I have an Audiodisc Recording Blank with
Les Paul recordings of "Sleep" and "Sitting
on Top" (of the World). It is vinyl, recorded
in 78 rpm "inside out." Lots of guitar work.
The label is hand written in ink. Excellent condition.
Any idea of its worth? Thanks.

hey now, i have come across some "audiodisc" recordings made by my mother. do you have any advice on handling and playing them? i have a technics sl 1300 with a shure m 97xe cartridge and a rek-o-kut b12 with a ge vrII cartrdge. the vr II has both the 1.0 mil sapphire and .7 mil diamond stylii. they are 10" 33 1/3 rpm, center start records. i would very much appreciate any insight you can give me. you can also reach me at petemorris17@hotmail.com. thanks!

Thank you, Phil, for today's most excellent informative program on home-recorded records. For those who missed it, listen at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112492435

Greetings from Sheboygan, The website I recently created talks briefly about Home Recordings and offers many samples, including a blueprint for a one-hour Public Radio show I'm hoping to get off the ground. It will feature an all Home Recording format - with a few independent studio demos, record booth, and homemade radio recordings thrown into the mix. Check it out and let me know what you think. Use the "contact Phil" page to send me a message. The full radio show is on the page titled "latest program." Thanks in advance for any comments - good or bad. Phil www.snapshotsinsound.com

Tim S.

Hi, Tim , i haven't played it for sometime. It last sounded faint even though amplified. "tinney" It is Audio disc and has metal so may be a "master' I came by it around 1969! I can send a picture of it, if that will help.

Thank you for your prompt responce!

Clayton

Clayton,
Can you tell if it was recorded in a mastering facility or recording studio? If it is an original master recording, it may have some value to collectors. Also, if the mix is different than the official release, if it is a test recording of an early mix or something, then it would certainly be more valuable.

It could also be a bootleg cut on a home unit.... but if that is the case you should be able to tell, as it would probably not be as high quality as a studio-cut recording. Are you able to play it, and if so, how does it sound?

7/27/09

Hi, Tim. I have an Audiodisc recording of Bob Dylan's "basement tapes" somewhere around. Any idea as to value? scarcity?

Thank you,

Clayton

Lori I can digitize them for you if you don't want to buy the equipment. Write me at tim@lexpages.com

Can anyone help?? I found several old Howard Home Recording Disc's in my Aunt basement. Type 6C and Type 8C. I have no way to play them but I think could be helpful for my family tree project. Any thoughts on what I could do. Can they be converted to a digital recording? Do working players still exist? I really don't know much about the records and anyone I ask seems to know nothing about them.

Thanks

Edited by author 03-30-2009 11:17 PM
I have an audiodisc recording blank 78 it has hound dog treble on one side and hound dog bass on the other. How can I find out what it is worth?Or if it is worth anything.Thanks!!

Thank you!!!! That helps a lot! I will start playing with it to see what I can do!

Equalization is where you change the "tone"... the 'treble' and 'bass' knobs on amplifiers are a simple form of eqaulizers. I am sure audacity has some sort of equalization setting. You would want to aim toward increasing the mid-range frequencies where the voice register is at, and lower the bass and higher treble frequencies to reduce noise. Compression is where you decrease the sound between low volumes and high volumes.... you would increase the overall volume by compressing and increasing the volume... this can be, however, somewhat destructive to the audio, so you would take special care when making changes (so always keep your original file that was not messed with). "Normalization" is when the recording is analyzed by the computer to find the loudest spike in volume ("peak"), and it raises the entire volume of the recording to where the peak is at the loudest possible volume before distortion. It may not be necessary though, if you raised the overall volume during compression.

thank Tim!!! I am going to check out soundsoap. Also, can you tell me what you meant by 'equalize' the audio and by 'compress' and 'normalize'?? Ahh, showing my ignorance!!

Diane, Well, first, record it exactly as you have done and keep & archive the file(s) containing that recording(s) [use this as a master copy]. Then you can import those files into audio programs containing cleaning filters such as SoundSoap, which is an external program (that also has a plugin that allows it to be used within certain other audio programs). There may be other noise reduction programs. It allows you to tune out as much of the scratch as you can without losing too much of the audio that you need. Also, equalize the resulting audio to emphasize voice frequencies. Then compress the audio as you wish, and normalize the result.

Finally got my 78 stylus and started recording some of the records with audacity!! Amazing!!! Some of them have such loud whooshing sounds compared to the voice - particulary those of my father as a child. Can anyone tell me if there are specific settings in audacity that I need to use when recording to help with this??
Thanks a bunch!