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T H E
T A P E
I S S U E Analog Recording in a Digital World Compression & Effects Mastering Advice Machine Maintenance Full Glossary Releasing Cassettes Tape Plug-Ins and more
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
VOLUME 25, ISSUE 5
T H E
T A P E
I S S U E
4. Letter From the Editor
26. Tape Machine Buyer’s Guide
6. A Brief History of Recording to Tape
28. 5 Ways to Incorporate Tape into Your Next Project
8. The Benefits of Recording to Tape
29. The Argument For Releasing Music on Cassette
10. Know Your Speed: A Primer on Magnetic Tape Speed
30. The Rise of the Cassette Culture
12. Curb Over-Editing in the Analog World
32. Releasing Tapes: A Label’s Perspective
14. A Producer’s Take on Tape in the Studio
34. How to Operate a Tape-Based Label
16. Record The Best Drums on Earth With Tape
36. The Austin Cassette Festival Takes Flight
18. Tape-Plug-ins For Digital Projects
38. Open Reel for the Audiophile: The Tape Project Q&A
20. Mastering on Tape: What to Know
41. Tape Decks For a Cause
22. Using Tape as a Studio Effect
42. How Home Taping Nearly Killed The Record Business
23. Tape-Based Projects: An Artist’s Perspective
44. Glossary of Terms & Phrases
24. Cover Story: The Howling Tongues Explore Analog Bliss
48: Flashback: AMPEX ATR-102 Tape Machine
PERFORMER MAGAZINE MAY 2015 3
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
Howdy, y’all! Welcome to a very special episode of Blossom… I mean, a very special issue of Performer. If Guardians Of The Galaxy has taught me anything, and let’s face it, I’d like to think it’s taught us all a little something about earthling/ space raccoon relations, it’s this: tape is cool again. Recording to tape, listening to tape, releasing tapes as a band. It’s all good – and as I’m not one to pass up an opportunity to capitalize on the latest craze you kids are into… well, here we are. In all seriousness, though, I think a lot of artists are re-discovering the magic that exists in a well-recorded, well-mastered tape-based project. And if that weren’t enough compound adjectives for you, I assure you there are plenty more to come in this issue. Along with tips for recording in an analog environment, how to use tape in the studio, how to prepare your project for the mastering phase, what tips and tricks you can apply to your own projects, how to look
for used multi-track tape machines and the best ways to clean and maintain them, plus advice from labels who are releasing music on cassette, topped off by a comprehensive glossary of all the terms and phrases you should know before you decide to take the magnetic plunge. An all-analog recording project is not only possible, but with the right know-how, it’s totally feasible on most any budget, and the results speak for themselves. For our money, the power of listening to great music on analog tape cannot be beat by any other format invented by man (or woman). Period. Enjoy! Benjamin Ricci, editor
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ABOUT US
CORRECTIONS
Performer Magazine, a nationally distributed musician’s trade publication, focuses on independent musicians, those unsigned and on small labels, and their success in a DIY environment. We’re dedicated to promoting lesser-known talent and being the first to introduce you to artists you should know about.
Did we make a heinous blunder, factual error or just spell your name wrong? Contact editorial@performermag.com and let us know, cuz we’re big enough to say, “Baby, I was wrong.”
MUSIC SUBMISSIONS We listen to everything that comes into the office. We prefer physical CDs, cassettes and vinyl over downloads. If you do not have a physical copy, send download links to editorial@performermag.com.No attachments, please. Send CDs to: Performer Magazine Attn: Reviews PO BOX 348 Somerville, MA 02143
4 MAY 2015 PERFORMER MAGAZINE
CONTACT Phone: 617-627-9200 Fax: 617-627-9930 PUBLISHER William House Phone: 617-627-9919 bill@performermag.com EDITOR Benjamin Ricci ben@performermag.com DESIGN & ART DIRECTION Cristian Iancu EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Bob Dobalina editorial@performermag.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Brad Hardisty, Brian Fox, Chris Mara, Christopher Cline, Cookie Marenco, Corey Bailey, Dan Schmalle, Eric Lilavois, Ethan Varian, Jed Shepherd, Jeff Lipton, Jordan Tishler, Joshua James Amberson, Nick Magliochetti, Pat McGee, Pete Mignola, Randall Taylor, Renato Repetto, Rob Tavaglione, Sabrina Lambros, Steve Wytas
P.S. – for those of you who escaped the ’80s with your memories intact, the answer to your question is “yes.” That is indeed our homage to the classic “blown away guy” Maxell ad that ran ad nauseam back in the day, boldly declaring the hi-fidelity awesomeness of audiotape. Back again are the tag-team of ‘model’ Nick Magliochetti (from one of our fave rock bands, The Howling Tongues) and the immensely talented ATL photographer, Kelly Embry. You may remember them from our December 2013 Photo issue. If not, it’s a great time to revisit that issue, as well…
performermag.com
Volume 25, Issue 5 PO BOX 348 Somerville, MA 02143
EDITORIAL SUBMISSIONS In the words of our esteemed forefathers at CREEM: “NOBODY WHO WRITES FOR THIS RAG’S GOT ANYTHING YOU AIN’T GOT, at least in the way of credentials. There’s no reason why you shouldn’t be sending us your stuff: reviews, features, photos, recording tips, DIY advice or whatever else you have in mind that might be interesting to our readers: independent and DIY musicians. Who else do ya know who’ll publish you? We really will... ask any of our dozens of satisfied customers. Just bop it along to us to editorial@performermag.com and see what comes back your way. If you have eyes to be in print, this just might be the place. Whaddya got to lose? Whaddya got?”
CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Brad Hardisty, David Bergman, Eric Fox, Kelly Embry ADVERTISING SALES William House Phone: 617-627-9919 bill@performermag.com © 2015 by Performer Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced by any method whatsoever without the written permission of the publisher. The magazine accepts no responsibility for unsolicited recordings, manuscripts, artwork or photographs and will not return such materials unless requested and accompanied by a SASE. Annual Subscription Rate is $30 in the U.S.; $45 outside the U.S.
