When I was three years old, the reel-to-reel tape recorder in the family room was of great interest. The tape would spool from one reel to the next and hours of music would playback through our home. My Dad made lots of themed music compilations, long before the terms mixtapes or playlists were popularized.
This tape recorder was also used to record a sonic family history of special occasions, audio letters to distant relatives, or just us kids talking when we we’re little. These tapes were recently converted to digital audio, CDs that were shared with the family. Listening back decades later is a nostalgic ride down memory lane.
Audio and video tape restoration is a service provided by Electric Canyon Recording/ProSound Audio Services. We have transferred hundreds or reel-to-reel, audio cassettes, LP records 33rpm, 45rpm and 78rpm records to CD, Wave, or MP3 files. The process can be a direct transfer, or included audio restoration which can reduced noise, hiss, hum, clicks, pops, scratches, and improve the clarity through careful equalization and dynamic processing.
Other forms of audio storage such as phone message machines and voice recorders and the classic 8-track tapes are also transferable.
When a favorite LP record is not available as a CD, collectors will bring them over to transfer to digital for easy playback and to keep the vinyl pristine. The amount of small label and obscure LP’s that did not get re-released on CD is staggering. The listener recalling these records of their younger days is a personal delight down memory lane.
VHS and SVHS video tapes, popular in the 80’s though the early 2000’s, can be converted to digital DVD, USB Flash Drive, Windows Media, Quicktime, YouTube, or any popular video format to be shared with the family. These VHS tapes tend to lose color quality over time, so it is never to soon to convert tapes. The color and audio can be cleaned up a bit as an additional service.
With the holidays upon us, ProSound is converting a number of keepsakes for families, which I promise will be under the tree for Christmas.
Happy Holidays.
Dale Price
Hi, I would like to transfer some audio from reel to reel to a CD. Can you help?
Hello,
I was wondering if you were able to restore videotape ribbon that is folded and twisted, detached from the rest of the videotape reel?
Please let me know.
Kathy
Hi Kathy, I can give it a shot. I have repaired many audio cassettes and a few video taps too which are more intricate. The video will have glitch at the splice, but it should be fine the rest of the tape….