Apparently, this Friday the radio streaming website Yesterday USA will be playing a lost Barrymore “Carol” from 1947. This is not to be confused with the MGM recording Barrymore made the same year, but is instead a “Mayor of the Town” Carol that hasn’t been heard in 73 years!
Would anyone on here be willing to record this? I am listing the details below from an online advertisement. I am going to try to figure something out, but if someone has a good audio program they are familiar with, it would be preferred. This is going to be a really special event, and I want to make sure it is captured if possible!
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Scott, do you have any more info on the broadcast please? The problem is that yesterdayusa.com has TWO channels, red and blue, and I can only record one (at least I hope I can. I'm going to play with Audacity today). The website is completely uninformative- it lists the 10:30 Friday slot for both channels as "The Friday Night Live Show" which could be the same thing, but could also be different. Just want to make sure I catch it. Thanks!
I think I’ll probably go with the Blue channel as that is the one I put on the other night. For the live broadcasts, such as the one they are doing tonight, I have a feeling it will be broadcast on both channels.
As for adjusting the recording volume, there is a little slider on the right side of the screen on Audacity where you can adjust. I was able to Google it and found a nice pic on Google images that illustrated what to do. I would definitely recommend doing a dry run today with another show on Radio Yesterday. I know testing things out the other day helped me get my bearings straight!
I love learning to use my tools better, thank you! Did you know about the "show clipping" feature in the View menu? I did a dry run with another show & I actually had to set the recording volume down to .1 in order for it not to clip!! My playback sounded ok, but then it was a fuzzy old show so that may also have affected the quality of the recording. Regardless, I'll send you the best file I get. :-) My email is themadblonde@gmail.com in case it's easier to reach me that way.
I reached out to a friend who is involved with this event, and he said he is not sure. However, he said there will be several minutes of talking before the Carol begins, so there should be enough time to figure out which channel it is on, so that it can be recorded. Apparently they are going to discuss how this lost episode was found, and they’ll likely chat a little bit about the history of the Barrymore Carols, the Mayor of the Town program, and the supporting cast for this particular performance. Should be a most informative and interesting event!
Excellent! Timing is a little tricky for me- my friend is broadcasting his performance of Carol for the first time EXACTLY before this show starts. I'm going to set up my laptop to record the iTunes feed on Audacity (just tested it, seems to work) and start it a little early 'cause I can edit later and I don't want to miss John's closing- it's always so wonderful.
BTW found two fun Carol related podcasts/interviews online: a 2015 interview with Wichman (who apparently wrote the book on OTR Christmas Carol productions) https://www.mixcloud.com/sheptapes/wbai-goldenageofradio-dec-07-dic...
and one on early TV productions of Carol: https://www.stitcher.com/show/joanna-wilsons-christmas-tv-history/e...
Thanks for motivating me to get my Carol fix early!
Thanks for the link to that interview with Craig Wichman. His book “Standing at the Spirit of Your Elbow” is my go-to for A Christmas Carol audio research. I bought it the year it came out, and it has been an invaluable tool on many occasions!
Are you all set for recording tonight’s show? I played around with Audacity a little the other night, and I believe I will be able to record this as well. One tip that I came across is to make sure you adjust the volume level that you are recording at ahead of time to ensure that no clipping occurs. I tested this out by playing another broadcast from the Radio Yesterday site and I found I had to lower the recording volume slightly so that the audio wave didn’t drift into the red. Otherwise, if you record at too loud of a volume, the audio will distort during louder sections....
I’m thinking we’ll compare our recordings after tonight, and whichever one seems to have turned out better, we can post on here. I’m going to do one recording that includes Craig’s intro, and then I’ll probably do a separate file that includes only the “Carol” performance, for those purists out there who only like the actual audio presentation.
I am so excited to hear this broadcast....can’t wait for 10:30 pm to get here!
I am reaching out to a friend involved with the broadcast to inquire. I do know that the host Craig Wichman is doing a brief intro, where they will discuss how this lost episode was located. At the very least, this intro should provide us with enough time to figure out which channel the show is on, and by the time we figure it out, we should be able to hit record before the Carol begins.
Hopefully, my friend will respond though, as I do want to try and record the intro as well, as it should be very interesting to hear the story of how they found this Carol after 73 years!
Thanks for tip of
If I knew how to record from my computer, I would. Let me check with a friend who might be able to help me figure it out. Regardless, I definitely need to hear this. Thanks for the notice.