Today I started what I hope to be a daily offering of Christmas holiday themed YouTube videos. I have plenty of obscure songs not found on YouTube so I will share these treasures with everyone out there. All of these tracks come from Christmas music obsessed people--Andy Cirzan, et al.-- who spend their time searching for them and then share them via playlist downloads on the web. What I will do is take the ones I like best and provide them individually on YT. Sound quality is an issue on some of these recordings but it is not my fault! I realize most of them come from old vinyl that is not in the best of condition. But it is surprising to me that they were not digitized in a higher quality fashion. Since I am a digitizer of vinyl myself, I can attest to having taken some very poor condition records and turning them into some great quality mp3 files. The mono ones come out even better sounding than their stereo counterparts. If I had access to all this Christmas vinyl that I will be uploading, I would make some really great sounding files with the software I use. Alas, we'll have to work with what he have at hand.
My first upload for the season is one from Andy Cirzan titled, "A Little Bit Colder" by Cristy Lane. After a little bit of research I learned that this is the original 1971 version released on the very obscure Extremely Brave record label. She re-recorded this song for a 1983 release and it has nowhere near the charm of this early 70's nugget.
Showing posts with label vinyl. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vinyl. Show all posts
Saturday, November 3, 2018
Monday, October 29, 2018
New Turntable 6 Years Later
Looking at my old posts I saw that it's been 6 and 1/2 years since I purchased my turntable. And over 500 records later and it's still going strong. Here's the breakdown of how many albums I digitized since then:
2013: 10
2014: 44
2015: 13
2016: 192
2017: 164
2018: 113 (thus far)
As you can see, 2016 was the year I really started getting down to this meticulous work. I had been gathering albums from thrift stores and acquired quite a number before deciding to digitize them. At the moment I still have around 30-40 that need to be done.
This has significantly increased my music library and saved me tons of money. Sure, the quality is not the same as from a cd. But for the price it's well worth it. Well worth it indeed, considering a few of these thrift store finds I have sold for $25 each. Think about that; paying $1, sometimes $2, and reselling for $25. You could say in some cases I'm getting music absolutely free!
Since I'm not a record collector, rather a music collector, I have no desire in keeping most of these thrift store records. Thus I plan to sell these at a garage sale sometime next year. The plan was to hold this event this year but things didn't quite pan out properly. That includes the weather suddenly going from 80° to 50°.
I am starting to wonder if I should change the stylus soon. According to what I've read it should be replaced after 200 hours of play. Let's say each record is about 30 minutes. That means that after 400 records it's time for a new stylus. And as you can see from the above numbers I have played well over 500. That's not including the records I didn't digitize but just played to see if they were in good condition.
Some of the records I plan to keep because they are of my favorite artists. But most I have no interest in having. I am not a vinyl person. Once I record these things into mp3 files I will most likely never play them on a turntable again. I don't have emotional attachments to them because they're not from my childhood nor were they given to me as gifts nor are they being passed down to me. But some have nostalgic qualities and I would just like to keep them.
I will be unleashing some from my own long-time personal collection as well. A long time ago a neighbor threw out a few boxes full of records from the 1950s and 1960s. All sorts of stuff from The Beach Boys and The Beatles to Hawaiian music and traditional Mexican music. I don't know why anyone would just throw these things in the garbage. Especially The Beatles' record which was their first ever on Vee Jay records. And I know these neighbors used to hold garage sales of their own. I can't explain it. This trash treasure is where I got my first Beach Boys record from, even though I have never been a huge fan of theirs. Basically, the spoils were split up among other members of my household. I being the youngest had little say in what I wanted. Later though I would go on to inherit all of the ones which were taken, as the interest in vinyl of the other family members dwindled. So as of today I am the one with all the spoils! And now it's time for me to find a new home for them.
If records still continued to be only source of recorded music I would have run out of space years ago. Considering I now have about 500 of them along with about 2000 CDs and over 200 cassettes (before I started selling them), I don't know where I would store nearly 3000 vinyl records. Thank goodness for CDs!
