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First, I will apologize for my actions. This is my first use of this forum, so I am not sure that I won't violate some rules. I am facing a problem of identifying what is on a cassette tape, recorded when my uncle was 96 years old. The interview was conducted by his son on the porch of my uncle's home which faces one of the busiest streets in Miami. Result is that, what is in the interview is completele indecipherable because of the traffic noise. All the information I have gathered, so far, talks about removing noise, like hum and hiss.
I can convert the cassette to digital onto my computer, but I need some guidance removing the traffic sounds. I am not particular about the quality of the audio - only the content of the interview.
Thanking you in advance, and I hope I didn't commit any fatal errors.
Elias21
Follow Ups:
Welcome! Elias21-
I am sure you find find some help here.
As long as this has bubbled back to the top...
Another AA inmate has found www.richardhess.com for audio restoration. You might give them a call.
Also remember to see the Tape Trail asylum.
:)
This method works well with hiss or amp noise. Traffic noise is more challenging, but it's worth a try. Audacity is a free program you can download from the Internet. Abe Collins recommended it below.
Basically, the method involves recording a few seconds of the noise—i.e. traffic noise. Hopefully, there are a few seconds of traffic noise in your recording where nobody talks. This gives Audacity the "noise profile" to remove.
The tricky part is giving Audacity a "clean" example of your uncle's voice. Perhaps from a different occasion? If you don't have one, proceed with the remaining steps anyway and see if it works. Good luck!
Would be to get a digital copy of the tape in the highest resolution you can - 24 bit, 192 kHz would be great. And do this as soon as you can, every time you play that tape it is degrading a little bit.
Once you have a digital file, you can then start to throw software at the problem. Programs like Adobe Audition or Audacity are good places to start. And here are some links that will help you in eliminating background noise from the digital file:
https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/learn/start/audition.html
http://www.wikihow.com/Remove-Background-Noise-in-Audacity
Go to Google and key in "remove background noise from audio" as your search term for even more links...
Good luck!
-CD-
Hey Elias, the important things are to think about frequencies and levels.Dump the low frequency stuff ( <150 Hz or so). Then use a compressor to expand the signal which is above a certain level, and try to dump more stuff which is below some level.
If hiss is an issue, you can try some EQ to tame it.
Someone mentioned Pro Tools. I don't use it, so I can't comment on its abilities in this area. But I do use SoundForge, and it has several features which "could" get the job done reasonably well. Even so, you're fighting an uphill battle, which might be best tackled by a pro in that field and has done this before. This is what you might call "forensic audio".
Tony Lauck seems to have a grasp on this, so maybe he'd like to take a shot at it - for free. (Kidding, Tony!) I'd take a shot at it, but it's really not my forte.
:)
Edits: 07/09/14
Gene Hackman in Coppola's
"The Conversation"
Hope you can find an outcome--Good luck
Des
This will be a tough one, but you might find someone close who has a 31 band graphic EQ and see if you can do it by ear by subtracting some frequencies. I am fearful that the traffic noise is very broadband and it may be really hard. It would be worth a try.
I would try and digitize it at 24/96 or 24/192 and work from that file. You really don't want to wear out that tape any more with repeated plays.
Jim Tavegia
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I use iZotope Rx to do this kind of work. It might work, it might not. It depends on the recording. If it is indecipherable there is little chance that the end result will be good quality, but it might be understandable. I've done a lot of restoration of old lectures and have seen a large range of quality, some hopeless, some when cleaned up was of salable quality.
How much audio do you have?
Tony Lauck
"Diversity is the law of nature; no two entities in this universe are uniform." - P.R. Sarkar
I've used the Audacity software for removing clicks and pops from my digitized vinyl records. I'm not sure how suitable it might be for your application but since it's a freebie, why not give it a try?
Use equalization to identify the offending content, then cut till it starts detracting from the overall mix. Even cheeseball non-pro audio EQ's will accomplish this. The more bands of EQ that are available will narrow the Q of the freq that's causing the offending audio. First, try somewhere between 8 to 10K. Let your ear be your guide.
http://mindseyemusic.blogspot.com/
CEDAR Audio comes to mind but you will probably have to pay a professional to do the work.
maybe one of those CSI-type police labs can uncover the real content.
Seriously, best of luck with this.
rlindsa
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