Ask MetaFilter posts tagged with record

Save my vinyl!

pedstel — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 16:12:05 -0800

How should I ship my beloved LP collection across the country? So, I'm moving from Portland, OR to New Orleans, LA via plane. I don't have any furniture/pets/children so I'm mostly planning on taking what fits into a couple of suitcases and shipping everything else (mostly just clothes, some books). However, I do have some vinyl record albums that I need to ship, and I really don't want to damage/warp them in the process. I have enough records to fill 1 milkbox type crate completely (maybe 50-100?) Help me, hive mind! I know a similar question has been asked in the past, but I'm wondering if anyone has some tips on shipping specifically, rather than moving the vinyl via truck.

Cassette to iPod

dawson — Fri, 16 May 2008 19:19:40 -0800

I'd like to transfer several hours of audio from old cassette tapes to CD for my mom and to iPod for me. Of course if I can get them to CD I can take it from there. I'm sure this can be done, because I called a PC repair shop and was told that while they didn't do it, it was 'easy' and to 'just get a so-and-so cable from Radio Shack and do something-or-other'. But I didn't feel comfortable asking them to explain (guy seemed rushed) and Radio Shack seemed clueless.
So, to transfer audio from a cassette tape, played on a normal cassette player, to compact disc, on computer drive...how?
I would just buy the recordings as disks, but they aren't produced because of a lack of demand.

Open-source way to record phone calls?

jbickers — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 04:26:44 -0800

Open-source way to record phone calls? Would like to be able to record phone calls on my PC. Already got it wired up to the phone line/handset, and was able to successfully use the 30-day trial of CallCorder. But it's $50 and buggy and frankly, I don't think it's worth the price. Isn't there an open-source way to do this?

(Aside #1: Yes, I know about the legal issues. I'm a writer, and it's for interview purposes, with full disclosure.)

(Aside #2: If anybody has a Grand Central invite they want to share, I'd happily take it. Looks like that's a good solution, but it's a closed beta.)

help me record my snowboarding trip!

oliverst — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 13:19:31 -0800

I would like to get some video footage from an upcoming snowboarding trip and download it to my computer at a later date. What equipment would be suitable for this? My budget is £100 (~ $200 US) I would like to get some video footage from an upcoming snowboarding / skiing trip and download it to my computer at a later date. What equipment would be suitable for this? My budget is £100 (~ $200 US)

Does anybody have any first hand experience of doing this? Please share what you found and what gave you the best results!

I have been debating whether a single hand held model (with SD card storage) taped to my helmet (or board) would be fine or if a bullet style camera with a separate recording unit is needed. My research so far suggests that a single hand held model offers much better value..

Equipment wise, anything second hand / ebay is good, who knows if it will survive this trip anyway!

How do I record live video directly from DV to PC?

russ9595 — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 04:14:44 -0800

I'd like to record live video directly from my FireWire DV camera using Windows XP. Is this possible? I can transfer already recorded video stored on the FireWire DV camera's tape, but with the live video I just get a black screen.

I know this is possible with Windows Vista, but can't find a Windows XP solution.

I didn't realize being a criminal was still a requirement!

mhz — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 06:24:38 -0800

What exactly is a police 'clearance letter,' and how do I go about getting one? I'm getting my Australian Citizenship (by descent), and after going through the paperwork for a millionth time, I realize that I'm short one document. I already have the FBI rap sheet (I'm clear!!), but now I see I need a clearance letter from my local police.

What is this, how do I get it, how much will it cost?

All of this is in NYC, under the jurisdiction of the NYPD.

While we're on the subject, if anyone has anything helpful to add re: my application, thanks very much in advance

Recording a streaming webcast?

alcopop — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 20:20:20 -0800

Scheduling and recording an ASX webcast with freeware? In a few weeks, I will be on my college's radio show. My family and friends have expressed interest in listening to it, but aren't available for my time slot. There is an .ASX webcast, but it isn't recorded, merely streamed. I'm looking for a free (I am a college student) software to record the webcast as an MP3 (or not, as I've found many free converters). The webcast will be an hour long, and as I won't be on my computer to set it up, it needs to be able to schedule when to record. I have Vista on my desktop and Windows XP on my laptop though I'd much rather use the desktop as the laptop is extremely slow and prone to freezing at crucial moments. I found a program that can schedule and record here, but it's $18 (I'm really trying to avoid spending any money) and the trial inserts noise every 60 seconds.