TAPE HISTORY
The Real (Brie Reel-To-Reel [Editor’s note – in order to fully appreciate the Tape Issue, we thought it prudent to provide at least a bullet-point, 10,000-foot view of how this whole crazy thing got started. This is an abbreviated history of the format and recording in general, but should give you a basic understanding of where things came from. Enjoy.] • Magnetic reel-to-reel recording began with giant epiphanies of enlightenment beginning in 1898 when Danish visionary Valdemar Poulsen developed and patented the first magnetic wire recorder known as the “Telagraphone.” The fidelity of wire recording by 1945 was equal to that of a phonograph record. • Next, the BBC worked with Marconi to develop a recorder that was capable of recording 100 Hz – 6 kHz and began to take orders in 1935 for the behemoth Marconi-Stille recorder. It used steel razor tape 3 mm wide running at 300 feet per minute. • Cigarette paper manufacturer Fritz Pfleumer knew about Poulsen’s wire recorder. He had the idea to coat iron oxide on very thin paper and he received a patent from Germany in 1928. In 1932 German Company AEG was granted the right of use and AEG and BASF
combined skills to develop magnetic recording to be used as the first analog tape recorder, the Magnetaphon K1. • The Magnetophon K1 was first demonstrated in Berlin in 1935 running at 30 ips (inches per second) and had the same functional design that would be used until the end of the analog recording era. The Magnetophon K1’s functionality was a major leap but had limited use due to a major noise floor problem. • In 1940, Walter Weber (while working at the Reichs-Rundfunk-Gesellschaft (RRG)) discovered how to apply AC Bias in order to get rid of noise by superimposing a frequency while recording. • During World War II, the Americans were unaware of the AC Bias application and the advancements in German tape technology that had been made by 1943; thought the German radio stations were employing live musicians. • When the Germans surrendered, the occupying forces took control of the radio station at Bad Nauheim and John T. “Jack” Mullin, who was serving in the U.S. Signal Corps with the specific instruction to plunder and send home German Technology, was on his way home to San Francisco when a British Officer talked him into going to the radio station and listening
the original Telagraphone
6 MAY 2015 PERFORMER MAGAZINE
to the improved Magnetophon K1. • Upon hearing the reproduction, Mullin confiscated two machines and 50 rolls of Farben recording tape and broke the machines down into 16 boxes, which he sent home to California after photographing all the schematics. • The machines were capable of producing up to 10 kHz. Mullin then figured out how to get the recording frequency up to 15 kHz, making his pair of hot-rodded Magnetophons the two greatest hi-fidelity recording machines to exist post-war. • Mullin demonstrated them in San Francisco and attracted the attention of the Ampex Corporation. known for their use of Alnico 5 magnets. In 1947, Jack Mullin was hired on the spot by Bing Crosby to record his radio show. Bing Crosby found out that Ampex was interested in building a version of the machines, so he paid $50,000 for the first two Ampex Model 200 Recorders. This was the seed money for mass development and mass production. • Previously, guitarist and inventor Les Paul had developed “Sound on Sound” recording techniques, using recordable disc media, but this process suffered from significant sound degradation. Bing Crosby gave Les Paul one of his Ampex 200 machines and soon Les Paul developed phasing, tape delay and other tape techniques still in use today (or replicated today through digital means). • The genesis for an 8-track, tape-based multi-track recording machine came to Les Paul in a dream in 1953, when the idea came to him to stack the recorder’s heads one on top of each other. Ross Snyder at Ampex was thinking about the very same thing but the process of alignment and synchronization took some time to develop, and it was finally patented in 1955. Les Paul took delivery in 1957 of the first Ampex Sel-Sync 1-inch 8-track machines for the price of $10,000. • It wasn’t until the late 1960s that Ampex stepped up 8-track 1-inch production due to demand, with the MM 1000 model known for its flexibility and simplicity before introducing a 16-track version in 1967. The 1970s-era Ampex MM1200 2-inch 16-track and 24 track are still considered the best sounding recorders of their time. • MCI built the first 24-track recorder (using 2-inch tape) in 1968, which was installed at TTG Studios in Los Angeles. MCI was later
TAPE HISTORY
ief) History of el Recording Norman Petty's Ampex 401
bought out by Sony in 1982. The introduction of SMPTE time code allowed studios to run multiple machines in perfect synchronization, a big breakthrough for the time. • Jumping back in the timeline a bit to 1949, Willi Studer developed his first tape recorder, the “Dynavox,” which was renamed after the founding of ELA AG in 1951 by Willi Studer and Hans Winzeler as the Revox T26. The Studer 27 began mass production in 1952. In 1960, the Studer C37 began production and the frequency response still stands up to just about any media. The Studer J37 4-track (which was used at EMI by The Beatles through Sgt. Pepper’s) began production in 1964. • Studer began production of its own 2-inch
24-track machine, the Studer A80, in 1970. They subsequently went on to release the first microprocessor-controlled recorder, the Studer A800, in 1978. The final step forward for Studer was the Studer A820 in 1985, as they began to move their operations into digital technology. • By the late 1970s, Ampex faced tough competition from both Studer and Japanese manufacturers such as Otari and Sony. In 1979, Ampex introduced their most advanced 24-track recorder, the model ATR-124. It was considered to be the finest analog recorder of its type. However, sales of the ATR-124 were slow due to its high cost. Ampex withdrew from the professional audio tape recorder market entirely in 1983.
• TEAC/TASCAM aimed their equipment at secondary markets with lower specs but great reliability so that a tech would not be needed to maintain gear. This proved to be a lucrative market where competition grew from Fostex, Otari and Akai. Semi-Pro formats reached their zenith with the Fostex E16 1/2-inch, with its SMPTE controller and the TASCAM TSR 24 1-inch, which was nearly dead on arrival in 1990 as affordable digital technology entered the market. It was during the 1980s and early 1990s that home recording took off, largely due to TASCAM’s portable ‘Portastudio’ units, employing a compact cassette recorder as opposed to larger open reel systems. And from there, there rest is history… PERFORMER MAGAZINE MAY 2015 7
WHY RECORD TO TAPE
The Producer’s Pe Prefer Recording SOUND MATTERS As a producer and engineer, I prefer working on 2” tape for several reasons. The first, and most important reason is that the sonic quality is more to my liking. I prefer the more realistic high end, the full dynamics and frequency range. The second reason is the limitations that tape brings to a session. With the cost of tape high nowadays, the artist and producer are forced to make decisions faster on performances. Fewer choices lead to a faster session with less fatigue on the performers and less fatigue listening. A disciplined producer can do the same on digital, but I often find the musician in search of perfection endlessly tweaking in the digital realm. With analog, the results are a more exciting track overall. STORAGE AND ARCHIVING The third reason is tape’s storage and archival ability. I’ve been able to easily restore and remix tapes from 30 years ago. We’ve had tapes from the 1960s come in and play without problems. I’m not that confident about restoring digital audio recorded today and its restoration possibilities in 50 years. Unless you’re keeping all previous versions of computers, operating systems and software, one needs to develop a very methodical system for future restoration of digital files. The difference is when analog loses its luster, you can still hear the music. When digital goes bad, there’s no evidence anything was recorded.
COSTS & TAPE CHOICES When I opened my commercial recording facility in 1982, analog tape recording was the only option available to record on. We’ve had the same MTR-90 Series 2 in the studio since 1986 and it’s still working like a charm. The current cost of tape at about $300 per reel can be prohibitive for recording all sessions, so we choose carefully what sessions get recorded to tape. I advise against buying tape from unknown sources, even if sold as “never used.” Those I’ve tested have not been acceptable. I suggest ATR purchased from a 8 MAY 2015 PERFORMER MAGAZINE
pictured: Studer A810 trusted source or directly from the company. Tape is kind of like wine - there were good years and not so good years. My favorite was Quantegy or Ampex 456. But as different as tape can sound, it always sounds better than digital to my ears. Shedding wasn’t much of a problem with these brands. The higher elevated tapes (like 499) were sometimes inconsistent in their quality, even with tape from the same batch.
