Consolidated Gemini  Providing technical services with uncommonly high quality, variety and diversity including...   Digital Audio Editing Services Dale Baranowski P.O. Box 24 Elazar, 90942, Israel rabelad@zahav.net.il Voice: 972-2-993-1727   FAX: 972-2-993-4551   Mobile:  972-57-761-4246

An Overview

The profession of digital audio editor is one that involves taking audio recordings and preparing them for a number of uses. Among them, as editor, I prepare master recordings for those who are taking their audio for reproduction that will be sent for mass distribution and marketing.  Converting vintage recordings from older media into digital format - such as vinyl LP & EP records, reel-to-reel tapes, cassette tapes, 78 RPM records, etc. - is regular part of my work.

Another function of an editor is to enhance audio.  This is done typically when the need is improve the quality of vintage recordings after they are converted to digital.  Noise-reduction is one facet of this.  Another aspect of this may involve very precise and selective filtering, as well as the dampening of certain frequencies or the elimination of specific waveforms in the audio signal that are not conducive to quality, such as buzz and hum.  I also remove other flaws and glitches from such recordings, as well as is make a better adjustment of the of the bass-midrange-treble balance.

Although I am not an audio engineer I use many engineering techniques to improve audio quality.

Audio may be compressed significantly as into MP3 with no loss of audio quality for music recordings.  Voice recordings, such as lectures, may be compressed to an even greater degree for archiving purposes or to be made suitable for downloading and streaming over the internet.

Why Convert  Vintage Audio Into Digital?

Audio conversion is the process of taking a piece of audio from magnetic tape (cassettes, reel-to-reel tapes), or vinyl long-playing records, 45 & 78 RPM disks, etc., and converting the audio to a digital format so that computers and other digital devices can play the audio.  The old style media types are in a format called "analog" so among the services I offer involves taking older media types and doing an "analog-to-digital conversion."  Some have asked why should then convert their precious recordings.  The advantages of converting your analog audio to digital are:

The audio will be available to enjoy for years to come even though the means to play them - such as phonographs, tape decks - will become increasingly antiquated and unavailable as time goes by.  78 RPMs discs are an excellent example of this.  A great many audio pieces that were originally on LPs or tapes have been converted and mass marketed, but there will always remain those precious recordings that appeal to only a small sector of the public and these can not reasonably be expected to be converted and mass distributed.

The storage space required for digital audio is drastically reduced.  A single LP-record or cassette tape converted to digital and put on a CD is a fraction of the size of the original media. Converting the audio and storing it in a compressed format can put over 8 hours of audio on one CD with no loss of audio quality. When it comes to archiving voice recordings, when quality is not the prime consideration, audio files can be compressed even more and I have put 25-plus hours of lectures on one CD.

Digital conversions on CDs make the audio far more resistant to environmental damage.  Vinyl LPs are very prone to scratches, warping and even mold especially when stored in a humid environment.  With every playing of vinyl records a layer of very fine dust settles within the grooves, this dust is impossible to remove and this exceedingly fine dust results in an increasingly apparent hiss and crackle in the audio - even when the greatest care is exercised in handling the LP.  In time and with more playings, more scratches, crackle & hiss and general damage will appear on LP records.  Conversion to digital halts this process.

So too, magnetic tapes can be damaged by moisture as well as strong stray magnetic fields.  The acetate or polyester base tape that holds the magnetic oxide will eventually degrade and cause the tape to break or stretch over time; the magnetic field from one layer of the tape can bleed through and magnetize an adjacent layer giving an annoying echo effect when played back (this is called "print-through").

CDs and DVDs are impervious to stray magnetic fields so print-through can not occur and they perform well even with more in the way of scratches and general abuse.  Once audio recordings are digitalized, copying and even converting audio files to digital formats that may come in the future, will be a simple home process that almost any computer will be able to undertake.

My Gear & Processing Capabilities

I work out of my editing studio which is outfitted with a variety of high-qualtity phonographs, cassette decks, and reel-to-reel tape decks.