2013: 10
2014: 44
2015: 13
2016: 192
2017: 164
2018: 113 (thus far)
As you can see, 2016 was the year I really started getting down to this meticulous work. I had been gathering albums from thrift stores and acquired quite a number before deciding to digitize them. At the moment I still have around 30-40 that need to be done.
This has significantly increased my music library and saved me tons of money. Sure, the quality is not the same as from a cd. But for the price it's well worth it. Well worth it indeed, considering a few of these thrift store finds I have sold for $25 each. Think about that; paying $1, sometimes $2, and reselling for $25. You could say in some cases I'm getting music absolutely free!
Since I'm not a record collector, rather a music collector, I have no desire in keeping most of these thrift store records. Thus I plan to sell these at a garage sale sometime next year. The plan was to hold this event this year but things didn't quite pan out properly. That includes the weather suddenly going from 80° to 50°.
I am starting to wonder if I should change the stylus soon. According to what I've read it should be replaced after 200 hours of play. Let's say each record is about 30 minutes. That means that after 400 records it's time for a new stylus. And as you can see from the above numbers I have played well over 500. That's not including the records I didn't digitize but just played to see if they were in good condition.
Some of the records I plan to keep because they are of my favorite artists. But most I have no interest in having. I am not a vinyl person. Once I record these things into mp3 files I will most likely never play them on a turntable again. I don't have emotional attachments to them because they're not from my childhood nor were they given to me as gifts nor are they being passed down to me. But some have nostalgic qualities and I would just like to keep them.
I will be unleashing some from my own long-time personal collection as well. A long time ago a neighbor threw out a few boxes full of records from the 1950s and 1960s. All sorts of stuff from The Beach Boys and The Beatles to Hawaiian music and traditional Mexican music. I don't know why anyone would just throw these things in the garbage. Especially The Beatles' record which was their first ever on Vee Jay records. And I know these neighbors used to hold garage sales of their own. I can't explain it. This trash treasure is where I got my first Beach Boys record from, even though I have never been a huge fan of theirs. Basically, the spoils were split up among other members of my household. I being the youngest had little say in what I wanted. Later though I would go on to inherit all of the ones which were taken, as the interest in vinyl of the other family members dwindled. So as of today I am the one with all the spoils! And now it's time for me to find a new home for them.
If records still continued to be only source of recorded music I would have run out of space years ago. Considering I now have about 500 of them along with about 2000 CDs and over 200 cassettes (before I started selling them), I don't know where I would store nearly 3000 vinyl records. Thank goodness for CDs!
Sunday, April 27, 2014
Thrift Store Record Treasures
I've been finding a good selection of LP's at the thrift store lately. Now mind you I am no vinyl purist nor am I a collector of lp's. I only look for records from the 1960's and 1970's that look good enough for me to convert to wav files & mp3 so that I don't have to purchase them on cd. Many of these records I will attempt to sell at either a garage sale or on eBay after I've converted them. To me lp's are just big and bulky and take up more space than I can afford to spare. Additionally, I don't want to keep things around that I don't use much. After converting them they just sit there gathering dust, never to be used by me again. As I said I am not a collector. I just want the music. There are certain lp's I will keep, however, such as the brand new ones I have bought over the years and ones by artists I really like. But the used ones I have been buying at thrift stores have no emotional attachment for me.
Here is the most recent batch of records I found which was just last week. First up is "2 Hot" by Peaches & Herb from 1978:
Here is the most recent batch of records I found which was just last week. First up is "2 Hot" by Peaches & Herb from 1978:
The 5th Dimension "Reflections" from 1971:
"Soft & Soulful" by Bill Medley (1969):
Paul Mauriat & His Orchestra "Gone is Love" (1970):
Bobby Goldsboro's "Greatest Hits" (1970):
Various Artists "Family Portrait: 16 Outstanding Selections Rrom A&M Records" (1967)
And finally, "Close To You" by The Carpenters (1970):
More findings to come!
