Salvaging 4-Track Cassette Tracks as MP3s
Having written songs and recorded them on a used 4-track recorder since the mid-1990s, I was ecstatic to find new software that enables the user to successfully transform original cassette tape recordings (or LPs, etc.) into MP3s. (Now, this capability has probably been around for some time, but it’s new to me!) …I was worried these old songs would eventually fade away due to tape death, weathering, or lack of tape players in the future. To my surprise, Best Buy and other retailers sell very basic software (Roxio Easy LPs to MP3s, $69.99) for PC users that capture pre-recorded audio, allowing minimal sound enhancement and editing. Even a technologically challenged person like me could understand the simple 10-page instruction booklet. All I needed to meet was the minimum system requirements: Windows XP Home edition or higher, Internet Explorer 7 or higher, and iTunes or and Windows Media Player version 11 or higher. Done.
So, I spent several hours practicing the art of switching over my fuzzy, nearly forgotten original 4-track recordings done by a much younger me and saving them as digital audio files I will save for my kids to enjoy. Although the tracks are mono and focused mainly in your left ear—(hey, 16-year-old Leslie Benson has no concept of proper digital recording techniques)—I am happy to share my songs (just for fun) with you. …AKA: Please forgive the cheesy, auto drumbeat and the lo-fi quality. Thanks! Most of these are just unedited, first thoughts the world has not yet heard. Enjoy!
All songs © 1997-2011 Leslie Benson.
- “Slow Boat to China” © 1998 Leslie Benson (flute, backing vocals) with Matt Blair on guitar/vocals. …Finally: You get to hear me play my flute!
Click here to listen: Slow Boat to China – by Leslie Benson with Matt Blair
- “Love Song for a Stranger” © 2000 Leslie Benson.
Click here to listen: Love Song for a Stranger – by Leslie Benson
- “Fixed” © 2000 Leslie Benson with words by JPM.
Click here to listen: Fixed – by Leslie Benson with JPM
- “I’ve Got the Blues” © 2000 Leslie Benson with guitar by Will Archer.
Click here to listen: I’ve Got the Blues – by Leslie Benson with Will Archer
- “Hanging My Head” © 2000 Leslie Benson
Click here to listen: “Hanging My Head” by Leslie Benson
- “Corriendo de los Pensamientos” © 2000 Leslie Benson
Click here to listen: “Corriendo de los Pensamientos” by Leslie Benson
- “Wild Abandon” © Leslie Benson 2002. This is the original version of this song, which my band, Irene & Reed, rewrote and rerecorded in 2010. The revised track will be released on our upcoming second album, to be released in 2011.
Click here to listen: Wild Abandon I – by Leslie Benson
- “Back to You” © Leslie Benson 2002 (featuring guest pianist Todd Herbert of Dayton, Ohio)
Click here to listen: Back to You – by Leslie Benson with Todd Herbert
- “Wine & Whiskey” © Leslie Benson 2002 (featuring guest pianist Todd Herbert of Dayton, Ohio). This is the original version of this song, which my band, Irene & Reed, rewrote and rerecorded in 2009.
Click here to listen: Wine & Whiskey – by Leslie Benson with Todd Herbert
- “Down” © Leslie Benson 2002
Click here to listen: Down – by Leslie Benson
- “Hold Onto Me” © Leslie Benson 2002
Click here to listen: Hold Onto Me – by Leslie Benson
- “Show Me the Way to Love” © Leslie Benson 2002
Click here to listen: Show Me the Way to Love – by Leslie Benson
- “The Broken Door” © Music by Leslie Benson, Words by Wolfgang Conrad (R.I.P.) 2002
Click here to listen: The Broken Door – by Leslie Benson covering a poem by Wolfgang Conrad
- “A Slap to the Soul” © Music by Leslie Benson, Words by Wolfgang Conrad (R.I.P.) 2002
Click here to listen: A Slap to the Soul – by Leslie Benson covering a poem by Wolfgang Conrad
Lastly, here’s my cover of The Animals’ version of “House of the Rising Sun,” with piano accompaniment by Todd Herbert, 2002.
Click here to listen: House of the Rising Sun – by The Animals as covered by Leslie Benson with Todd Herbert
CHECK BACK FOR MORE SONGS!!!