My primarily phonograph is a top-of-the-line model with a strobe that continuously monitors the speed of the turntable so that reproduction of LPs is according to the industry standard.

I also have a quality 16" transcription phonograph that is designed to play 16-inch diameter records that were in vogue in the 1950s for a short time and were used for special recording requirements. This phonograph has a variable speed setting that allows for gross adjustments in speed so it can accomodate even the most unusual kinds of discs.

All phono needle cartridges on all turntables contain an excellent quality diamond stylus. These styli are inspected at regular intervals with a microscope and are replaced when they show the least sign of wear.

I have a 78 RPM late-model phonograph turntable with a special diamond stylus specially designed for use on 78 RPM disks and these insure the highest possible audio quality from 78's from the moment of recording.

I also have a number of reel-to-reel tape decks, including 4-track recording studio tape decks.  Among the number of tape decks in my studio all sizes of reels can be accommodated, including the 12" music-industry reels.  Among all the decks they will play all speeds ranging from 1-7/8 to 15 inches/second.

My studio is also outfitted with several high-quality component stereo cassette decks.  The audio signals from all the playing equipment is fed into preamplifiers and/or audio mixers and then directed into one of a number of digital recording devises.  After recording is complete, editing is then done on one of several computers, and all are outfitted with high-quality sound cards to insure maximum quality.

Audio Editing

At the simplest level, audio editing is when an audio file is can involve removing flaws from the recording and splicing the ends together to reconnect the spice seamlessly.  Editing can also make for a pleasant transition from one piece to another.  Fading-up a piece of music at the beginning and fading the same piece out, even cross-fading from one audio selection to another are ways to accomplish this.  I have the tools to precisely mute sections, repair distorted audio, insert distortion where desired, add an echo, stretch a particular section to fit a certain time frame, add vibrato and other special effects and tools.

My conversion service includes taking your vinyl LP, EP or tape with a music compilation, cutting the digitalized recording into the tracks corresponding to the bands on the record - except in very rare cases were this isn't feasible, then I edit the tracks according to what makes the most audio sense.  I then put about 1.5 seconds of silence before each track, fade up into the music, then at the end of the piece I fade the track out and put 2.0 seconds of silence. This is known as "cueing" and this gives each selection a more pleasant and professional presentation.  Cueing is done on all audio audio media tracks.

In the case when a needle jumps a track on a vinyl record and skips a groove there's obviously no way to replace the lost data but I will eliminate the resulting "thunk" that would otherwise make your speakers jump off the shelf.  I also happily remove other serious glitches according to my discretion.

Video Editing

Although I specialize in audio, in order to satisfy the demand for converting video tape to CD or DVD, I have expanded my operation to include video conversions and editing. I am now offering the conversion of VHS, S-VHS, VHS-C, 8mm, Hi-8, Digital-8, Mini-DV, & DVCAM in both PAL and NTSC to DVD or CD, combined with an optional array of video editing services.

Audio Enhancement & Engineering

Audio engineering techniques have made enhancement as much of a science as it is an art. Enhancement of digitalized audio can go a long way to restoring - and in some cases markedly improving - the quality beyond that of the original recording.

There are methods of digitally removing many forms of hiss, crackle and ordinary scratches from vinyl LPs and 78 RPMs and I use the latest audio engineering techniques at my disposal to remove ordinary scratches from vinyl records for no extra charge.  There many other forms of noise that can be removed with minimal effect on the main audio.  Although the task of removing some kinds of noise can be quite labor-intensive, I will apply these at the customer's request, for an additional charge.

Another tool I use in this process is a very precise and selective filtering of music or voice files.  Noise, hum and buzz can be reduced or eliminated in this way.  I have a number of pieces of software that are capable of removing many kinds of ambient noise.  Recently I removed air-conditioner noise as well as the sound of a diesel engine from a voice recording, to the delight of my customer.

