Preparations
There are some preparations to do before kicking off the work:
- Fetch and read the manuals for the programs and other gear you are going to use.
- Check the electrical connection to your turntable.
There is a hum (50 or 60 Hz) which may depend on how the record player is connected to the electrical outlet. Start your record player (without dropping the needle), and then start for instance Audacity for recording. Check the input level indicator, turn the contact in the opposite direction and check the indicator again. Chose the position which gave you the minimum level of noise. Maybe you can lower the hum with about 3 decibel this way? - Stop all system sounds in the Windows control panel. This may depend on what interface and drivers you are using, but I think it is good practise anyway because there is a risk that the recording freezes when a system sound appears.
- Decide a folder structure for how to store the music files during your work and where they should be kept and archived when you are done,
A suggestion on how to organise is found on this page.