Preserving Tapes
How To Preserve You Ministry's Tapes - or Why You Should Pay Someone To Do It For You
In digital land we have the Nyquist theory. Mr.
Nyquist decided that the sample rate of the recording
had to be twice that of the highest frequency to be
produced. If you were to record at 16-bit/44.1kHz,
(CD quality resolution) that means all frequencies
above 22kHz are limited/filtered. It is even worse if
you were to try MP3's. In MP3 world, the drop off
starts at 8kHz. In addition, it uses pseudo stereo.
That means that one of two like signals is disguarded
to save space, and then a DSP trick is done to make it
appear as stereo when played back. Not a good idea in
my opinion. I have a Pro Tools HD rig that records
at 24-bit, 192kHz, so that means I can record 96kHz.
Big deal. If the cassette player could reproduce it
at double speed, what good is the recording? As you
can see it does not work. You have to do it the old
fashioned way, REAL time.
"That tape is noisy and has drop out!"
If you do not have the time for this, consider a
transfer service. Look for a service that can do
Forensic Audio work, to repair tapes, clean up the
noise, bring out the vocals, do editing, etc. What
good is a prestine reproduction of a bad tape? The
goal is to preserve it in the best condition that it
can be. If you cannot find one in your area, contact
me and I will refer you.
Good luck on your preservation of your ministry's
work. This is not fun. It is not easy. It is
essential. You may meet people in heaven that
benefited from your labor. I know that I have
benefited from the work of Rev. Ralph in Tennessee.
Brent Handy
HA! LLC, Tulsa, OK
P.O. Box 54641, Tulsa, OK 74155
lowdbrent@sbcglobal.net