Technique to Fix Trumpet Distortion

[Marc Hildebrant]

Group,

I came up a method that removed some distortion from trumpets.

In the beginning of the song "Pistol Packing Mama" by Al Dexter, the record has a loud trumpet part (muted but still loud). The sound had a lot of distortion (tearing type of sound).

While the continuous filter with artifact suppression helped, it still was present.

I used the EZ Impulse filter first then the CNF.

I found that if I used the median filter first, then EZ Impulse, then Continuous Noise Filter with Artifact suppression on, the trumpet distortion was removed !
With the "keep residual" checked, you could even hear the trumpet distortion "tearing" sound.

The key to the distortion reduction seems to have been the use of the median filter ( 8/0) first and I'm not sure why.

Marc

[Craig Maier]

Hi Marc,

Interesting discovery, indeed. Was the trumpet distortion native to the original recording.

Craig

[Brian]

The mute in the bell causes a lot of waveform distortion. I wonder if this might make it easier for this filter package to home-in on the area you wanted worked on?

[Marc Hildebrant]

In the source ?

Craig,

I'm not sure if the distortion was original to the recording.
Someday, I'll get a good microscope to examine the record grooves.

The record was made around 1943 and came from a stack of records from jukeboxe's. I'm sure that it had a lot of play time....the sound was a big hit in the 1940's.

By the way, I used the same method on the beginning of "Collegiate" , a 1920's song. In the case of Collegiate, it was recorded just at the beginning of the electric process and could have been recorded with the distortion.

The method helped a lot with Collegiate but some distortion remained...thus I think it was present at the recording process.

Marc

[Marc Hildebrant]

Muted Bell

Brian,

Yes indeed...the mute on the trumpet makes for a very unique waveform.

When using the CNF, the "digital artifacts" that are sometimes made can have a sound like the muted trumpet at times, which makes for a difficult time when trying to properly set the CNF up !

Marc

[Craig Maier]

Marc,

My question was unclear. I meant was the distortion introduced by the noise reduction process or was it native to the physical record that you transferred?

Craig

[Marc Hildebrant]

Craig,

The distortion was from the original source.

Regards,
Marc

[Craig Maier]

Hi Marc,

Thanks. Muted trumpets were difficult to record without distortion in those days because of the fast rise-times associated with the waveform. The slew rate of the cutting head and its power amplifier were limited to the extent that they often could not accurately follow that sort of signal. Of course, worn records can also produce that sort of distortion on muted trumpets because of the low mechanical compliance associated with early players. Fast rise time signals could just become gouged out by the player stylus. This occurred because of the early player systems intertia working against the high velocity of these types of recorded signals.

Craig

[DougMac]

Collegiate

By the way, I used the same method on the beginning of "Collegiate" , a 1920's song.
Marc

Marc, who's the artist on your copy of "Collegiate"?

I've restored "Pistol Packin' Mama". I don't remember a lot of distortion on the opening trumpet, I'll have to check when I get home.

[Marc Hildebrant]

DougMac

Collegiate was performed by Fred Waring and his group.
Great song, and one of the first to use electric recording.

It was engineered to sound good on the new acoustic record players developed by Victor.

Marc

[Craig Maier]

Probably by Fred Waring and his Pennsylvanians.

[Brian]

Probably by Fred Waring and his Pennsylvanians.

Careful Craig -- you're dating yourself!

[Craig Maier]

hmmmmmm - - - -

I'll have to remember to pretend not to know these things so that I can remain young!

[Marc Hildebrant]

Music is Timeless

Craig and other's

I have always enjoyed music from all ages. I do have a soft spot though for 1920's music.

By the way, I wasn't born then....

Marc

[Craig Maier]

Quoting Marc:

"By the way, I wasn't born then...."

---------------

Just for the record (no pun intended) I was not either.



Craig