Mary Coughlan - Under The Influence - Tape Conversion

I revisited a conversion that I made of Mary Coughlan - Under The Influence Compact Cassette ( see below). I had converted the music to a WAV file using Audacity. I removed all the tape hiss by using the noise removal function and chopped up the file into the individual tracks and labelled them using the add label function.

I rigged up a high quality portable cassette player which still works very well . I connected the line outputs to the line input on my PC.

Audacity made an almost perfect copy of this tape. Even though the tape deck had Dolby Noise reduction you could still hear some tape hiss between the tracks. Audacity has removed all of this hiss without affecting the quality of the music. When I playback the copied file I hear silence between the racks just as if I was playing a CD.

The music, however, still sounds as if a Cassette is playing. This highlights the resolving power of digital technology. The music sounds exactly the same from both sources. There is no doubt in my mind that multiple and sequential copies of a WAV file or a CD could be made digitally without  a deterioration in the quality of the  music. This would not be possible in analogue format with Cassettes or LP records for that matter.

It would not be possible to make multiple and sequential of MP3 files without a deterioration of sound quality either.

I can now play Mary Coughlan in our modern car or stream her music all over the house. The original cassette still plays well after all those years but when it finally gives up the ghost I can make another tape for the older car. The tape hiss will comeback, however. One of the advantages of a digital file is that I can keep a master copy. I hope my jalopy will last long enough to test out the new tape.

Compact Cassettes will probably survive for a long time into the future just like LPs as there will always be someone who wants to play them. Let us hope that manufacturers will continue to make the tapes and the players. Maybe one day there will be a Cassette Tape revival.

I went to see Mary Coughlan live in 1987 just after the Under the Influence Album was released. She is one of the best performers I have had the pleasure of listening to live. She has a powerful, sultry and husky voice which is just right for jazz singing. There was no " lip-synching". She could perform well in a small jazz club without amplification. How many modern pop singers could do that?

Her backing musicians were completely professional .The sound engineers brought out the best of her voice  even though they were using equipment primitive by today's standards. The full dynamic range of her voice could be appreciated.

She always sings great songs which are full of emotion and which tell stories. It was a musical treat listening to her. The"Under the Influence" album is a perfect example of her work; it is raunchy and sexy. "The Ice Cream Man dishes out more than ice cream. "My Land Is Too green " is a wonderful political statement that could only be delivered by a feisty  Irish woman.


 http://www.allmusic.com/album/under-the-influence-mw0000336965