[bookport] Re: NLS Tapes to MP3
- From: "Nolan Crabb" <ncrabb@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <bookport@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 25 Jun 2005 22:08:06 -0500
Hi, Walt and fellow list members,
Walt, you wrote expressing consternation at the thought of converting NLS
tapes in real time, and you expressed some concern regarding the legal
issues of so doing.
First, where the legal issues are concerned, I'll hold fast to the fair use
provisions of the copyright act, and if that fails I'll vehemently declare
that I'm using a specialized format, since I compress the heck out of
everything I listen to. <smile> Don't be offended, Walt, I do appreciate
your concerns regarding the legality. But I really think I'm probably ok.
I've a friend who works for the Missouri attorney general's office; I'll see
him tomorrow and actually ask his perspective. I think fair use may help me
here a little though.
Now, Walt, you and I met once, I believe, several years ago, if you're the
same Walt Smith I'm thinking of. Even if you're not, and we've never met,
I'm still crushed...devastated...emotionally destroyed...reaching for my
Kleenex and praying I won't be electrocuted while weeping into this
keyboard. Could you truly think me so incredibly stupid as to think that
converting NLS tapes in real time would be to my advantage?
Walt, trust me, if I had to convert in real time, I'd just listen. My
critics and detractors, of whom there are doubtless many, will tell you that
I have a vacant look about me much of the time; Any one of my four daughters
will sign affidavits attesting to my cluelessness. Heck, we could even find
total strangers who would say perfectly scandalous things about my
unbelievably low IQ, especially if we were to slip them five or ten bucks to
do so. But how, Walt, oh how could you assume that I would be so incredibly
dumb as to do this in real time using an NLS four-track machine? It's
actually much more fun and edgy than that, trust me; it involves reversing
tracks and resampling data and recording dual channels at break-neck speeds!
You can double, triple, even quadruple the speed of the tape and get a
perfectly pitched MP3 file out the back end. My steps are truly forthcoming
on how to do this. I've been doing it incessantly for a week now with total
success, so I'm' ready to truly draft the steps. I wanted to test
everything and make sure I really knew what I was doing before I wrote. I
promise, despite the sworn affidavits and verbal testimony of others, I'm
truly not so dumb as to think converting those tapes in real time is somehow
advantageous. <smile>
Someone else asked about the size: I've converted these tapes to 24 KBPS
MP3 files, and the average size of one track of a magazine is around 8 meg.
Once the Book Port transfer software works its magic, that 8 meg file
compresses down to about three megs, and I personally have no problem with
the quality of sound I'm getting. My steps will be on the list sometime
Sunday morning, and remember, these are very specific to Sound Forge.
Thanks again for expressing your concern and for writing to ask why anyone
would want to do what I'm doing. Let me just very publicly say for the
record that I'm not sharing these files, and their average life on my PC is
about 36 hours; their average lifespan on my Book Port is only slightly
higher than that. Additionally, I'd not likely share my files because I do
get a bit of crosstalk, since I'm using a stereo tape deck to do this and
I'm recording dual channels at once and at high speeds. So I know I'm
relatively tolerant of crosstalk in a file that I'm going to read once and
blow off. Others would probably be less so.
Kindest Regards,
Nolan
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