Some audio recordings are obviously out of treble-midrange-bass balance.  I generally prefer to record pieces in "plain vanilla" and prefer make no adjustments in this regard as people's tastes vary greatly and various stereo systems reproduce differently.  However, each vinyl LP  recording made until the late 1940's had their own unique settings for the bass-midrange-treble, and many of those settings were wildly differing  to the point that some are incongruent with present-day stereo systems.  In these cases I  re-balance recordings as a matter of course.  Only in the late 40's did the recording industry develop standards for balance, but even so, the standardized balance for that period was intended for playback equipment of that era which sounded different from ours today. In some cases when these are digitalized and played on modern equipment a small number of people have found the resulting audio to be a bit too "screechy" and that the bass was too muted.  I will happily adjust and correct the overall balance of the digitalized recordings if the customer desires.  Most of the time this is not an issue as a vast majority of my customers have preferred their recordings to be as authentic and as close to the original as possible in this regard.

 

Here are two samples of my work.  The following is an audio file that I enhanced; this was from a 78 RPM record, probably from the mid-1940s.

(Click on the image for an enlargement that you may see the details of the original.)

You may download this demonstration mp3-file (2.76 mb) by-

1.) Clicking here with your right mouse-button.

2.) Select "Save Target As..." then save the file at the location of your choice in your computer.

3.) After it finishes downloading, click on that file and it will play.

Note that the first 12 seconds of this piece is the original raw recording which contains many scratches and other flaws.  From 12 seconds to 16 seconds the raw recording crossfades into the processed and enhanced version. From 16 seconds on is the fully enhanced version with many of the flaws and noise have been removed.  The resulting fully-enhanced file is a pleasure to listen to.

 

The second file was downloaded by a client  from a folk dance website http://folkdancemusic.net/A.htm .
On that page is a Turkish folk song named Ali Pasha
and it can streamed to your computer by clicking here:
www.evansvillefolkdancers.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/alipasa.mp3

I enhanced this for my client and to hear the difference
a demo sample can be downloaded from
www.congem.com/AliPasha-TurkishFolkSong-EnhancementDemo.mp3
The download can be accomplished by performing the same 3 steps listed immediately above.

 
 

Miscellaneous Matters

As an option, I can also photograph the covers of record albums, both front and rear, and can include these photos as part of the audio collection for an additional fee.  Many of my customers have chosen to have their album covers digitally photographed in order to allow them keep a digital copy of the covers and then confidently ddiscard the album covers.

I repair and can replace damaged audio cassettes, I splice audio cassette tape & reel-to-reel tapes. In the same way I deal with damaged video cassettes as well as splice broken video tapes.

Converted and edited audio can be delivered to the customer on CDs, on DVDs, on hard-drive(s) or over the net via an FTP server.  I can ship my finished product to the customer via international parcel service (DHL) or via local "sherut."

I will gladly convert CDs of music into MP3 format so that they may be utilized in one's I-Pod. Contact me directly for a price estimate.

I do a great deal of creative audio editing and repair of old and new recordings, including recording selections from video tapes, CD's, LPs or tapes and making new compilations.  Compilations of music intended for playing by a hired DJ at weddings and other family affairs is very popular.

For international shipments of audio or video materials to me, DHL parcel service delivers out here - UPS, alas, does not.

Arrangements may be made for pick up and delivery within Israel. For shipments of materials in Israel, there are local parcel services that can speedily deliver audio materials, though shipping by "sherut" to me has been a workable option in the past.  Kindly contact me for details.

Payment for my services shall be made in New Israeli Sheqels, or in the case of foreign customers, U.S. Dollars.

 
 

Thank you very much for your interest in Consolidated Gemini Audio Editing Services.
 

I look forward to serving you!

Dale Baranowski
Consolidated Gemini Audio Editing Services
P.O. Box 24
90942 Elazar (Gush Etzion)
Israel

Voice: +972-2-993-1727
Mobile (Within Israel):057-761-4246
Mobile (Outside Israel):+972-57-761-4246
E-mail: rabelad@zahav.net.il
Alternate e-mail: dale@gopittsburgh.com
 

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