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Roger Miller Records
It's been over a year since I got my new turntable and over a year since I last blogged here. We'll I'm back and I'm going to write about some of the LP's I've come across recently.
I've been acquiring vinyl records over the last year from thrift stores and garage sales and found some pretty good stuff. Lately, I've become interested in Roger Miller's first few albums. (I show how to play the bass lick to his "King of the Road" song on my other blog.) I found out his early albums are not available on cd for some strange reason. I've seen other lesser known artists' albums get reissued on cd which is puzzling. I'm a Roger Miller fan, especially after having purchased the 3-cd collection, "King of the Road: The Genius of Roger Miller." I enjoy his unique style of country/folk/pop.
That 3-cd boxed set is obviously not comprehensive and I wanted to hear the other songs on the albums which did not make it to the boxed set. So I started looking around on blogs--which are a great source for sharing music--but no luck. Funny thing is, I was also looking around recently for some shared Sonny James albums on blogs but to no avail either. Seems there's no one out there blogging & sharing classic country music artists' music for some reason. I have my suspicions why but I will not get into it here.
So after having no luck on various blogs, I started looking on eBay for those original albums. Plenty of them there but I specifically wanted to find stereo versions. There were far fewer stereo editions than mono editions available. Oh, and the boxed set mentioned above features all the early cuts in pure mono. I've heard some of his songs in stereo and always liked those versions better. I saved the best ones I could find so I could decide whether or not to buy them later.
I had another idea; why not check out the records at a thrift store I had not been to in a while? That's what I did and guess what? I found a stereo copy in very good condition of "The Return of Roger Miller," his second album from 1965. For like a dollar or less!
I have a small stack of records I've been buying at various thrift stores over the last year and a half. I just recently checked them out and found out that I have 2 more Roger Miller albums there! I don't even remember buying them. But one of them is "The 3rd Time Around" from 1965 and one titled "The Tunes That Launched the Career of Roger Miller" from 1964 on Camden Records. The first 2 albums mentioned are on Smash Records.
Unfortunately, it's a mono copy of "The 3rd Time Around." So I have to keep looking around for a stereo edition of it as well as the next few that were released after this album.
The other album I discovered I already had was this one:
The sleeve has a copyright date of 1964 but after I recorded the album into my computer, created the individual tracks, burned them onto cd and then prepared to import them into my iTunes library, the year displayed as 1972. I can't find any info online about the precise year of this record. But it does have some of his earlier songs. Probably singles. I can't really say. But the songs are all in stereo and there are some on there that I was already familiar with because they happen to be on the boxed set. And a few others really stood out as some really good cuts.
Once I learn how to upload these LP's to a file sharing host I will make them available for downloading here. In the meantime I will keep looking out for more cool old records and digitizing the ones I already have.
I've been acquiring vinyl records over the last year from thrift stores and garage sales and found some pretty good stuff. Lately, I've become interested in Roger Miller's first few albums. (I show how to play the bass lick to his "King of the Road" song on my other blog.) I found out his early albums are not available on cd for some strange reason. I've seen other lesser known artists' albums get reissued on cd which is puzzling. I'm a Roger Miller fan, especially after having purchased the 3-cd collection, "King of the Road: The Genius of Roger Miller." I enjoy his unique style of country/folk/pop.
That 3-cd boxed set is obviously not comprehensive and I wanted to hear the other songs on the albums which did not make it to the boxed set. So I started looking around on blogs--which are a great source for sharing music--but no luck. Funny thing is, I was also looking around recently for some shared Sonny James albums on blogs but to no avail either. Seems there's no one out there blogging & sharing classic country music artists' music for some reason. I have my suspicions why but I will not get into it here.
So after having no luck on various blogs, I started looking on eBay for those original albums. Plenty of them there but I specifically wanted to find stereo versions. There were far fewer stereo editions than mono editions available. Oh, and the boxed set mentioned above features all the early cuts in pure mono. I've heard some of his songs in stereo and always liked those versions better. I saved the best ones I could find so I could decide whether or not to buy them later.