Any suggestions appreciated.

Finding a classical CD based on its contents only?

allterrainbrain — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 05:06:51 -0800

Can I re-find a Brahms CD I once loved, if I know which pieces are on it (not a common combo of pieces) but don't remember much else about it? THINGS I'M POSITIVE ABOUT:
- CD contents are Brahms opus 116, 117, 118 and 119 complete, and nothing else;
- pianist is male;
- CD was released in 1993 or earlier;
- it's definitely a stereo, 'modern'-sounding recording.

THINGS I'M PRETTY SURE ABOUT:
- label is at least semi-obscure (I think I remember not recognizing the label, and at that time I definitely knew the big labels like DG, London and Sony);
- pianist is at least semi-obscure, not a big name;
- cover graphic (at least for the version I had) is a line drawing or a simple grayscale image, not a photo and not in color.

I think I would recognize the cover and/or the pianist's name if I saw them(and certain tracks if I heard them).

I would love to hear any guesses, and/or any advice re. how I can view a list of CDs that have exactly that rep., and/or creative ideas for googling (since there's no exact-phrase that's really useful... I've tried including "116 through 119" and "116-119" along with brahms, cd, disc, etc.).

(p.s. It's not the Wilhelm Kempff 1992 recording on DG.)

Presentation Podcast Capture?

Alterscape — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 13:34:19 -0800

How can I record video of a powerpoint/impress/etc slideshow in a format suitable for inclusion in a video podcast? Presenters use their own laptops and I have access only to a vga cable carrying the image, so screencapture tools are not a preferable option. I'm working on setting up the supporting technologies to enable my university department to podcast a lecture series. The speakers often present slides, video, etc from their own laptops using a variety of presentation tools. We provide a VGA connection to an LCD projector. I am not able to ask that they present from one of our machines because of the variety of output software they use, or install software on their machines. I would like to capture what's displayed on the projector to intercut with images of the speaker at the podium. Direct-to-disk capture is preferable to something that requires taping and later capturing the tape to disk.

We're capturing video and audio of the presenter from a production-grade DV camera direct to disk on a Powermac G5 already.

Any thoughts on hardware/software solutions to enable this?

How can I watch my video?

C17H19NO3 — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 19:59:11 -0800

I had a DVD made of my first skydive. It will not play on any DVD player. The cameraman had a digital video camera attached to his helmet (I don't know the specifics on the camera) and the video was burned to a DVD when we were on the ground. I don't know anything about the equipment used, which was destroyed by fire a few months back.

The disc only plays on a friend's DVD recorder, and will not play on any DVD player I put it in or even any computer I put it in. When I try playing it on my computer, my computer only sees an audio file which will not play.

I apologize I'm not very technical in my description, for I am kinda technologically stupid. Based on the information given is there anything I can do to fix this problem? If there's anything you need that I left out I will try my best to answer. Thanks.

What was the name of that flamenco record?

KathyK — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 08:12:53 -0800

Help me find a traditional Spanish flamenco record from my past! I once attended a New Year's Eve party whose host had a massive collection of obscure and traditional music records. One of the records that he played was Spanish flamenco prominently featuring hand clapping, which I have since learned is called palmas. The cover of this record had a mid-range shot of a man dressed in a black and white bullfighter-looking costume with slicked-back hair standing on a cobblestone street with his hands raised to his side and looking like he was in mid-clap. Kind of like this photo complete with piercing eyes.

I would really like to find a copy of this music again as I've remembered it from time to time over the last ten years.

Thanks!

Record sound from Quicktime Movie

crapples — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 08:17:22 -0800

Record sound from a Quicktime movie in MP3 format? I need to record a certain snippet of sound from a Quicktime movie and save it as an MP3. I know about Wiretap, but I can't get it to work and I don't want to pay for the full version. Is there a free way to do this using Audacity or any other free software?

