Separating tracks after recording a LP

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JessieO
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Dec 03, 2011 8:34 pm

Separating tracks after recording a LP

Post by JessieO »

I just recorded an album with 6 tracks. I'm having a heck of a time figuring out how to mark them so that when they're exported to iTunes there are six separate tracks. I've combed the manual but just can't seem to understand how to do it. What are the blue and red lines that I somehow create? What is the darker green section? I'm in the dark. Please somebody help me!

KurtL
Posts: 9
Joined: Sat Feb 12, 2011 6:32 pm

Post by KurtL »

I do a lot of transfers from LP, and here is how I do it.

I usually record a whole side of a record to one file. Then I save it to disk as an AIFF format file. I process it through ClickRepair, with settings Declick 30, Decrackle off, Automatic.

Then I open up the cleaned up file in AP. First I set the horizontal zoom slider down in the right lower corner to around 700 (726, I think). This results in giving me about a 10 second window on the recording, and makes it easy to see precisely where transitions occur between cuts. Make sure that the whole recording is visible above the detail window; if not, click on the symbol to the left of the Back / Play / Forward trio of symbols in the toolbar.

First I click one half second before the start of the first cut in between the two tracks in the detail waveform window; this positions the red marker. Under Select, choose Extend to Start. This selects the silence before the first cut. Press the Delete key to remove it.

Now press Cmd-Shift-M to open the marker window. It will be filled in with the default string Marker 01, which is fine, so click OK.

Now look in the upper strip that shows the whole recording. You can usually spot where the next gap is; click once in the whole sound window where you think the gap is. This will move the detail window to that section of the recording. Now in the lower detail window click once a half second before the apparent start of the cut (again, between the two tracks). To preview whether you've correctly placed the cursor, press Cmd-Shift-Y to move the playback head (green) to the cursor. Then press play to hear a few seconds of the cut.

If you're satisfied with the position of the red marker, press Cmd-Shift-M to bring up the marker window again. It will be helpfully filled in with Marker 02 this time. Press OK.

If you're not satisfied with where the cursor is, click in the detail waveform at a slightly different position, and preview again with Cmd-Shift-Y. Then do the marker. When finished, click in the whole sound strip at the next apparent gap.

At the end of the recording click at a point 4 or 5 seconds after the last detectable music sound, choose Select->Extend to end, and delete the silence after the last cut.

Save your work (Cmd-S). Then select Sound->Split according to Markers. It will ask you for a folder name to put the files in. Then click OK. This will populate the folder with a set of files that all have a half-second lead-in and a four to five second lead out. Why is that half-second important? It is because I've found that when I make a CD from the cuts it stands a good chance of getting recognized by the Gracenote database.
Last edited by KurtL on Sat Dec 17, 2011 5:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.

KurtL
Posts: 9
Joined: Sat Feb 12, 2011 6:32 pm

Post by KurtL »

I forgot to mention that if I am working on the second side of the LP I change the first marker to reflect one number higher than the number of cuts on the first side.

So if there were six cuts on side one, I make the marker read Marker 07 for the first cut of side two.

KurtL
Posts: 9
Joined: Sat Feb 12, 2011 6:32 pm

Post by KurtL »

I use Toast 8 (works even under Snow Leopard) to record every LP to a CD. I make a CD for two reasons: one, I like a backup that is uncompressed. Two, when you import a CD into iTunes you stand a good chance of having it correctly recognize and label your tracks for you.

So, open Toast. Select Audio CD in the left pane of the Toast Window. Open the folder that contains the files from the first side of the LP in the Finder. Select all the files in the Finder, and drag them onto the Toast window. They will show up as Marker 01, Marker 02, etc. Then go back to the Finder and open the folder containing side two. Select all these files, and drag them onto the Toast window below the first set of files.

You should have a complete set of files in the Toast window now, with an ascending set of file names that reflect the order of the cuts. Click once in this list of files. Then do Cmd-A to select them all. Then click once again on any file in the Pause column; this will give you a chance to set the silence before each cut. Select zero, since you have already put a half second of silence before each cut. The Red Book says that you're supposed to have two seconds of silence before the first cut, but Toast will take care of that for you.

This is your last chance to preview all the cuts using Toast's playback controls. Click on the file name of the first cut in the Toast window, then press play. Listen to a few seconds, then click on the forward button to hear the next track. Satisfied? Put a CD in the drive, and make sure that Toast is set to write a CD (drop down in the lower right corner). Click on the big red button in the lower right corner.

For write speed, I choose the lowest natively supported speed for the drive that you're working with (non-native speeds show up in italics in the list). Then press Record.

Once the disk is done Toast will ask if you want to Eject or Mount. If you choose Mount iTunes get set to play the disk. If iTunes found the track data in Gracenote it will fill it in for you, otherwise you'll have to enter it by hand. Obviously you want to say no to iTunes request to import if the track data wasn't found in Gracenote.

Here's how I enter track data efficiently in iTunes. Click once on the list of files on the disk (I think that they show up as Track 01, Track 02, etc). Then select them all with Cmd-A. Then click Cmd-I to enter information common to all of them: performer, album name, genre, year, etc. Then click OK.

Now to enter track title data: click on the first file so that only the first file is selected. Select Cmd-I to see the file info; most of the fields should be filled in, except that the title is still Track 01. Change the track name (title ) to make it correct. Position the mouse cursor on the Next button, then click it. Important: don't move the mouse after this! It will still be over the Next button, but once you start typing the next track name it will disappear. Just enter the next track name, and then click the mouse again without moving it. It will advance to the following track each time, and you won't have to position the cursor.

Don't forget to import after entering all the track data.

zunismyst
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Feb 19, 2012 11:54 am
Location: Germany

Post by zunismyst »

Great explanation, indeed. Thank's Kurtl

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