I had another idea; why not check out the records at a thrift store I had not been to in a while? That's what I did and guess what? I found a stereo copy in very good condition of "The Return of Roger Miller," his second album from 1965. For like a dollar or less!
I have a small stack of records I've been buying at various thrift stores over the last year and a half. I just recently checked them out and found out that I have 2 more Roger Miller albums there! I don't even remember buying them. But one of them is "The 3rd Time Around" from 1965 and one titled "The Tunes That Launched the Career of Roger Miller" from 1964 on Camden Records. The first 2 albums mentioned are on Smash Records.
Unfortunately, it's a mono copy of "The 3rd Time Around." So I have to keep looking around for a stereo edition of it as well as the next few that were released after this album.
The other album I discovered I already had was this one:
The sleeve has a copyright date of 1964 but after I recorded the album into my computer, created the individual tracks, burned them onto cd and then prepared to import them into my iTunes library, the year displayed as 1972. I can't find any info online about the precise year of this record. But it does have some of his earlier songs. Probably singles. I can't really say. But the songs are all in stereo and there are some on there that I was already familiar with because they happen to be on the boxed set. And a few others really stood out as some really good cuts.
Once I learn how to upload these LP's to a file sharing host I will make them available for downloading here. In the meantime I will keep looking out for more cool old records and digitizing the ones I already have.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
New Turntable
Recently I purchased a new turntable and some software from www.dak.com. After seriously considering getting a direct drive type versus another belt drive one, I decided to go with the latter. I searched online for info and came across the DAK website where I was convinced to go with their package which included a belt-drive turntable.
I have had belt-drive turntables go bad over the years so I did not want to deal with the same problem again. The belts warped away probably from long periods of non-use. Though I have never myself attempted it, I understand that it is complicated to switch out belts. First of all, they tend to be a bit pricey--for a band-like piece of rubber. Second of all, if you do not have the proper tool to remove the special washer that locks the platter down in place you will have quite the time trying to remove it. And there is no other way around removing the platter.
Thus, I decided to buy a new turntable. This particular one came with a diamond stylus, a strobe light and adjustable speed control and a light to help you make sure you're placing the needle in exactly the right spot. Pretty good deal for the price. I'll have more to say about it and all that came with it in my next post.
For now, I mainly want to say that I can finally make mp3 files of the vinyl that I have, including the ones I have bought at thrift stores recently. I'm not a big fan of LP's. They're big and bulky and wear out a little each time you play them. And they damage easily. Ultimately I want to have them on cd's and on my computer so I will not have to deal with them anymore. I'm not one of these vinyl purists who believe that it is the best sound reproducing medium for music. I think it's psychosomatic anyway. I'm happy with cd's.
Until next time....
I have had belt-drive turntables go bad over the years so I did not want to deal with the same problem again. The belts warped away probably from long periods of non-use. Though I have never myself attempted it, I understand that it is complicated to switch out belts. First of all, they tend to be a bit pricey--for a band-like piece of rubber. Second of all, if you do not have the proper tool to remove the special washer that locks the platter down in place you will have quite the time trying to remove it. And there is no other way around removing the platter.
Thus, I decided to buy a new turntable. This particular one came with a diamond stylus, a strobe light and adjustable speed control and a light to help you make sure you're placing the needle in exactly the right spot. Pretty good deal for the price. I'll have more to say about it and all that came with it in my next post.
For now, I mainly want to say that I can finally make mp3 files of the vinyl that I have, including the ones I have bought at thrift stores recently. I'm not a big fan of LP's. They're big and bulky and wear out a little each time you play them. And they damage easily. Ultimately I want to have them on cd's and on my computer so I will not have to deal with them anymore. I'm not one of these vinyl purists who believe that it is the best sound reproducing medium for music. I think it's psychosomatic anyway. I'm happy with cd's.
Until next time....
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