Using a MacBook with OS X 10.4.

A simple PC audio recording set up

ztdavis — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 22:24:05 -0800

Using a no-frills but decent PC, what (cheapish) sound card and what software should I buy for my father so he can record his guitar playing and singing as well as do basic mixing and editing? My dad has played guitar all of his life and has done a lot of recording to cassette tapes. I know he has decent microphones, etc, but I really think he would enjoy recording his music onto the PC so he can have greater-than-cassette quality and an easier way to put things to CD or e-mail mp3s.

I have no experience with recording sound, however, and don't even know where to begin discerning between good and bad sound cards.

Furthermore, my dad is in his 50s and he is pretty good with computers but certainly has never done any sound mixing or editing type stuff on a PC. What software is capable, but not overly complicated?

Looking to spend less than $100 on the card, and I don't even know what to plan for the software so I guess anything is game. ...(within reason).

The oldest continuous active and believable genealogy?

Flunkie — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 18:36:40 -0800

What's the oldest believable continuous genealogy for a live person? Lots of people can believably trace their genealogy back to, say, Charlemagne and his forefathers (Charles Martel and so forth). And I'm aware that there are claimed lines of descent back from Charlemagne (and pretty much every other European king, count, and local bandit warlord with a sense of the value of pretension) all the way back to Adam and Eve. However, this latter part is, shall we say, dubious at best, on several levels.

What live person or people can trace their genealogy (at least a strand of it) continuously back the furthest in history, in a believable way? Where by "believable", I guess I mean something stronger: backed by generally accepted historical fact.

I'm guessing it might be the Japanese emperor and his family. The claimed line of descent from the first emperor goes back to at least 660 BC; a lot of this is legendary, though, so not believable, but they've still got to be able to go a long way back, I would imagine.

To be clear, of course the farther that you go back in a genealogy, even one that's "believable" in the above sense, the more likely you are to have a link from father to son where the father wasn't really biologically the father. I understand this, and am not concerned with it with respect to my curiosity regarding this question, so please don't worry about that fact when answering. As long as it can be historically shown that the guy was, at that time, generally accepted to be the father, that's good enough for the purposes of this question.

How to get better sound from a record player.

mildred-pitt — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 16:47:09 -0800

Will replacing the needle on my record player give me better sound? I have owned my Stanton STR88-80 for 3 years. I use it mainly to sample old records, many of which are VERY dirty and scratched. I'm stating to wonder if the sound from my player is getting more lo-if.... but I'm not sure.

Do better (more expensive) needles make significantly better sound?

Online distribution strategies

phaedon — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 12:34:18 -0800

What are some of the latest, smartest and/or cost-effective online distribution strategies a small record label should pursue? A small record label is looking to distribute their music online for the first time; the music itself consists of lesser known, but established artists from the 60's and 70's in the funk/soul genre. It's time to make a handful of albums available online, in conjunction with their release on CD and vinyl.

Are big name, one-stop aggregators like CDbaby still the way to go in terms of online distribution? Or are there better deals, or better strategies, out there? What are some tips to get the word out? For example, how hard is it to get a "free download" deal, combined with front page exposure, with iTunes? Is it worth setting up an independent e-commerce site for downloading music? I mean, do people buy that way? Along these lines, what do you think the future of online distribution will be?

Know a good feeware program to record anything that goes through the sound card to an mp3?

andrewdunn — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 12:45:51 -0800

Know a good feeware program to record anything that goes through the sound card to an mp3? Ok, here's the deal:

I'm trying to find a free piece of software that will record anything that goes through my sound card to an mp3.

I feel like I've searched far and wide, but so far all I've been able to find are full-featured programs that cost money and several "free" pieces of software that are "ad supported".

I don't need a lot of features and I definately don't want any adware. Any suggestions?

How to best archive gameplay?

underwater — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 17:04:18 -0800

What's the best way to record and archive videogame play? I want to record and archive console videogame play and I need to know the cheapest, most reliable, and easiest method (I know, pick two). I'm talking about a lot of gameplay--hundreds of hours. I am not talking about PC games, so FRAPS won't do. The quality doesn't have to be great. I need to be able to pull stills and clips from the recordings fairly easily, and it must be in a format that I can visually scan through quickly (i.e. must faster than real-time playback).

Should I just go with a stand-alone DVD recorder and change discs every 2 or 4 hours? Should I use a capture card and a hard drive? If so, do I need a hardware encoder, and what format would I want it to record to? If I capture it, do I dump it to DVD or set up a hard drive? In terms of reliability, say that I want a backup of the whole thing. 2 copies of each DVD? RAID hard drives?

Let's say that I want to have 500 hours of footage recorded. What is the lowest price tag for a system that would work for me?

How do I move a collection of vinyl LP records?

dickumbrage — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 10:38:32 -0800

How do I move a collection of vinyl LP records? I have a medium (500-1,000) collection that I am taking with me on a 2 day move up the east coast in a non-airconditioned moving truck this summer. What techniques should I avoid? What do I need to be aware of?

Mythtv recording with low volume

h2 — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 22:36:28 -0800

Mythtv records shows with low volume. How can I increase the recording volume? I'm running Ubuntu Server 6.06 LTS 2.6.15-26-server with mythtv backend only version 0.20 utilizing a WinTV PVR-350 and recording from a regular, not digital, cable tv signal. The sound card is a good old Intel Corporation 82801AA AC'97 Audio (rev 02). Every show is recorded with a low volume. How do I increase the recording volume. Would I be advised to install a better sound card?

Is it possible I ruined my record player by hooking it up to a 15 volt source?

matkline — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 21:40:10 -0800

Is it possible that I've permanently destroyed my record player by accidentally hooking up to a 15 volt power adapter, instead of a 12? Please say no.

Any reason to keep laboratory invoices?

beautiful — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 10:08:56 -0800

Any reason to keep laboratory invoices? I get these laboratory invoices from Quest Diagnostics. They list the lab services, how much they cost, the date of service, and my doctor. My insurance company is supposed to pay for the services, but I just have to remind them when these invoices come in. Should I keep them for any reason, financial or medical?

What did my computer do on 1/31/06?

xo — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 11:47:23 -0800

Does OSX (10.4.8) keep a record of the CDs I burn? I recently applied to a competition by sending a CD of three jpegs. I know which date I burned the CD, but I can't remember which jpegs I applied with. Is there a record of this information anywhere on my computer?

How to record a sing-along choir track without a pile of headphones?

cortex — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 09:10:17 -0800

Lo-fi group recording: how can I record a 6-8 person sing-along choir cleanly if I don't already own a bunch of headphones and splitters? Imagine this: I have a track of a song-in-progress, and I'd like to add to that a track of half a dozen or so people singing a part. (See also: clapping a part.) It's an untrained group of friends and family—they don't know how to work as a group, and may have essentially zero musical training, but they can sing along to something with a little practice.

So I can't hum a reference note, wave a baton, and get an a capella performance out of them: they'll need to hear the track they're singing to.

But I don't have 6-8 pairs of headphones, nor the splitter hardware to run them through.

I could play the song into the room through a monitor, but I don't want the backing track bleeding significantly into the choir recording.

So: clever tricks? Alternate routes? Good bleed-management compromises, if I monitor? And should I just pick up a bunch of super-cheapo headphones, and if what's a good route for splitting out to 8 or so pairs of 1/8" jack phones?

Can I record straight to my iPod?

beammeup4 — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 23:06:18 -0800

Can I record video from my ATI DVR straight to my iPod? I've got an ATI TV Wonder USB 2.0 tuner with the ability to record shows onto your computer like a DVR. The software has a number of recording settings, including an option to define your own custom record settings.

Does anyone with this device or an ATI All-in-Wonder know if you can define the video recording settings in a way that it is automatically compatible with the iPod? There is an option to record in MPEG-4, but it records it with an AVI extension that I can't drag into iTunes.