WHY RECORD TO TAPE
Perspective: Why I ng to Analog Tape I use Dolby SR at 15ips on the 2”. Though I prefer recording at 30ips with no SR, cost of tape has always been a drawback, so we’ll record at 15ips with Dolby SR and find it acceptable. For mixing to two tracks, however, we’ve dropped the SR in mixdown because so few mastering engineers know how to align the SR to sound right. RESTORATION TIPS We do a lot of tape restoration inhouse. For that purpose, we purchased an inexpensive food dehydrator that holds three reels of 1/2” and one reel of 2”, set it for about 120 degrees and f lip it over about every 15 minutes. Sometimes, we’ll put a new reel in for 15 minutes or so. One way we’ve saved on the cost of tape is to reuse the 2” tape. When you’re in tune with your tape machine, the alignment and the sound of tape, you’ll know when the tape is on its last legs. Before tossing out an older tape, spruce it up with an hour or two in a food dehydrator. This is the same practice we use for tape restoration. We might heat up a tape for 2-6 hours. How does one know when a tape needs a little restoration? When a tape rewinds or plays slowly on the machine. At times, we’ve repeated the heating several days in a row if the tape still runs slowly on the machine. Our tape machine makes a suspicious ‘squeaking’ sound when a tape needs heating up. Aside from properly aligning a tape machine, heating up a tape can bring back some of the high end lost in storage. Demagnetizing the heads of the tape machine
properly can also improve the sound quality. IS ANALOG CHEAPER IN THE LONG RUN? While the cost of tape seems astronomical and the expense of an analog machine is high, I’m using the same machine (Otari MTR-90) I purchased new in 1986. That’s coming up to 30 years of use with little down time and a couple of hundred dollars a year in maintenance. It might seem like digital recording is a lot less expensive, but the costs are different. How many times does a studio upgrade their digital recording software or computer (about every two years)? Then a new application is added and nothing works and you’re down for days trying to figure it out. Over 20 years, you can spend twice as much on digital recording vs. a machine that lasts
decades. Labor costs for maintaining a working digital system are also much more expensive. You can’t put a price on losing digital recordings. I don’t know how long we’ll be able to stay on analog tape, but as long as we have the machine and can find tape, we’ll be recording to it. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Cookie Marenco has been a commercial recording studio owner since 1982, with the opening of OTR Studios (otrstudios.com). He is also the founder of Blue Coast Records (bluecoastrecords.com) and has five Grammy nominations and two Gold Records among his credits. For more information visit bluecoastmusic.com/about-the-founder PERFORMER MAGAZINE MAY 2015 9
TAPE SPEED
What Speed
pictured: master tape on reel and empty take-up reel photo by Toki-ho
ALL ROADS LEAD TO VINYL So I’m told there has been a renewed interest in vinyl records and analog recording lately. It seems that some auspicious music publications are even dedicating entire issues to the subject! According to Forbes (or was it the Times, no, maybe the Wall Street Journal, eh, I don’t remember and it doesn’t matter), vinyl sales doubled in the past year. As many vinyl pressing plants converted production to CDs, or closed entirely, the ones that have remained can’t keep up with today’s demand and orders are routinely 2-3 months backlogged. Now hold on, before you start buying stock in vinyl record manufacturing, keep in mind that some experts are suggesting this is simply a fad, a final nostalgic nod to the past that will inevitably fade away. Others insist the trend is vindication for the ultimate music showcase, an irreplaceable artistic format. Wherever your opinion falls on this topic, you can’t talk about vinyl without referencing 10 MAY 2015 PERFORMER MAGAZINE
analog recording. And if we are talking analog recording, we are talking tape. WHAT IS IPS? So I’ve been asked to write an article about tape speed or ips. What? Really? That’s it? Just ips? Nothing else? Hey, who got to do the article on tube amps? Can I switch with him? How am I going to do write about IPS without boring the hell out of everyone within reading distance? Well, here we go… IPS or inches per second refers to the speed at which the tape on your recorder is moving across the heads. So, 30 ips means that the tape is trucking along your deck at a whopping thirty inches per second. Well, that’s about it, see you next issue. OK, just kidding. I do plan to be brief, but there is a bit more to ips than that. The questions we want to ask ourselves are: does tape speed matter and what speed should I be recording (and playing back) at? For the record (pun intended), I believe it
is important we include tape format in any discussion about tape speed as the two are directly related. A MATTER OF FORMAT Tape recorders are manufactured to be setup for a limited combination of speeds and formats, depending on the intended usage. Most older consumer decks are built to accommodate 1/4” tape & run at 3.75 ips & 7.5 ips, mono, half-track or stereo. Newer consumer and semi-pro decks will often include 15 ips. Professional tape recorders have been made to accommodate a dizzying combination of formats and speeds, and can even be modified to operate at speeds and formats beyond the specifications intended by the manufacturer. For the sake of this article, I’m going to stick to the most common pro formats. For 2-track stereo, 1/4” and 1/2” at either 15 or 30 ips are considered standard. For multitrack recording, 2” 16 & 24 track formats are
Examining The Differences Between Recording Tape Speeds
standard, again at either 15 or 30ips. The general “rule of thumb” governing tape speed is this: the faster the speed, the better the quality, signal to noise ratio, wow and f lutter specs and frequency response can be expected. Also, the higher speed will afford you the most precise editing capabilities. Yes, editing. Before Pro Tools, that’s how we did it. You cut the tape. If you are working on an all-analog project - something we specialize in at MetroSonic - that is a tool and skill that is still required. Conversely, the slower the speed, the more music you can pack onto a reel of tape. COSTS AND THE BOTTOM END If higher speed means better quality and editing, why not just record at the highest speed and be done with it? Well, that was basically the case for pro recording, and 30 ips was in fact the default standard for many years. In the days when tape was cheap and recording budgets were huge, tape cost was not an issue. A single project could have a dozen 2” reels and as many 1/2” mix masters including alternate versions. Today, tape is a good deal more expensive ($340 for a reel of 2”, $110 for 1/2”) and recording budgets are a fraction of what they used to be. So now, tape usage is an important consideration, and a slower tape speed may be a compelling alternative for an analog project. With certain formats, 15 ips does offer some additional advantage beyond economy. When running 1/4” stereo or 24-track 2”, you will often find an improved low frequency response compared to running at 30 ips. Depending on your priorities, this could be an additional reason for your producer to have you run the project at 15 ips. So what are the disadvantages of 15 ips? The biggest compromise is the signal-to -noise ratio. Some music projects containing quiet passages or intimate solo sections will only work with the use of noise reduction (like Dolby) at this speed. HOW TO CHOOSE In the end, your producer and engineer are best qualified to recommend what speed and format is best suited for your project. Analog projects at MetroSonic are run almost exclusively 16-track 2” at 30 ips and mixed to stereo 1/2” at 30 ips. For me, that’s unbeatable in sonic quality and they’re the only standard
TAPE SPEED
Do I Need?
master tapes by Ampex & BASF / photo by Rudolf Schuba
analog formats that will compete head to head with today’s digital spec. Because of the wider track widths on a 16-track 2” (compared to 24-track) and 2-track 1/2” (compared to 1/4”), my Ampex MM1200 and Ampex ATR 102 have no problem recording low frequencies at 30 ips, and are virtually f lat to beyond 20k. The next time you have some drums or guitar tracks to lay down, give that format combo a try. I’m betting you’ll agree, there is nothing that compares. One last piece of advice, if you are buying tape, buy ATR. It is made proudly here in the USA with precision and care by some very dedicated people. And no, I’m not paid for that endorsement. PLAYBACK SPEEDS & ARTISTIC OPTIONS A side note - the speed you record at is not necessarily the speed you have to play back at! While speeding up or slowing down the tape is not common these days, the concept introduces some very interesting technical tools and artistic options. Let’s say you have a 3-minute track that you need to fit into a two
and a half minute spot. Of course you can edit it. Another solution is to speed up the tape and then use a harmonizer to pitch it back down. Another application is to simply slow down a mix to give the recording more “air.” This can produce some interesting, sometimes startling results, slightly altering the tone and timbre of the instruments and voices. Anyway, that ought to do it. Happy recording! ABOUT THE AUTHOR Pete Mignola is a composer, musician, Emmy award winning recording engineer, and owner of MetroSonic Studios in Brooklyn since 1991. His 30 years of experience recording music spans a wide variety of genres and his work has been featured nationally in radio, TV and film. A good deal of his recording work is with independent artists centered around the thriving Brooklyn music scene. For more visit https://www.metrosonic.net/ artists/artist-list and https://www. metrosonic.net/artists/testimonials. PERFORMER MAGAZINE MAY 2015 11
TAPE EDITING
How to Maximize T & Embrace Mus
W
hen most people think about analog tape, they often romanticize about its rich tonal properties. For me, it’s all about embracing the humanness of music. The primary reason I record to tape is that it disarms you of the tools required to wander far from the truth. It captures the artist as they currently are, stripping away the ability to separate their performance from
you. With the introduction of the modern DAW, what used to be primarily an auraloriented decision making process is becoming increasingly visually-oriented. The ability to retain every take of a performance encourages the comping of a master take - a highlight reel of sorts. This visual, non-linear approach to editing promotes the removal of human information simply because it might not conform to a grid or looks out of place. Tape, like vinyl, is a linear analog medium. In essence you are capturing and reproducing a moment in time from beginning to
“There’s no better random generator than a human being, with all those little inconsistencies, faults, and random things that happen in your voice and fingers. Those are the things that give personality, character, and vibrancy to music, which makes you want to listen to certain records over and over again.” -John Frusciante the moment in which it was recorded. The limitations inherent in a linear medium like tape naturally preserve human information tiny f laws which give you an insight into the character of the artist. These f laws make up a large part of what we perceive as vibe or feel.
“So many of us modern engineers learn to record with our eyes. While working with tape, you still use your eyes to ensure proper gain staging, but you’re not staring at a screen. Following and trusting one’s ears ensures a good recording.” -Eric Palmquist Of course, not all mistakes are welcome. The art of knowing which ones to keep requires a sensitivity to music, to intuitively trust what your ears are telling 12 MAY 2015 PERFORMER MAGAZINE
end. While tape permits simple edits such as punch-ins or splicing, the very act of editing a linear medium is quite a foreign concept. In the case of splicing tape, one must destroy the medium in order to manipulate it. And when punching into a track, one must commit to the possibility of erasing pre-existing work. Without the safeguard of Ctrl-Z, editing tape can be just as much a performance as the recording itself. Much can be said about the relationship between art and constraints. The last 30 years of music technology have been about the removing of constraints - the liberation of the artist. Yet some of the most inf luential pop albums of our time were crafted on four tracks or less. Working within the constraints
of a modest track count forces you to make creative decisions early in the recording process. It relieves you of the temptation to plug every hole with sound, a hallmark of over-production. Exercising restraint in the art making process leaves room for interpretation in
“There is a particular level of focus that happens when you are punching-in on a tape machine...There’s no undo button, there’s no trimming regions, you are just totally screwed if you hit that button at the wrong time. I actually kind of miss how serious that made moments in the recording process.” - Eric Valentine
TAPE EDITING
Tape’s Limitations usic’s Humanity
And Why Over-Editing in the Digital Realm Dehumanizes Art
your work. Other art forms such as poetry or photography leave much unsaid, allowing the observer to fill the gaps with their own imagination. But to the artist, restraint is often perceived as the inhibition of expression. Ever y a r tist wishes to be free. Free of the cha ins of limitation that impede the rea lization of their works. But true freedom lies not in the brea king free of these cha ins, but in the ability to accept one’s constra ints a nd f ind peace within them. A na log tape offers a f inite set of tools to achieve your vision. A nd if the enemy of art is the absence of limitations (Orson
Welles), then a tape machine would be a ver y good friend indeed. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Renato Repetto is the owner of Winston Tones - Analogue Productions in California. Winston Tones offer music production services with a workflow designed to retain the integrity of the artist’s performance. He has toured nationally with awardwinning productions as both a drummer and guitarist. Outside the studio he enjoys film photography and performing his own compositions live. For more information, visit www.winstontones.com.
“As a maker you tend to put in twice as much as you need as a listener. It’s a symptom of contemporary production. Old records don’t have that problem.” -Brian Eno
PERFORMER MAGAZINE MAY 2015 13
ERIC LILAVOIS 14 MAY 2015 PERFORMER MAGAZINE
ERIC LILAVOIS
UNLOCKING THE MYSTERY OF ANALOG TAPE
Veteran Producer's Thoughts on The Format’s Modern Resurgence in The Studio
EMBRACING THE RESURGENCE There’s a word resurfacing in the studio world that has become more and more unfamiliar to some, and more poignant then ever to others: TAPE. A veil of mystery that has many screaming that they just don’t get it, and others swearing at its altar. You may be thinking, “Won’t my plugs-ins do the trick?” Well, get out your razor blades and your best takes, and let’s explore. The argument is somewhat daunting in a modern recording age when Starbucks has become an alternative control room for many and you can download drum samples of iconic studios like Ocean Way. However, there is a massive resurgence of artists, engineers, and producers turning back the clock and seeking out studios with tape machines, but why? Part of the fall-out of the home studio boom is that the price of studio time has been driven down significantly, and independent artists can again afford to work in bigger studios and to record to tape. The price of tape machines and tape however, is still significant, so we have not seen a trend where they are integrated into the home studio arena. A very common practice is to go into a studio, record drums and basic tracks to tape, then do all of the overdubs at a home on your DAW, at a smaller studio or “B room.” Some of the most popular 2” tape machines like the Studer 800 and 827 are in high demand,
and still readily available. Another resurgence we’ve seen is doing final mix-down to 1/2” tape, and many mastering houses are also getting back to working with this method. TAPE PLUG-INS: PROS & CONS Admittedly, by using plug-ins that emulate tape machines (I happen to greatly favor the Waves J37 plug-in and the Universal Audio Magnetic Tape Bundle) you can achieve some very cool saturation and harmonic distortion effects similar to tape, and add it across select or multiple tracks, as well as experiment with those plug-ins as a creative tool that go far beyond the traditional way you would use an analog tape machine. You can also adjust the parameters very quickly with plug-ins, allowing you to audition a variety of sounds and switch between various machines and tape speeds as well as bypassing or making changes after the track is recorded. There are endless debates on how plugins measure up to analog gear sonically, and multiple resources exist for A/B’ing the two, but the tape debate has one unique factor: the single most important thing you cannot achieve with any plug-in is the experience of recording to tape, and the way it changes the approach to tracking. It can serve as a philosophical return to different kind of artistry - to listening closely to a take to hear if there is magic in it, as opposed to simply looking at a screen and seeing if the kick drum lines up. Too often in the digital realm
we make music with our eyes and not our ears, and tape is a great equalizer in that way. Granted, you can also still pick it apart and edit away once it is imported into your DAW for overdubs if you so desire. THE REAL BENEFIT OF TAPE Perhaps the biggest resurgence of artists using tape are those who are interested in simply capturing their performances, as rich, full, and real as humanly possible. At London Bridge Studio we’ve seen a recent boom of artists who are interested in getting back to that method, as opposed to endlessly tinkering with pre-recorded sounds “in the box.” The best non-musical analogy is Instagram versus a 35mm camera or a Polaroid. There are many filters and quick changes you can apply and make to a digital photograph, and yes, they look pretty cool and often they come close to emulating “analog” photographs in a slightly more slick and sleek way, but when you hold a Polaroid in your hand, or a photograph printed from film, there is a different saturation, look, and feeling. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Eric Lilavois is a producer, Curator of Make Music Pasadena, Co-Owner of London Tone Music and the Historic London Bridge Studio in Seattle. He has worked with countless artists in various capacities, including Saint Motel, Atlas Genius, Surfer Blood, My Chemical Romance and more. PERFORMER MAGAZINE MAY 2015 15
DRUMS ON TAPE
Drums On Tape Taste SO MUCH BETTER
And Why Committing To Choices Yields Better Recordings
R
ecording to analog tape is in my top drawer of favorite subjects. Combine my love of drums as both a player and an engineer; compounded with recording and mixing in the analog domain…well, I might burst! Or possibly bust a drumhead or two. My own personal philosophy on how music is recorded also plays an inf luential role in my love for the analog medium. It probably goes without saying that I’m an absolute dork when it comes to these things, and hopefully I can paint a clearer picture with just a few words. So what do I love about recording drums to tape you ask? Maybe it’s the sound that tape offers? I can confirm that with a solid “you betcha”! Analog tape does such amazing things to the signal that comes off of the record head. It offers warmth, depth, and a power/punch that digital just somehow misses; however, there are a plethora of plug-ins that emulate tape saturation and EQ pretty well these days. Now let’s be clear about something, I’m not saying that analog is better, it’s just different, and I’m certainly not interested in getting into the whole analog vs. digital debate, as that is just an exercise in futility. For me, the single greatest thing about tape is the commitment involved. Not exactly what you were expecting, was it? Everything about recording to tape is a commitment. When recording in the analog domain, you have a limited number of tracks in which to record. Depending on the machine and headstack, you might be limited to just 8 tracks, or as many as 24 (23 if printing SMPTE on track 24). This pales in comparison by today’s 16 MAY 2015 PERFORMER MAGAZINE
standards, though, which by and large is Pro Tools for either the professional engineer or home recordist. And this very limitation in track count doesn’t give the engineer, or the talent, the option for multiple takes or to save multiple takes in separate playlists like Pro Tools can. Even the smallest of drum kits are going to take up at six tracks if being close-mic’d; just think about what a bigger kit is going to do to the space available on tape! This limitation of tracks means that the drummer has to be onpoint, know their craft, commit to the song, and lay down that “perfect” take for the tune to work. Recording multiple takes to a second set of drum tracks isn’t realistic as that will eat up the track count and recording more than one take for each song usually isn’t cost effective, as analog tape is so expensive these days. The engineer also has to commit to the microphones and their placement, to the choice of preamplifiers and dynamic processing, how the tape machine is set up (calibration), what formula of tape to use and the tape speed. The drummer and engineer should both be able to effectively tune the drum kit together, as well. A poorly-tuned drum kit does not bode well for the recording, and unlike Pro Tools and its myriad drum replacement plugins, replacing drum tracks/tones in the analog domain is very difficult, time consuming, and will eat through your budget like a pie at Zachary’s (Bay Area folks will get that). And what exactly is the perfect take? Who knows?! And that’s just another part of the commitment. When a take feels really
freaking good, many times you just go with it you commit! If you don’t, you might not get the same performance again, not even near it, and this is a painful path to travel down. Here’s one example of a song that I recorded and mixed years ago with the San Francisco band, Elephone (RIP). The drummer at the time had a beautiful late-’60s Ludwig kit, and an excellent sense of timing. The entire album was recorded and mixed in the analog domain. When tracking the drums, I hit the tape pretty hard to achieve the desired amount of tape saturation/ compression. When listening to the mix, please keep in mind that I used very little outboard compression in the process. 90% of the drum mix is exactly what was recorded to tape, and that also includes minimal use of artificial reverb. And I should also add that the drum machine that kicks the song off is also analog, a Roland TR 606 Drumatix.
DRUMS ON TAPE ELEPHONE/ELEPHONE Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/ track/2UQX64fxrLrpJptS0AIpHO Rdio: http://rd.io/x/QW__gjcWh54/
THE SOCIETY OF ROCKETS/WE Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/ track/4mba4pKrmzY8iC2DJz3KSl Rdio: http://rd.io/x/QW__gjc-o6w/
The second example I would like to share is from a hybrid session. This album started off in the analog domain; basic tracks were cut to tape live in this instance. This included drum kit, rhythm guitars, bass guitar, some keyboards, and just a few other tracks. Once the basic tracks were cut, we transferred the information we recorded to tape into Pro Tools for overdubs and mixing. This is somewhat common, and allows the engineer and band to capture some of the mojo that tape has to offer for instruments that might benefit from the sonic qualities inherent to analog tape. The following track comes from another San Francisco band, The Society Of Rockets. And pay attention to the sound of the tape machine starting up at the beginning of the song.
I could wax poetic about tape and my philosophies for days, but I will spare you! Recording your entire session to tape is pretty magical, and every instrument can benefit from tape in some fashion, but it’s the drums that always really soar. The medium is not perfect, though, and it’s certainly not forgiving. In order to really capture the sound and the performance of a good kit, a wealth of variables need to be considered and “committed” to, as well. When all of these variables are working in concert, you’re sure to have an amazing time in the studio, and hopefully that will come through loud and clear when the product is delivered to the masses!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Christopher Cline has been making records for the past 16 or so years and as luck has had it, most occasions have been pretty darn good . He has engineered , mixed , and/or mastered a number of albums from varying genres of music. Some the artists he’s worked with include The Society of Rockets, Scrabbel , And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead , Seventeen Evergreen , HOTTUB, Deadwood Forest, Explosions in the Sky, The Foreign Resort, Necromonkey, Daniel Kobialka , Ryo Yanagitani and many more. Cline also co-owns and co-operates Three Ring Records and Monolathe Recordings & Communications - independent record labels with the latter also incorporating a publishing arm . For more info visit www.chrisclinerecording.com. PERFORMER MAGAZINE MAY 2015 17
TAPE PLUGINS
AND THEN THERE WAS PRO TOOLS… Recording has been a part of my life for more than 35 years. I started in the analog tape world, and I’m still in the analog tape world at the studio that I work at. I was introduced to digital recording in 1982 with a Sony PCM-F1, so I have a long history with analog and digital recording. Digital Audio Workstations (DAW) were introduced to the recording industry in the 1980s with the Fairlight CMI and Synclavier Digital systems. In 1989, a small company called Digidesign harnessed the power of the Macintosh computer and introduced a twotrack DAW called Sound Tools. This product morphed into Pro Tools and has evolved over the last 25 years to become the standard for multi-track recording in professional studios around the world. I was one of the early adopters of Sound Tools and eventually Pro Tools, and my first hard drive for the system cost $2,200 for 1 Gigabyte! Yes, those numbers are correct… DAWs complemented analog recording by allowing engineers to do editing that was impossible in the analog world or to transfer audio in from an analog multi-track, fix a problem, and send it back to analog tape. As with all computer technology, the performance grew, and the price fell. The Analog vs. Digital debate was on! Engineers loved the way analog sounded, but had to embrace the new technology and began to rediscover tube mics, tube compressors, tube EQs to make digital audio sound warmer and more analog. PLUGGING IN Waves introduced software “plug-ins” for DAWs that allowed the engineer to insert a compressor, EQ, or reverb onto a track inside the DAW. These plug-ins were developed to be digitally accurate and clinical. It wasn’t until Universal Audio introduced plug-ins that were modeled from actual pieces of studio equipment, that engineers really latched on. The plug-in Graphical User Interface or GUI, looked like the original hardware, and the audio characteristics and behaviors were similar to the hardware units. Still, the clean sound of digital kept engineers yearning for the sound of analog tape. Engineers were asking, “Could the gods please send us an analog tape plug-in?” Our wishes came true! Modeled plug-ins have come a long way since the late ’90s, and the hottest plug in for DAWs today is based on analog tape machines. Universal Audio, Waves, Slate Digital, and other companies offer analog tape plug-ins. In the studio that I work out of, Dirt Floor in Chester, CT, we use the Studer A800 and Ampex ATR102 plug-ins developed by Universal Audio. At Dirt Floor we don’t mix “inside the box,” we use Pro Tools HD with 32
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ACHIEVING AN WITH DIGITAL
outputs and mix on an analog console. Our Pro Tools template has a Studer A800 plugin on every channel as the first insert. I used to own a Studer A80 MKIV 24-track machine, and I can tell you that a piece of gear is only as cool as the repair bills. Owning, maintaining, and operating a professional multi-track machine is tough. Parts, repair experts, and tape supplies are either expensive, hard to find, or both! ANALOG FINDS A HOME IN DIGITAL WORKFLOWS The analog plug-ins give you the sound of analog without the burden of the physical
machine. For new engineers that have never used analog tape, the sound will be unique, but for seasoned engineers, the sound will bring back that familiar sound to your ears just the way the smell of a crayon will bring you back to your childhood.
This plug-in is very useful, not only for giving you the analog sound, but it can be used in ways a real 16 or 24 track machine could never accomplish. Different tape speeds, tape formulations, and calibration levels can be changed for every track depending on what instrument you have recorded. For instance, if we record an instrument that is a little bright,
TAPE PLUGINS
ANALOG WARMTH L TAPE PLUG-INS we can use a setting for that track that will “slow down” the transients of the instrument to bump the bass response with 456 tape, +3 at 7.5ips. The settings use a physical model of the limitations of that analog tape machine setting to adjust the sound of the instrument without an EQ or a compressor.
If we need to add some edge to a lead vocal, we can push the input section of the tape plugin to give us the natural sounding harmonics of tape being overloaded. All of these parameters can be automated and changed to your desires! You can even turn the hum, tape hiss, and
electronics noise on or off. As I like to say, “Try doing THAT on your Studer!” The other analog plug-in that we use is the Ampex ATR102 plug in from Universal Audio. It’s primarily used in the mastering process because the plug-in is modeled on the Ampex ATR102 two-track mixdown recorder. We can add a little extra analog sound, tape compression, or adjust the tone of the mix by adjusting tape speed, bias, tape formulation, etc. It’s a very useful tool and helps glue the mix together nicely. The Universal Audio plug-ins require special hardware from the manufacturer
either as a PCIe card for your computer, or a satellite Firewire or Thunderbolt box. Most manufacturers allow a trial period to use the plug-in for free. Get a demo of an analog tape machine plug-in yourself; I think you’ll be very happy with the results. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Steve Wytas is the Chief Engineer at Dirt Floor in Chester, CT and owner of Audio 911, LLC. He has been involved in recording since he received a Radio Shack cassette recorder at the age of 10. Visit www.dirtfloor.com or www.audio911.com. PERFORMER MAGAZINE MAY 2015 19
MASTERING
photo by David Bergman
MASTERING FROM TAPE: WHAT YOU NE TO KNOW BEFORE Y START YOUR PROJE 20 MAY 2015 PERFORMER MAGAZINE
M NEED YOU JECT
When I started mastering albums in the mid-’90s, many of the of projects still came in on tape, but now recording to tape is much less common, the main reason being that most tape decks are not in very good shape. I only recommend recording to tape if your tape deck has recently been serviced by an experienced tech and is in good condition. I also recommend using tape that is less than 2 years old and making sure all reels are from the same tape production batch, to allow the recordings to be uniform from tape to tape. RMGI and ATR Services are the two main tape companies left. If you’re recording to tape, it’s very important to first align/calibrate your tape deck with an MRL (Magnetic Reference Laboratory Reproducer Calibration Tape). Don’t trust an MRL that is more than 2 years old, as the high-end tones become less accurate. Then, on the first reel of each tape batch, or on the first tape recorded in each session, record a minimum of 30 seconds each of 1KHz, 10KHz, and 100Hz tones at 0VU on the tape deck. Ideally, it is great to have 1KHz, 10KHz, 15KHz, 100Hz, and 50Hz. This allows the mastering engineer to calibrate their tape deck to the deck you recorded on. Another helpful thing is to bring in digital files of the recording. I use these to make sure what’s coming off the tape sounds correct. I also use them to verify that my tape deck is running at the same speed as the deck the tape was recorded on. If not, I adjust my deck to the same speed as the recording deck. LABEL YOUR WORK & LEADER TAPE RULES It’s a lso very important to label the tapes well. For example, you should indicate whether the tape is recorded tails out or tails in. Tails out means that the
tape on the reel is stored with the end of the tape at the beginning of the reel. This requires the mastering engineer to rewind the tape before playing it back. It also will make sure that any print-through will be delayed instead of pre-delayed. The next thing to label is how your deck is calibrated (the Reference Fluxivity). When you record the tones, write them on the tape box, like Track 1 - 1KHz – 30 sec – 0V U, Track 2 – 10KHz—30Sec—0V U, and so on. It’s not important to put leader tape between the tones, but it is important to leave at least 30 seconds of blank tape after the tones with a lot of leader tape between. This is ca lled a record pad, and it a llows the mastering engineer to record a bass tone on the tape to ca librate the bass correctly on the playback deck. Putting leader tape between songs prevents songs from bleeding through to each other and a lso a llows for easy identifying of the songs on the tape. It’s good to put enough leader between the songs, so you can see it on the reel and easily find the song you’re looking for. It’s a lso a good idea to label the start time next to the song title on the box of tape.
MASTERING
CALIBRATION IS KEY The main thing a band needs to know about using tape for the mastering process is that it is extremely important to use their decks correctly. This means servicing their decks to make sure they’re in good working condition, aligning/calibrating their decks correctly, putting the correct alignment tones on their tapes, labeling their tapes accurately, and splicing in leader tape between the songs. Tape decks, unlike DAWs, are mechanical and have many userconfigurable calibrations. In order for a mastering engineer to be able to play a tape correctly, the engineer needs to calibrate their deck to match the deck the tape was recorded on, so it’s important that the tapes contain all the information necessary for this calibration.
By being thorough in the recording process, you ensure that engineers will be able to play back your tapes for years to come. Tape is an incredible format that lasts a long time. For example, the Numero Group sent me a tape recorded in 1950 with a recording made by Fern Jones, a huge gospel singer of the time. After putting up the reel, rewinding it, and re-splicing the leader tape, which came apart because it was so old, I hit pay and heard one of the most beautiful recordings I’ve ever encountered. Every detail was still there. It was recorded live to mono tape and still sounded wonderful over 50 years later. Tape really is an amazing format. It gives you a type of compression, saturation, and warmth unavailable in the digital domain. But it is important to keep these things in mind if you want your recording to be a success, and to keep your mastering engineer happy. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Jeff Lipton is a Grammy-nominated mastering engineer and founder of Peerless Mastering in Boston. Known for his unrivaled dedication to achieving the best possible sound for every project he works on, Jeff has become one of the most highly respected mastering engineers in the business, amassing an impressive discography covering an extensive variety of genres. For more, visit peerlessmastering.com. PERFORMER MAGAZINE MAY 2015 21
TAPE AS EFFECT
How To Use Tape as an Effect During The Mixing Process
DIGITAL, YOUR GRANDPA & TAPE’S CHARM Tape machines are like your grandfather. They’re old, and cranky, and require patience and tender loving care. But just like Grandpa, if you take the time you can coax wonderful things from tape. If you’re an indie rocker, tape gets you closer to that vintage vibe than all the plug-ins in the world, and if you’re a pop-meister or EDM-head, it’s the secret weapon that’ll put you in a whole different class from the competition. Let’s take a minute to think about tape historically; it’ll help us understand what we’re doing and why. Remember that when tape was invented, it was the ONLY recording medium available. The goal, then, was fidelity. Every new machine, every new tape formulation, was aimed at getting closer to the nirvana of getting back what you put in. Lossless. Just like digital is today. And yet, oddly, we now recognize that some of that loss was just what the doctor ordered. Things came back from tape warmer, rounder, punchier, and definitely chewier. We’ve lost that magic change with digital. Don’t get me wrong. I work in digital all the time, but “digital makes things sound better,” said no one ever. Digital is what it is, and that’s a good thing, too. 22 MAY 2015 PERFORMER MAGAZINE
NOW ON TO THE EFFECT… In the quest for fidelity, tape machines were invented that ran faster (30 ips) and used wider tape (1/2” 2-track, or 2” 24-track). Tape was formulated to hold “more signal” (allow recording at higher gain before unpleasant distortion took effect). But, that exactly NOT what we’re looking for. To that end, the ideal tape machine for this mix effect is sturdy, dependable, holds its calibration well, BUT is slow and narrow. We want tape that is good, doesn’t shed or stretch, BUT is formulated for average calibration. This is how I came to own a Studer A-810. It’s all that and more. I run 1/4” tape at 15 ips. I use RMG 911 tape that is a re-make of Ampex 456. I calibrate to +3 dB. This allows me to push into the tape but get tape effect at moderate level. This particular machine can hold dual calibrations, so I’ve done the calibration with RMG 900 (GP9) tape at +9 on 30 ips. It sounds good! But it’s no longer contributing something to the sound of the mix. This is why I call using the tape an “effect” - we’re looking for it to add something to the recording, not just playback with greatest fidelity. If we merely wanted fidelity, we’ve got digital. Practically, what we do is pass the mix from
the console (or DAW if you’re in the box) to the tape machine while it is in record mode (tape is spinning) and then re-record the output from tape into the DAW. We set the input level to tape using the master fader on the console aiming to have the VU needle averaging around +3 dBU. This leads to peaks +6 and higher. You’ve got to use your ears to fine-tune the amount of effect you’re looking for. When we’re done, we always do a pass without tape and, after careful level matching (don’t fool yourself by letting one be louder than the other), do a blind comparison. I’d say 8 out of 10 times tape wins! So be kind to dear ol’ Grandpa and his tape machine; he might just teach you a few new tricks for your mix. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Award winning mix engineer and producer Jordan Tishler runs Digital Bear Entertainment in Boston MA. A large Augsburger designed mix/overdub room with SSL console and racks upon racks of analogue outboard gear, tape machine, and gazillions of instruments, Tishler has credits including B Spears, JLo, Iggy A, MOTi, Justin Prime, SIA, and London Grammar. Contact me about producing your next record, or mixing the one you’re working on now! Visit www.digitalbear.com for more.
PAT McGEE Pat McGee on Analog Recording
The Artist’s Perspective: Save Money With Tape By Nailing It The First Time
I
knew I wanted to record to tape before I even wrote the songs. Last year I went out and bought a turntable and a few albums that sparked the fire in me as a young boy. That reacquaintance led to a river of creativity in the form of music and lyrics. I wrote day and night, truly inspired by the sounds I was hearing coming off the needle - almost as if I took a trip to a far away land for inspiration. I hired the same musicians that graced these magical recordings, dubbed “The Section.” These stellar players lifted my songs to new heights and there was only one way to capture it: live and to two-inch tape. I recall Waddy Wachtel, one of the legendary guitar players on the session, walking in the first day and seeing the Studer tape machine cueing up. He said, “Whoa, that’s bold!” I believe there is something unique about recording to tape. It’s the perfect amount of
the stress of nailing it the first or second time, knowing that we are not relying on overdubs. As in, this is it, bring your best stuff to these few recorded moments in time. In turn when each musician plays to the best of their abilities it inspires the others, lifting the song higher and higher. Sonically, it can’t be beat for the sound I was going for. The warmth, tight mid-range, the beefy low-end and just crisp enough highs, even the subtle tape hiss is all music to my ears. The only drawback is that you have to pay for tape, which can be expensive, but when you nail takes and your recording days are very efficient, you can save money in the end by not spending weeks in endless overdub mode. Well I had the fortunate opportunity of recording with the best in the biz, we didn’t practice a single note, but if it was any other band, I would insist that we practice before heading into the studio, so when tape is rolling we have the road map pretty well
laid out to avoid mistakes and having to do multiple takes. If someone is recording to tape for the first time, I recommend you record practice sessions on an iPhone voice memo or twotrack, so you can really hear what vibe you are capturing. If you like what you are hearing, chances are tape is going to blow your mind. Technical issues are simple, as long as you have an experienced engineer. I would absolutely use it aga in. If nothing else in this era of modern recording, doing things the old school way is never a bad thing, I feel it enha nces the creativity. Like a n Olympic athlete who needs to get a “10,” a nyone ca n do it if you’re able to have as ma ny do-overs as you wa nt. In music, what might not seem like a “10” in the moment ca n rea lly turn out to be a n “11” in the end. For more, visit http://patmcgee.net and follow on Twitter @PatMcGee PERFORMER MAGAZINE MAY 2015 23
HOWLING TONGUES
W
e recorded our debut album to 2” tape on a 24-track Studer at Sound Emporium in Nashville, TN. That whole experience opened our eyes - we weren’t staring at a computer screen and we were thrown into the fire. We weren’t editing, adjusting, shifting, nudging, cutting; we just had to live with what we got down on tape. It made us focus on the music, the performance, and the tones much more than we ever thought before. Prior to that record we were big analog advocates anyway. So since Sound Emporium, we record at our own studio space and we have acquired a 1/4” Teac 2-Track reel to reel and a 1/2” Teac 8-track reel to reel. Everything sounds so amazing on tape; I’ve noticed I had to use much less EQ and compression to achieve the tones that we’re hearing in our heads. The dynamic range of tape is awesome too, because you can really hit the tape input
hard and get a nice, tight, punch-rounded sound that you definitely can’t achieve digitally. Not having tons of built-in effects and virtual instruments at the click of a mouse really forces you to try and create more sounds on your own. Maybe you used to plug a MIDI keyboard in and use some synth patches in Pro Tools. In the analog world you have to create those sounds using amps, microphones, guitar pedals, actual instruments, and random objects. It can be really inspiring to limit yourself in the digital era and just allow yourself to create and not stare the music down on a computer screen, but rather listen to it and make adjustments to your approach. In our studio space we rehearse by running a Pro Tools session and we just arm all of the microphones that we’re using. This makes it quick to send the proper mixes out to each musician since we don’t have a nice analog console. Anytime we are recording, we record to one of the tape machines and have
The Howling To Blown Away By 24 MAY 2015 PERFORMER MAGAZINE
HOWLING TONGUES
an alternate signal f low that we set up to do it. We can appreciate the speed of digital when it comes to rehearsing our sets and pulling up headphone/wedge mixes. When we create, we prefer working on tape. Getting into analog recording takes patience, but once you get the handle on the process it becomes just as easy as any DAW (which were, after all, modeled on analog equipment in the first place). If you want, you can always dump what’s recorded on tape back into Pro Tools and just use your tape machine to get the effect and tone of it. A big misconception with analog recording equipment is that you need to have the most expensive machines to get great sounds. You don’t need an expensive Studer or an Otari for things to sound great. Of course, those machines are the best sounding, most f lexible, and popular, but they are really hard to maintain and super expensive. When we recorded our record, our Studer had to
be fixed twice and it was in great condition. Our current recording setup is relatively affordable for most serious musicians. If you buy an older reel to reel, new tape, an entry level analog mixer, speakers, and some microphones, it’s going to cost around the same or less than purchasing a nicer Pro Tools rig, mics, and speakers. A lot of our favorite records that are modern or classic were done as analog recordings, and that’s where our inspiration came from. We wanted to learn the process and see if we could do it. Ever since then we’ve been in love with it. Analog recording is not for everyone, but for us it will always be how we want to create our albums. To listen to our music, head to www.thehowlingtongues.com and follow us on Twitter @HowlingTongues. photo by Kelly Embry
Tongues Get y Analog Tape And How Ditching The Computer Screen Renewed Studio Focus
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BUYING TIPS
BUYER’S GUIDE: I Think I Want A Tape Machine…
What to Know BEFORE You Take The Plunge
WHAT TO WORRY ABOUT
WHAT NOT TO WORRY ABOUT
Skip a lot of heartache and get a “modern” tape machine - something post 1975-ish (this varies depending on manufacturer) and that is a professional-grade machine. These will have all the features you need to make recordings, and were built to be repaired, aligned, and heavily used. They also tend to have a larger parts and tech support base. A good rule of thumb is if you can pick it up by yourself, it’s not a professional machine.
