I just posted this to the Blind and Fine subreddit. I wrote about it earlier, but this is much simpler and focused more on a specific program and an alternative.
Let me start by saying that I am far more familiar and comfortable with analogue audio equipment than digital. My extent of digital recording is using Virtual Recorder to record mp3s and MPCHC to play them, or using a portable recorder like the Milestone 112 ACE or the Olympus DM-720-770. So most of these terms are new to me. That said, to make a very long story short, I have a personal project in which I am attempting to make some acoustic recordings sound like early electric ones. Basically, less tinny and a bit clearer. Obviously I'm not expecting 2026 quality, but 1926 or early 1930's would be nice. I first thought this needed to be done with frequency restoration, since acoustic media, be it disks or cylinders, always fail to record certain ones. But I found that the very few programs designed for this are inaccessible with NVDA. Then, I learned that I can simply use an equalizer and an exciter and/or saturator to do essentially the same thing. I decided to try Reaper. I installed it, along with the Osara and SWS. I was able to load a file and get into the equalizer to change the numbers in the bands as a low and high shelf (this most likely equates to bass and treble). But it seems that the volume is set to 0, because even when loading a file for the first time, when I hit space, it doesn't play. I can't find the volume controls either. When I hit tab and shift+tab, there are numbers, but none appear to be volume. Can anyone help me? Is there a much simpler program that I can use? If not, can anyone recommend an analogue setup for me? It doesn't need to be new at all, just affordable (under $200). I don't need to worry about accessibility there, since it would all be knobs and sliders.
#accessibility #AcousticRecordings #analog #analogue #blind #digital #FrequencyRestoration #music #NVDA #phonographs #Reaper #recordings #records #restoration #sound #technology