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I can’t believe how poorly Caruso and others were copied by experts! Often, the technician or intellectual copies the old recordings at the wrong speed making the vocal horrible, out of tune and, for the fine ear, unrecognizable. Here’s some observations on the old recordings. I’ll also cover how to improve the sound of the copy.

Make sure that the old disc is clean. Gently wipe away dust with a camel’s hair brush.

If you have an old mechanical device such as a Victrola, set the microphone about 18″ from the front sound hole. Try a few recordings to see where exactly to place the mic for the least machine noise.

I believe Edison disc were recorded at 80 rpms. Don’t let that throw you. The trick is to record the Edison disc on a cassette deck that has a variable pitch control. After getting an acceptable recording-On playback, bump the pitch contol up a few notches.

Here’s part of the trick. All songs are recorded in a particular “key”. That is, the note should correspond to some note on a piano or other musical instrument. If you are not a musician, try to get a friend that know a little bit about music. If you have a keyboard, that would help too.

Now, when you play back the cassette, attempt to find the “key” on the piano or keyboard. If this doesn’t make much sense. Stop! Get that music friend to help you. What you should do is try to find the “key” of the song. If the music sounds flat, turn the pitch control forward. If the music sounds sharp, turn the pitch control backwards.

Remember, country songs from the twenties won’t be in F#, they probably will be in F major. There shouldn’t be any in G#, etc. Use your ear to approximate the original “key” hence the original speed.

You only want to bumb up the rpm speed replicated on the cassette tape by two rmps. Sooo..take it easy, you might go beyond the original key. Don’t move the pitch control too far. This take a little time to get the feel of it.

Victor records as with other phonograph records were recorded on mechanical machines. I heard that they recorded at 76 rpms. I don’t know this one for sure. Try to bump up the pitch control to get the right “key.”

If you can download copyright free music-like public domain stuff. You can later convert to analog on a cassette disc with a pitch control and do the work of getting the right speed. Some of these recordings on the web are done quite well except for the proper speed. In other words, they have done most of the work for you.

Good Luck. I think you’ll have a blast preserving the past!

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