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How to Record From a Tape Player With Ableton

Many musicians and sound artists record audio onto cassette tape, especially in the context of a field recording. Converting the audio on the tape to digital audio using Ableton Live makes it easier to edit and manipulate. Using this digital audio workstation, you can crop and trim the audio, apply noise reduction and combine it with other audio in Ableton's multitrack Arrangement View. To record from a tape player into Ableton Live, you'll need to connect it to the computer, then enable it as a recording source in both Windows and Ableton.

Things You'll Need

  • 1/8-inch to 1/8-inch stereo cable
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Instructions

    • 1

      Connect the headphone jack on the tape player to the "Line In" jack on your sound card using the 1/8-inch cable. Turn on the tape player, if necessary.

    • 2

      Click the "Start" button and type "Sound" into the Search box. Click the "Sound" icon that appears under the "Control Panel" heading.

    • 3

      Click the "Recording" tab. Click "Line-In," then click the "Set Default" button at the bottom of the window. Click "OK."

    • 4

      Launch Ableton Live. Click "Options," then "Preferences." Click the "Audio" tab. Click the "Input Config" button next to "Channel Configuration."

    • 5

      Click to highlight both "1 (mono) & 2 (mono)" and "1/2 (stereo)," if they are not already highlighted in yellow. Click "OK." Close the "Preferences" window.

    • 6

      Click the "Arm" button, which looks like a circle inside a rectangle, at the bottom of the track labeled "1 Audio." Press "Tab" to open Arrangement View. Click the "Record" button at the top of the program window to arm Arrangement View for recording.

    • 7

      Click the "Play" button in Ableton. Press the "Play" button on the tape player. Click the "Stop" button when the recording is finished.

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