Help...

pistonsvox

Yo. So I was doing my usual monthly tv show recording yesterday... 3/4's of the show tracked already. I look at my laptop just after one of the bands finished to see on the screen "Live unexpectedly quit". I slightly panic.. but when I start up ableton again I see the lovely "Do you want to recover your files?" Click yes... no files there. I go into where the files are tracked, try importing them to Ableton again, "this file cannot be read [does not appear to be a valid AIFF file]" The files have 662.6MB each and all, its just that I cant open them.

And it so happens the band who were playing when Ableton quit...was a band from Galway, and we had no time to record em again.:rolleyes:

Anybody know how you can get these files working cos this is my weak point in sound engineering haha.

DamagedTrax

when you go into the audio folder thru the window/OS system, what type are the files within (do they have a suffix? .wav .aiff etc)


im not 100% on how ableton deals with files but some DAWs need to do a little extra conversion under the hood when a file is finished recording. if ableton quit unexpectedly this conversion may not have happened.


try opening the files with a dedicated audio editor (soundforge or wavelab or similiar) and re-save them as .wav or .aiff.

this may work for you.

krd

The files are probably (say definitely) corrupt. It doesn't mean they're completely screwed. But it can be complicated to recover them. I used to have recovery tools - but they're complicated to use anyway. You might something online that works. Some sound editors may force the file.

There's a guy up in Phibsborough who does data recovery.

When that message comes up on Ableton "Ableton has unexpectedly quit" don't click the OK button. Nearly every time you'll lose your unsaved files.

Kill live using the task manager.

DamagedTrax

krd wrote: »

Some sound editors may force the file.

soundforge seems to have the most inter file compatibility. ive recovered what i presumed were corrupted wavs using it just be simply dropping the file into it and just saving in the correct format.

the real problem will be based around when live crapped out on you.

you say you noticed at the end of the recording. this could mean it recorded 2 seconds and then died or it could mean you got everything and then decided to die. if its the first then theres nothing you can do realistically.

krd

DamagedTrax wrote: »

soundforge seems to have the most inter file compatibility. ive recovered what i presumed were corrupted wavs using it just be simply dropping the file into it and just saving in the correct format.

Yeah, I think Soundforge is good for recovery.

I think they problem - and the problem with Ableton when it craps out with that particular bug - it doesn't close the sound files. AIFFs need to be closed properly, with the correct info put in the file header - if it doesn't match applications can refuse to open it. The files are mostly ok - just the header info doesn't match the file. Some sound editors will just attempt to open the file - they'll force it.

Neurojazz

You can also contact Ableton themselves for recovery.

pistonsvox

DamagedTrax wrote: »

when you go into the audio folder thru the window/OS system, what type are the files within (do they have a suffix? .wav .aiff etc)
.

the files have the suffix ".aif" not "aiff" and say they have 662 mb each in them. Ive tried opening them in Audacity and itunes etc but they still have error messages. Should I try convert them to wav?


Cheers for help anyway, ill try everyway possible to get these files, otherwise im screwed! Yeah I think It did crap out before the band started because I looked at the time the file was modified etc.

DamagedTrax

if it crapped out before the band started then you're screwed im afraid.

there's something seriously amis if you're getting file sizes of over 600mb. a stereo file at 48000 and running 4 mins is only around 90mb

pistonsvox

Yeah the band wouldnt be there at all ha. They're 662mb each because it was 3/4's the show audio. They dont have time for me to start a new session each time an artist comes on to have their interview and do their performance.

pistonsvox

Managed to solve my own problem after a lot of googling. Downloaded a programme called Soundhack, managed to change the file header and save a copy. Thank christ