In Pentecostal music, very few names are as well known as the Manguns. President Bill Clinton named Mickey Mangun and the Pentecostals of Alexandria as favorites. A lot know about them through his connection. But it all started with a recording by a humble God fearing woman, Vesta Mangun.
She's still a powerhouse woman of God, still preaching and evangelizing. Her remarkable ministry has touched millions. There is no end to stories, information, or testimonies to the power of this woman's music, books, and preaching. Somebody could write an entire blog about her ministry.
There is not a lot I can add to all that information. So I am going to tell you about my process to bring these from vinyl to digital for you to enjoy. If you want to learn more on how to do this, read on. If not, the link to download the record is below, and please enjoy!
I've been transferring vinyl to digital for about 15 years or more now. When I started out, I did not know what I was doing. My early transfers were awful, but at the time I thought they were fine. What I have learned about the process has been trial and error.
I have developed the process over time and am confident in my process. I would put my projects up against any professional service out there. I will not call out any names, but I've ordered some rare Pentecostal records on CD. Some direct from the minister or some direct from the record label. One album I received sounded atrocious. And one of the tracks ended in the middle of the song! The volume levels were too low, as well. I asked them why their CD sounded so terrible (and I paid good money for it...as much as a new album would cost.) Their basic response was, "What do you expect? It's an album from the 1960s."
There was another company I ordered CDs from. They sent CD-Rs without any track listing or album art. Also, the volume levels were all over the place. One CD was barely audible, even with the volume turned up. Another CD was so loud the music was distorted. Others had skips over entire segments of the songs and nobody did a thing to fix it. Their prices were not cheap, either.
Subpar, inferior, and all around frustrating. Why is it that I, with just a desktop computer, a turntable, and RCA cables, can transfer audio and churn out better quality files?
To add to my frustration, I obtained a copy of that rare album from the 60's and did my own transfer from vinyl to digital. Granted, the record is just in good condition, so it's been well worn. It's hardly a copy I would want to master a CD transfer from. The final results were so much clearer than the CD I paid for. It was obviously not because the record was from the 1960's.
So if I can provide a few tips I've learned over the years, I feel I would be doing a service. I run the RCA cables direct from the device, whether it's a turntable or my cassette player, into the audio in on my sound card in the back of my computer. There's no buzz sound. If you are getting a buzzing sound, you're not grounded. It could be your turntable (older turntables and cheaper ones are not grounded on their own.) Or it could be your sound card if you know it's not the turntable. (If you don't hear the buzzing when the turntable runs through speakers, it's the sound card.) The goal is for no hiss or buzzing in the final output. That is is a huge. Even if you use noise reduction, it can diminish the final audio that has the hiss or buzz in it. So best to eliminate that at the source.
Next, I record it into Audacity. I love Audacity because it's free and the tools to fix the audio are fantastic. The "click removal" is essential in preserving old audio such as this. You can also reduce the surface vinyl noise with noise removal. There are other tools, and and the other tools are trial and error. You can always look at You Tube videos on each tool. Cassette tapes often need more work than vinyl. The bass and treble settings help with muddy sounding tapes. Audacity is a fantastic tool, and I highly recommend it.
I continue to use Nero Wave Recorder for final tweaking of the source material to bring it to your ears. It's far easier in Nero to adjust the volume levels. And that is VERY important to me. I ensure that the volume levels on all the albums I transfer are the same on every song. As with anything, this is also learned through trial and error. I've even increased some quieter parts of songs to match the volume levels of the rest of the song. It's time consuming, but I feel the final quality I produce is worth it.
You can adjust the volume in Audacity, but it's a bit time consuming. You have to wait for the program to rewrite the entire file. Then, if it's not where you want it to be, you have to do it all over again. It's too time consuming in there for me.
I also use Nero to split the files into individual tracks. I use about a three second intro of silence before the song starts and two or three seconds after the songs ends. Fade in and fade out the silent parts, too. There is still slight surface noise. It's best to increase the volume than just start the track with that background noise.
My methods may be time consuming. It's not as easy as just dropping the needle and saving whatever result comes out, no questions asked. If that's all you're going to do, and it's for personal use only, then that's fine, I guess. But I like my entire digital music library to have uniform volume levels. That way, if I burn a CD or listen to the songs on another device, one song is not absurdly loud while another is barely audible and I have to crank the volume to hear it.
If you want to learn more about my process, or want some screen shots of what I do, contact me and I will help you more. I have developed a high standard for what I expect from a vinyl/cassette to digital project. If you want to share your files with others, these are great tips. For companies and ministers trying to sell their old records on CD, these tips are essential. Stop selling inferior product. I am here to help you if you need it. I want to contact the company with the record from the 60s and offer my services to transfer their entire library. Who knows if they would even take me up on it.
But that's a little insight to my process and the tools I use. I will add that I use a turntable that is already grounded, and that's essential, as well. If you use a turntable that is not grounded, you're going to get a buzz in the final result. Furthermore, do not run the cables from the headphone output. You can get more hiss that way. It's always best to run line direct from the output in the back. I recommend the Audio Technica line of turntables. I am not a fan of Crosley or cheaper turntables. I also don't like to use the USB ports. Line direct is always best for me. I have an AT-LP 120-USB turntable (but I don't use the USB ports.) I find it's better. And you can hear the clarity and results in my labor of love in the final recordings.
As for the record information, I believe this is Vesta's first record. Judging from the age of little Anthony Mangun on the back cover, it's safe to say this record likely came out around 1960 or a bit before. It also features the vocal talents of a young Murrell and Joan Ewing and Ruby McKellar! Quite a treasure!
Here is the latest project I want to share with you. Please download HERE.
