Frequently Asked Questions

Richard Seth Abramson Audio Associates

Professional Audio Services
SethAudio.com
DickAbramson.com

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What's the difference between a store-bought CD, and one you "burn" at home?

A commercial CD is "pressed" - in much the same manner as vinyl records were. First, a MASTER CD is made, and from that master, stampers are made. The digital "image" of the original audio is then mechanically stamped (or pressed) into the CD blank - made from a highly reflective mirror material. This material is totally different from a burnable CD (which has a coating of dye imbedded in the plastic, that can be burned away by a high powered laser).

Can I remove the singer's voice from a song?

Unfortunately the answer is "NO." It's impossible to completely remove a voice from a commercial recording; a "Phantom Voice" will always be in the background, which will usually interfere with your performance.

I have a Reel - to - Reel Tape; can I put it onto a CD? What is the process? Can you make a CD from a cassette?

First, a digital copy of your tape must be made. (This is a "real-time" operation, so if the tape is 1 hour in length, is will take an hour PLUS the initial setup time.) Once "digitized," indexing (or banding or tracking - putting the numbers on) needs to be done. If additional work needs to be performed (restoration, de-clicking, de-hissing, re-ordering of the selections), it is done at this point, in the digital domain. If copies are required, those copies will be derived from the master CD. Then, a Master is burned and delivered.

The recording I made with my pocket digital recorder has a lot of noise in the
background. Can that noise be reduced in order to hear the sonnd more clearly?

We can "de-noise" recordings in ANY format using the most advance noise
reduction technology available. Clicks and pops from Acetate and Vinyl recordings
can be manually eliminated.

Noise is defined a complex and unwanted audio artifact of the acoustic environment or the recording process. Different types of noise require different noise reduction solutions. In order to maximize the quality of the recovered audio: No single noise reduction technology can solve all noise problems. We have more than 10 different noise reduction solutions available: e.g. Cedar, Waves, Sonic, No-Noise, DINR, BNR etc.

Do you do Auditions for College Students and what's involved?

Having done many, many college audition recordings we're familiar with Colleges' unique requirements. Because students perform best in familiar surroundings, we prefer to record college auditions your home, school or place of worship - rather than our studio, because the studio experience can be so intimidating to non-professional performers. We'll record each piece multiple times to get the best performances and the CD's will be made from these "best takes."

What OTHER kinds of Auditions do you do?

Auditions for Professional Musicians, Opera Singers, Radio & TV Announcers, Voice Artists, Poets, Spoken Word (Audio Book) Personalities.

What about Mini-Discs? A friend recorded his Daughter's recital on a Mini-Disc recorder; Can you make a CD from the Mini-Disc?

Yes, we can make CD's from about every known recording format.