sound editing on the Mac
Dani and I had been digitizing the albums and cassette tapes we still want that aren't available on CD. Then we both switched to Macs and things bogged down for a while until we figured out the new tool chain.
We're still doing the original ripping on a PC. This doesn't require real-time intervention, so the lag inherent in using VNC to connect to another machine doesn't matter. However, we needed to do something different on the editing side, as keeping a PC with direct monitor and keyboard connections around in addition to my Mac wasn't going to work.
Some of you gave me various recommendations, which I appreciate. In the end I bought Amadeus Pro for $40. The workflow is pretty easy: load WAV file representing one side of a tape or album; find the first track break; cut from beginning until there into a new file; edit that file (trim silence, fade in/out if needed); save; iterate. Once I have a directory full of WAV files, use the batch processor to convert to MP3, filling in most of the tagging as part of that process. If I have been clever enough to name the individual files 01.wav, 02.wav, and so on, I can feed file name (sans extension) in as the track number, saving a tedious step. So the batch processor can do everything except track name, which is fine. Finally, import into iTunes (in a "tmp" playlist created for this purpose) and type in the track names. Move the new tracks to the "to be verified" playlist. Done.
I can do almost everything in Amadeus Pro using keyboard shortcuts, including fade in/out. If I could figure out how to deselect without having to click somewhere else in the file, I'd be golden. I've used the program to do several tapes now and it's going very smoothly. This might even be faster than what I was doing on the PC (WavePad to edit, DAK software to batch-convert to MP3 (but no tagging built in), Tag & Renamer to tag, and then import into iTunes.)
We're just starting the early music now. For those who care, yes, Mt. Holyoke did eventually re-issue "The Medieval Lyric" on CD; they sell an upgrade for people with the cassettes. ("Upgrade" price excludes the books, which you are presumed to already have.) They have a web site but can't take digital orders, so we've just put an actual check in an actual envelope with an actual stamp. :-)
We're still doing the original ripping on a PC. This doesn't require real-time intervention, so the lag inherent in using VNC to connect to another machine doesn't matter. However, we needed to do something different on the editing side, as keeping a PC with direct monitor and keyboard connections around in addition to my Mac wasn't going to work.
Some of you gave me various recommendations, which I appreciate. In the end I bought Amadeus Pro for $40. The workflow is pretty easy: load WAV file representing one side of a tape or album; find the first track break; cut from beginning until there into a new file; edit that file (trim silence, fade in/out if needed); save; iterate. Once I have a directory full of WAV files, use the batch processor to convert to MP3, filling in most of the tagging as part of that process. If I have been clever enough to name the individual files 01.wav, 02.wav, and so on, I can feed file name (sans extension) in as the track number, saving a tedious step. So the batch processor can do everything except track name, which is fine. Finally, import into iTunes (in a "tmp" playlist created for this purpose) and type in the track names. Move the new tracks to the "to be verified" playlist. Done.
I can do almost everything in Amadeus Pro using keyboard shortcuts, including fade in/out. If I could figure out how to deselect without having to click somewhere else in the file, I'd be golden. I've used the program to do several tapes now and it's going very smoothly. This might even be faster than what I was doing on the PC (WavePad to edit, DAK software to batch-convert to MP3 (but no tagging built in), Tag & Renamer to tag, and then import into iTunes.)
We're just starting the early music now. For those who care, yes, Mt. Holyoke did eventually re-issue "The Medieval Lyric" on CD; they sell an upgrade for people with the cassettes. ("Upgrade" price excludes the books, which you are presumed to already have.) They have a web site but can't take digital orders, so we've just put an actual check in an actual envelope with an actual stamp. :-)