Transfering reel-to-reel tapes to Sonar - Can resample correct wrong speed/pitch/duration?

Friends and Cakewalk Pros:

I have a bunch of 1/4 inch reel tapes, that I used to make music on back in the analog era: small reels and big reels; 3 3/4, 7 1/2 & 15 ips speeds; mono, stereo and 4 track.

Here's the problem: sometimes on one tape there's different recordings at different speeds.  Also, the reel-to-reel deck that I'm using can't play back at 15 ips (just 3 3/4 and 7 1/2).

After I've dumped a tape into Sonar, is there any way I can select a section that is at playing at half, or double the correct speed and pitch, and somehow resample the selection, or do some other simple magic to change it to the correct pitch and duration?

Thanks for any advise and please forgive me if this is the wrong forum or the answer is already out there - I couldn't find it.

It's late and I've been smoking pot sipping Merlot since suppertime.

I have had some experience transferring reel to reel to digital.  I still have a huge library of analog tape masters from a previous era and not transferred all of them yet. I have experimented with transferring at different speeds etc and it is definitely best to transfer any tape at the original speed it was recorded at. Fortunately I still have all the machines that can do it.

I would not transfer all at 15 either, that won't sound great either. It is best to transfer at the exact speeds and track configurations as the original masters and not apply any processing at all to the final transfers. There must be some machines in your area that can still play these tapes. It is a matter of tracking them down.

There should be a minimum signal path between the tape machine and your audio interface. Then you can always process later is required with some EQ etc. The levels are the most important thing. You need to find the loudest point on the analog tape masters and make sure your levels are set so those parts are not clipping in any way.

If the tapes are very old they may need to be baked before you can attempt the transfer as well. You may not get too far before the shedding oxide becomes an issue, but hopefully your tapes are not at that point yet.

Thank you Jeff, I'll follow your advice.

I misread the OP as having all 15ips recordings.

Of course, record at original speeds.

You'd end up with the best sound quality by hiring someone to do the 15 ips transfers for you, using a 15 ips machine. I'd call around to some local studios. Even if they don't have the equipment chances are they know someone who does, perhaps even a hobbyist in the area. There are still a lot of Teac A-3340S's around. Mine sat in my garage for many years before I gave it away - sometimes I kinda wish I still had it!

Reading the OP's first post I get a feeling all these recordings were done on consumer tape decks. He mentions 4 track but I had a Akai 4 track that was only stereo - you flipped the tape over. They were the most common decks in the 70's. I still have a Sony that was my Dad's but it has issues ( well used)---------------As Jeff is saying, the configuration is most important and finding the exact machine can be harder if this is consumer playback that is needed. One thing is I don't recall any consumer decks running 15ips. That sounds like a 1/2 track deck.