyro 666. Thanks for visiting my blog!

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