Question re recording music from instrument

[madamesilverspurs]

My recently acquired Lowrey Jubilee organ has recording capability, with a slot to receive a floppy disk. So, once I locate some blank floppies, how would I go about transferring the recordings to thumb drives or other devices? My laptop doesn't take floppies, so I'm kinda stuck. Experience? Suggestions?

As always, thanks in advance!


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[OneBlueDotS-Carolina]

1. What is your purpose for recording?

There should be 2 stereo input & output RCA jacks.

I would use the stereo jacks output to run straight into your laptop, if you are using a laptop. You can buy RCA to mini phono Y plugs on Amazon for under $10...

[walkingman]

2. I think the easiest way would be to get a USB to floppy drive (cheap)

and then just move the audio to your computer.

[Effete Snob]

13. Assuming it is audio

How much audio can one realistically record on a floppy given the audio data formats of the time?

If we are talking about 3.5 inch floppies - with a data capacity of 1.44 MB - I mean, that’s not enough for an mp3 of a typical song.

Most likely the floppy is recording some proprietary organ control sequence (like a MIDI file, but not compatible with anything) for the organ - I.e. the stops, key and pedal inputs - and which works more like a player piano file than an audio file.

Now there ARE organ emulators which can reproduce the audio (once the data format is converted from whatever the organ engineers found to be convenient).

[Hoyt]

3. The Jubilee has line-outputs. As first responder posted, you could use that

to record to laptop, phone, or another digital recorder. Good luck, I bet the organ will be a lot of fun.

[madamesilverspurs]

6. Thanks, it IS fun!

There is a row of jacks on the back of the organ. But I can't read the labels, I need to find a flashlight as they're labelled in that damnable raised black lettering on a black background (and would I love to have a conversation with whoever thought up that combo!).


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[Effete Snob]

7. You may be able to Google up an old manual

Which might identify the gazintas and gazouttas

[Effete Snob]

8. Here it is...

https://www.manualslib.com/products/Lowrey-Jubilee-Lc-30-11124913.html

I’d be curious about the disk recording format, and what exactly it stores. Does it store a control file for the organ to play back, or does it store audio, and in what format?

[madamesilverspurs]

11. Thanks!

But at present your question is beyond my ability to answer. I'm still learning about this new-fangled machine, I learned to play on my grandmother's pump organ; it's rather like going from a rowboat to an aircraft carrier, both float, but that's about the only shared similarity...


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[Effete Snob]

12. Okay

Long story short, merely getting a piece of hardwares to accept a floppy and connect to your computer is no assurance that you will get any usable data from it.

You might go with using the microphone input on your computer to connect with the line out analog on the organ.

[CentralMass]

4. Some links.

https://www.google.com/search?q=floppy+drive+to.usb&oq=floppy+drive+to.usb&aqs=chrome..69i57j0i22i30l8.9473j0j4&client=ms-android-verizon&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#scso=_renIYeePG_HM0PEPofmIkAw3:0

[madamesilverspurs]

5. Thanks!

One link mentions that Best Buy carries such a device. I might just have to go there so they can tell me how it works, I'm totally not up on techno jargon.


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[Effete Snob]

9. But merely getting a drive may be insufficient

If the organ uses its own disk data format, then it may not produce disks which will be meaningfully understood by the computer.

If you specify a model number, I’d like to see just what it is storing and in what format. If it is a control file for the organ, then you will also need software on your computer to emulate the organ in order to produce music.

It may be that going with analog conversion, from the audio outputs would be a better option if the data on disk is not what you are assuming it to be.

[madamesilverspurs]

16. Found the model number

on the last page of the book that came with it:

Model LC/30 serial number LC30 109F7 97461


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[Effete Snob]

17. I'll do some digging and report back

I love old electronic gear

[Effete Snob]

18. Yep

As indicated below, the disk doesn’t store music. It stores a data file representing the settings and inputs applied to the organ, which can be run through the organ to recreate the performance. The data format is not even compatible with other Lowrey organs, let alone your laptop.

Running the audio out into the analog audio port or using an audio-USB interface of some kind would be a more fruitful approach.

[madamesilverspurs]

19. Thanks for all the information, it's very much appreciated!

But I'm not going to do anything further with it tonight seeing as how I've already taken my evening meds and things get a bit fuzzy.

On a side note, I want to let you know that your screen name gives me chuckles. Way back in the day I participated in an anti-war march in the town where my parents were living; my sign read "Effete snobs for peace". My very republican father was not at all pleased, especially when I told him that I planned to carry it again, which I did.


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[Effete Snob]

20. Better than a nattering nabob of negativism

People forget what an atrocious man Spiro Agnew was.

[Effete Snob]

10. For example...

Here is a device that can take RCA audio plug inputs and ship it into your laptop as a USB audio input, that you can then record with any audio software you may use.

https://www.amazon.com/DIGITNOW-Capture-Grabber-Cassette-Converter/dp/B079CBGDST/ref=asc_df_B079CBGDST/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=309743296044&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=12120921499093878561&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9007479&hvtargid=pla-555147695724&psc=1

(Audacity is a great freeware audio editor)

[ProfessorGAC]

21. Agreed On Audacity

Very easy to use, free & plenty of features.
Another suggestion for audio to digital is Vidbox. I got one for digital conversion of my mixdowns.
All the other moderately priced converters were on indeterminate backorder due to COVID. (Behringer, for instance)
Works well, and has the side benefit of doing a video feed too, if someone wants to convert an old VHS or a DVD to MPEG.

[royable]

14. You might also consider an analog link in the chain.

If you have good external speakers on the organ, and a quiet location in which to make a recording, you could try using a ubs microphone connected to a computer (running audio software) to record the organ performance. Alternately, you could use a digital audio recorder like a Tascam which could save the audio file in mp3 or wav formats, and then connect the recorder to a computer by a cable to transfer the audio file to the computer.

You might also find the answer to the questions that others here have brought up, of whether the file recorded on the Lowry's floppy disk is an audio file or instead a control file, a set of coded organ-playing instructions, within the Lowry group of the Organ Forum, as mentioned in the last comment on this page:

https://organforum.com/forums/forum/electronic-organs-midi/home-organs/48953-lowrey-stardust-recorded-music-floppy-disk-question

Good luck!

[ZZenith]

15. Good news and bad news -

The bad news is that the floppy disc will only record MIDI information, which tells the device which note you hit and when, how hard you pressed that key down, etc, and then plays that information back to a device that can translate MIDI information.

The good news is that it has an “aux out” stereo channel which will send audio information out to a separate device like a hand-held recorder, cell phone, laptop, etc. I can’t tell exactly from the manual but it would appear to be “1/4” stereo output” jacks, and they are the holes in the middle of the seven jacks on the back. As you look at the back panel you will see the following from left to right:

(MIDI thru)(MIDI out)(MIDI in)(Aux Out Right)(Aux Out Left)(Aux In Right)(Aux Out L)

The three MIDI jacks on the left will be quite a bit larger than the four 1/4” jacks on the right. The cord you would need to go into a laptop from the Aux Out Left and Right would look like this:

https://www.parts-express.com/Hosa-CMP-153-3.5mm-TRS-to-Dual-1-4-TS-Stereo-Breakout-3-ft.-241-9010?gclid=Cj0KCQiAwqCOBhCdARIsAEPyW9m3IdXb7h119C1rfnOXOnyiWM7f7yyQzxPMRy02Ueakkz6Yma7FmxgaAvzTEALw_wcB

Hope that helps - always happy to answer gear questions!