Topic: Can anything be done to help these recordings?

[i86time]

Hello all,
Apologies if this is in the wrong forum, as it seemed the most correct to post in....

I have two recordings that display varying levels of distortion. I'm resigned to the fact that I can never get them perfect, but maybe something can be done to help them sound better. Though I can transfer tapes no problem, I have very limited knowledge when it comes to sound processing.

In sound1, there is a bit of distortion in both vocals and instruments during high volume. However, there is no clipping and there is still a fair bit of dynamics when the distortion occurs. The taper was near the PA stacks and couldn't reduce it much more.

Sound2 is audio from a mini DV. There is heavy distortion at the low end that gives a terrible warbly sound. I tried to figure out if there was any specific frequencies these warbles occurred at and notch filter, but I couldn't come up with anything that isolated them.

thank you

http://thejesuslizard.net/sounds/Sound 1.mp3
http://thejesuslizard.net/sounds/Sound 2.mp3

[Dede2002]

Hello all,
Apologies if this is in the wrong forum, as it seemed the most correct to post in....

I have two recordings that display varying levels of distortion. I'm resigned to the fact that I can never get them perfect, but maybe something can be done to help them sound better. Though I can transfer tapes no problem, I have very limited knowledge when it comes to sound processing.

In sound1, there is a bit of distortion in both vocals and instruments during high volume. However, there is no clipping and there is still a fair bit of dynamics when the distortion occurs. The taper was near the PA stacks and couldn't reduce it much more.

Sound2 is audio from a mini DV. There is heavy distortion at the low end that gives a terrible warbly sound. I tried to figure out if there was any specific frequencies these warbles occurred at and notch filter, but I couldn't come up with anything that isolated them.

thank you

http://thejesuslizard.net/sounds/Sound 1.mp3
http://thejesuslizard.net/sounds/Sound 2.mp3

What kind of gear was used on this recording? Mics? That's important to know.

[i86time]

Sample 1 was recorded on a handheld analog recorder, possibly a Panasonic w/ built in mic. I'll ask to confirm. Sample 2 was recorded with a Panasonic PV-GS32 w/ built in stereo mic.

[Dede2002]

Sample 1 was recorded on a handheld analog recorder, possibly a Panasonic w/ built in mic. I'll ask to confirm. Sample 2 was recorded with a Panasonic PV-GS32 w/ built in stereo mic.

Well, I'm no expert, but I can tell you one thing: once you have distortion, there's no way you can get rid of it as long as my knowledge goes. Sample one,in my opinion, is not that bad. Based on the fact that there's no visible distortion on your waveform, the slight distortion can have many causes: mics overload and/or preamp overload or, maybe, PA distortion when the music gets really loud.
Sample 2, well, there's nothing you can do, really.

[i86time]

Hello,
Yes, I'm ready to accept the fact that once the distortion is there on the master, it's not going away. I was just wondering if there was some kind of processing that could be done to reduce it. I tried "smoothing" it, and while it did reduce some of the distortion, it made it sound muddy like the azminuth needed adjusting during the transfer. I agree that the distortion on sample 1 isn't that bad, but it's very distinctive and occurs when both vocals and instruments reach a certain volume. The taper told me he tried to dial down the levels as best he could, but it came out like that. He seems to recall (the recording is from 1984) that the PA did not sound like that, so I'm pretty sure it was the mic overloading.

I did my best when recording sample 2. I stood all the way near the back of the room, but the bass was still overwhelming. The DV camera is fairly low end, so there was no way to adjust sound levels. The distortion only happens at certain low frequencies and only above certain volumes. I figured there still might be a way to notch filter it to dial it down if someone who has more experience than I do could isolate what frequencies it's coming from.

[Dede2002]

Hello,
Yes, I'm ready to accept the fact that once the distortion is there on the master, it's not going away. I was just wondering if there was some kind of processing that could be done to reduce it. I tried "smoothing" it, and while it did reduce some of the distortion, it made it sound muddy like the azminuth needed adjusting during the transfer. I agree that the distortion on sample 1 isn't that bad, but it's very distinctive and occurs when both vocals and instruments reach a certain volume. The taper told me he tried to dial down the levels as best he could, but it came out like that. He seems to recall (the recording is from 1984) that the PA did not sound like that, so I'm pretty sure it was the mic overloading.

I did my best when recording sample 2. I stood all the way near the back of the room, but the bass was still overwhelming. The DV camera is fairly low end, so there was no way to adjust sound levels. The distortion only happens at certain low frequencies and only above certain volumes. I figured there still might be a way to notch filter it to dial it down if someone who has more experience than I do could isolate what frequencies it's coming from.

Well, maybe. But I don't know about such filter. Good luck and keep taping.