In a vain attempt to resurrect his youth, JOHN HARRIS has extracted the dust-coveed boxes containing his treasured record collection and plugged them into the 21st Century.

Like many balding, pot-bellied blokes approaching their half century, I have a shed that holds a treasure trove.

Spanning the 60s to the 80s, these crown jewels are 12-inch black disks grooved with some of the greatest sounds known to humankind.

The Rolling Stones, Peter Gabriel, Joni Mitchell and the sublimely irreverent Frank Zappa are just a few of the sparkling stars of this musical firmament.

As in many families, my sweet wife does not share my delight of this bounty - placing it in constant peril of being disposed of.

So last week, I fetched two huge boxes of LPs, and my old stereo - a 22-year-old Technics turntable, a Denon amplifier and a pair of Wharfedale speakers - and assembled it at my office.

Like the 50s jukebox in an advertising agency, I wanted to add retro class to my workplace and hear some great music.

Everything worked fine until I discovered the soundtrack to Godspell at a second-hand store at Mt Barker. My daughter is in the chorus of her school’s production of the show.

“Honey, I’ll just record it on CD for you,” I offered. That rash promise unleashed a torrent of googling how-to tips and a series of visits to the local electronics store.

Firstly, I had to connect the stereo to my computer. That required a $28, 10 metre, dual RCA plug cable, that ran from the Tape Out plugs on the back of the amp. A $4 adaptor converted the RCA connectors to a 3.5 mm line-in plug for my PC’s sound card.

Unfortunately, the computer casing stopped the squat plug inserting fully, sending me back to Dick Smiths for a $15, two metre extension cable for the line-in plug.

The next step was to actually record the sound. After research, I chose the Audacity audio recording freeware, which I already use for recording radio interviews. This allows me to set recording levels and quality for each stereo channel.

It also revealed my stylus was stuffed, requiring a new $44 needle from T&G ProMedia in North Adelaide.

I recorded the entire Godspell album as a single “track”, but if you’re particular about ripping a CD, you can record each track individually.

The final step was burning the recording file to a CD ROM. For this, I use the Nero recording program, although I could have used programs such as iTunes.

I’ll let you know if it was worth the effort after Godspell works its magic.

John Harris is managing director of Impress Media Australia. You can view his website at www.johnharris.net.au.

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