Breathing new life into
old recordings
Website updated 29th May 2012
“Pop” Concert - Pierre Dervaux & The Colonne Concert Orchestra. Cat No. SXLP 20030
Published in 1961 by EMI as part of the HMV Concert Classics Series.
This record was part of my Grandmother’s collection and was one which I had grown up with. It has been played a lot and had become quite badly worn and damaged over the years. As well as a lot of noise and clicks, there were some jumps on “Bolero”.
Jumps on Bolero
Noise on Sorcerer’s Apprentice
Noise on “Prelude”
Side 1 - Track 1
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
Side 2 - Track 1
Bolero (abridged version)
Side 2 - Track 2
Danse Macabre
The version of Bolero on Youtube is a cut down version due to the 15 minute limit on Youtube videos. The full version can be downloaded in MP3 format by clicking on the link on the right.
Bert Weedon - 22 Golden Guitar Greats - Cassette. Cat No. 4C WW 5019
I bought this cassette when it was released in 1976. Although it has been played many times on a selection of cassette players of varying quality, it is still in reasonable condition. It did need the felt pressure pad replacing as the original had long since fallen off.
Since this album is no longer available and was never released on CD I decided to dig it out and have a listen.
Yakety Axe
Guitar Boogie Shuffle
After setting up the cassette deck with correct head azimuth angle adjustment, Dolby decoding and playback equalisation, the recording still sounded muffled and noisy. This wasn’t unusual as pre-recorded tapes often sounded poor in comparison to the vinyl releases (in spite of usually costing more).
I applied some extra noise reduction and equalisation which resulted in a cleaner, brighter sound.
To listen to more examples of restored recordings, please click the following link to my Youtube channel: