Converting a Cassette Tape to a CD

[Castro's]

So I have this live bootleg cassette tape of Strange Folk from a Mad River Glen show. Our computer guy at work recorded it to his hard drive and burned it to a CD for me yesterday but he couldn't get it to work on a regular cd player, only a computer. I got that bug worked out this morning on my computer, but there is no division between songs. In order to get to the next song I have to hit fast forward on the cd player instead of skip. So my question is, Is there anyway to divide the file up by each song so I can re-record a new cd to work like every other cd?

My only idea would be to have the computer guy record one song at a time off the tape and then save each file individually, but I'm guessing there has to be an easier way than that since I have the whole wave file on my computer now.

[runethechamp]

I don't know how a regular cd is built up, but I think that if you burn your own cd you need to have separate files for each song in order to get them in as separate tracks. Maybe there are programs that can get around this, but my initial response is to split up your file.

[Castro's]

but my initial response is to split up your file.

Any ideas how to split up one big wave file into 8 smaller ones?

[m1e448]

If you have Roxio CD Creator Gold, you can do this if you write time when the song ends down and use the editing software. My guess is that anyone who had editing software could pull the same thing off too. Let me know if you want a copy of the Roxio software. I'd say that it might be easier to have the guy reburn the cd with separate tracks from the DAT tape. I'd trade you something for a copy of that show by the way. Good luck!

[Mcwop]

From Tape To CD

[goofygrin]

Copy the wav file into 1-x number of copies (one for each track).

start -> run -> sndrec32.exe

Open each wav file (this might take a while) and go to the start of the song (it can be helpful to use the keyboard and use the arrow keys left and right to get to just the right spot).

In Sound Recorder, chose edit -> Delete Before Current Position.

Go to the end of the song (same note about using the keyboard).

Select edit -> delete after current position

File -> save the wave file.

Now burn a new cd using the tracks you just created. By default, there will be a 2 second delay between the tracks. You'll need to play around with your burning software to remove this if you want (to maintain the "concert" feel).

[Castro's]

Copy the wav file into 1-x number of copies (one for each track).

start -> run -> sndrec32.exe

Open each wav file (this might take a while) and go to the start of the song (it can be helpful to use the keyboard and use the arrow keys left and right to get to just the right spot).

In Sound Recorder, chose edit -> Delete Before Current Position.

Go to the end of the song (same note about using the keyboard).

Select edit -> delete after current position

File -> save the wave file.

Now burn a new cd using the tracks you just created. By default, there will be a 2 second delay between the tracks. You'll need to play around with your burning software to remove this if you want (to maintain the "concert" feel).

I'll give this a try this afternoon.

Pow, even if I can't get it divided into separate tracks I'll burn an extra copy for you.

[jimmy page]

If you send me copy of the cd, I can do it for you with the editing software we have hear at work. PM me if you are interested.

[Castro's]

Goofygrin's idea is working with the exception that it is very slow and damn near locks up my computer. Oh well, this is giving me something to do instead of work.

[connersw]

First, I would check here to see if the show is already posted: http://www.archive.org/audio/etreeli...at=Strangefolk That way you can save yourself the trouble.

I would not recommend manually editing the .wav files that way, because you will not get the cuts at the exact same spot everytime, so the show will not flow. Use a real .wav editing program so that you can track it correctly--goldwave.com and blazeaudio.com both make decent ones. Also, once you track it out, when you go to burn it, make sure you burn it disk at once and delete the 2 second pauses between the songs. That way it sounds like a complete show with out an pops or gaps between songs. You can also check out etree.org for all sorts of tutorials on bootleg taping and cd burning.

[Castro's]

Thanks connersw, I actually do quite a bit of cd buring from live DMB shows off of antsmarching.org, but I'm not really supposed to. We can't add any software to our computers at work so the only programs I have to work with are what my computer at work already has on which is Windows Media Player. It sucks, but its better than nothing. I'd do this stuff on my computer at home, but my home computer is worthless except for writing papers and surfing the net.

edit: thanks for that link too, i used to download lots of Bela Fleck off of there, but after my computer crashed I never remembered what site is was. The Strangefolk show I have isn't on there, but there are a ton of great shows. I'll have to go into work early tomorrow.