I still collect old TV themes......

[poltr1]

Earlier today, one of my LJ friends mentioned that they were looking for some early TV shows for a co-worker. The post reminded me that I had been looking for a copy of the original theme from ABC's Monday Night Football from the early 1970s. A few minutes searching on Google and YouTube yielded the result. Score! I also found the theme that was used in the late 1970s, and the 1980s. And I got the NBC peacock bumper from the 1960s. (The one from the 1950s is also there, but it was the first time I"d seen it.)


I've been collecting old TV themes for years. For my 7th birthday, my parents bought me a cassette tape recorder. I began taping things like TV programs (and their themes), music off the radio, and my voice. In 1977, I did some editing with the tapes I had and made my own archive, which I called "The Best Bits From 'Old'". Granted, it wasn't archival quality then, and it's probably degraded since then.

I've been looking for some software that I can use to digitize and enhance these audio tape recordings, and bring them into the digital age. Any suggestions? What I already have is Sound Forge and Audacity, a cassette player, and a mini-amp. Also, what format shall I use -- CD audio or MP3? I'm leaning toward MP3 because it's more compact. I think I can fit several hours' worth of sound on a CD if I save them in MP3 format.

I used to think I could get money from these recordings. Now, I think the joy is in the sharing and not the hoarding.

Comments

[thatcrazycajun.livejournal.com]

You and I seem to share an affinity for old show themes and network bumpers. I have a whole YouTube playlist of this stuff...including the parody "We're Loud!" from the same studio that recorded music for NBC's "Proud As A Peacock" bumps. I used to tape stuff off TV myself, including whole STAR TREK episodes.

I can't advise you on software or format, alas, as I am looking for info on making music of my own this way. But I do look forward to when you have stuff to share.

[hms42]

I use audacity to convert my tape collection to mp3, but I do save the .wav files of the conversion for future usage. (I have missed songs in the past and it was fairly easy to fix due to having the file on hand.)

As for the capacity of a CD with mp3s, I used to regularly put about 12 tapes onto a CD. (About 12 hours of audio.)

[redaxe.livejournal.com]

A couple of links for you:

Yasin dot be's got TV intros, mostly from the 70s and 80s, in WMV format for download.

TV Timewarp has lots of intros, largely from British TV. Mostly if not totally WMV files.

For audio, I agree with hms42; rip to WAV for archives and convert to MP3 for listening. Sure, it involves an extra step, but it's worth it. I recommend dbPowerAmp for batch conversion to MP3; it's what I use on my downloaded concerts.

(Edited to fix a spelling error.)