Head condition, head relapping or physical head alignment. WHAT? You heard me - yes, these things are important, but not initially. Think of it as getting new tires on a car that you’re not even sure will start or run. I talk to a lot of people who spend money on head relapping and haven’t even tested the machine out yet. Get the machine up and working, then worry about maximizing its performance.
Get a machine that is in good working order. Don’t fall for “it worked the last time I used it” or “I’m not able to test it out” – these are red flags. If it works well, the seller will want to prove it to you, not skirt the issue. Once you buy a non-working machine, you’re faced with the task of getting it working properly, and the only way to figure out how much that will cost you is to…well…pay someone to get it working properly and pay the invoice. Make sure the machine has all the pieces and parts it needs. Fixing machines is one thing, sourcing hard-to-find parts is another headache altogether. For instance, a lot of multi-track machines won’t even go into record without their remote, and are very hard to use without their autolocator. Finding these pieces is next to impossible because everyone with a machine has a locator, and they’re not likely to sell what they need.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Chris Mara has been a recording engineer in Nashville since 1995. His all-analog recording studio, Welcome To 1979, has been operating in Nashville, TN for 7 years. Mara’s passion for analog recording led to the birth of his second company, Mara Machinesa company that specializes in restoring MCI tape machines. Restored Mara Machines are being used all over the world. For more, visit www.chrismara.com. 26 MAY 2015 PERFORMER MAGAZINE
Knowing how to align a tape machine. If you look online for advice about tape machines, you’ll see a lot of comments about things like oscilloscopes, fancy multimeters, signal generators, tentelometers, MRL tapes, etc. Yes, these things are also very important, but not right off the bat. Buy a good working machine, get a knowledgeable technician to go through it, and then focus on making good music with it. If you’re not within physical reach of a good tech, there are a lot of people (myself included) who will assist you via FaceTime or Skype on alignments. This is a fantastic idea because it helps you learn the steps as you’re doing it with guidance. Who previously owned the machine or what records were done on it. Who cares? These are usually used to distract you to the pertinent facts, like does it work? All you should care about is if it’ll help you make your records. So that’s my two cents on what to focus on when buying a machine. Once you get your machine, it’s a good idea to get new tape (I recommend ATR) and get it aligned by a professional, or with professional help. Once it’s aligned and working properly, leave it powered on as much as possible, and if you stick with the same tape formulation, you won’t need to align it very often at all. What you will have to do often is clean the heads, guides and metal rollers with isopropyl alcohol (above 90%), which you can get from most local drug stores or hardware stores. Be sure to get in all the crevasses because that’s where tape residue can build up and cause issues. Clean anything rubber with Formula 409 cleaner. Always consult a professional with solid, first-hand knowledge before doing anything you’re not comfortable doing, such as audio alignment, head alignment or any repairs, and you’ll be all set.
BUYING TIPS photo courtesy to Nick Magliochetti PERFORMER MAGAZINE MAY 2015 27
INCORPORATE TAPE
5 Cool Ways to Incorporate Tape in Your Next Project
pictured: TASCAM MSR-16
F
or some odd reason we often discuss the use of tape as some sort of analog vs. digital theoretical battle, when the truth is quite the opposite. The modern creator must find ways to incorporate both methodologies into a creative workflow to achieve the most compelling results. If you want to harness the magic of magnetized rust particles on your next release, here are your main options... 1. Track to tape. This is the traditional method that most of us associate with tape. An 8-track only has enough room for either sparse or primitive productions, a 16-track has enough tracks for a typical three- or four-piece. You’ll likely need a big-boy 24-track 2” machine to capture large ensembles or spread out with lots of mics. This “all the basic tracks hit tape, maybe the overdubs too if there’s room” method captures lots of character, but has substantial tape costs and requires a proper studio, or a damn well-equipped project one. Remember, you can always dump the tracks into your DAW for extensive overdubbing. 2. Print subgroups to tape. In this scenario your digitally recorded tracks are appropriately grouped and printed to tape in stereo pairs (drums, bass, instruments and vox, all going to eight tracks). These analog “stems” are flown back into the DAW 28 MAY 2015 PERFORMER MAGAZINE
for editing and mixing. Maybe the resultant sound is a bit too ”analog-y”? These stems can be blended with the digital tracks at some level less than full. Such “NY-style” parallel-processing allows you to choose the precise amount of color you add to the production. 3. Fly individual elements to tape. Golden-ears and discriminating artists may want a singular element of their production to get wildly analog’d while other elements remain digital for contrast - easy peezy! Fly the key elements to tape, perhaps tainted crazily by hot levels or funky methods (crinkled tape, varispeed manipulations, tricked-out bass response, etc.) and re-align manually in the DAW. Such affairs are seldom subtle. 4. Mix to a 2-track. Even if all your tracks are digital (or even mixed “in-the-box”) you can still print your mix to an analog 2-track. This process may not maximize color like scenario #1, or allow the blending of scenario #2, but it can offer a certain musicality that’s hard to emulate (even with plug-ins). The amount of analog-goodness is determined by the type of tape, the tape width and speed, as well the set-up details (biasing, levels, noise reduction etc.) An expensive deck can maintain top fidelity, whereas an affordable one may offer only profound coloration. Expect to experiment.
5. CLASP. Maybe you want subtle, maybe not, maybe you want total tape control, maybe you want the ultimate analog experience? This “closed loop analog signal processor” system allows total flexibility to incorporate any speed/formula/ methodology into digital productions. Only topshelf studios have it, it works like a charm and it’s freakin’ expensive, but this is the ultimate pairing of a DAW and a deck. Check out www. endlessanalog.com for more info. Whether you’ve got access to a beat-out consumer 1/4” 2-track, a workhorse semi-pro Tascam 1/2” or a pro-level multi-track 2” (refurbs are surprisingly affordable these days), there’s always a way to artfully work some rusty plastic into a modern production. Good things seldom come easily and analog tape is no exception, so be prepared to either hire a pro or spend lots of time experimenting! ABOUT THE AUTHOR Rob Tavaglione is the owner of Catalyst Recording in Charlotte, NC, and a veteran audio writer who writes a column, feature stories, editorials, blogs and reviews gear for Pro Audio Review Magazine and Pro Sound News. Rob has written over 200 articles and reaches over 150,000 audio engineers a month through print and web. For more, visit www. catalystrecording.com and follow Rob on Twitter @RobTavaglione.
TAPE RELEASES
pictured: The Tall Calm by Sarah Renberg courtesy of Antiquated Futures
The Argument for Tapes: Why Your Band Should Release Music on Cassette
I
f you are an indie musician or label there’s a good chance you’re interested in making physical product of your recordings. Although CDs and vinyl are positioned as the standard for physical media, and certainly valid depending on your audience, demographic, and/or region, they may not be the format that would serve you best. Maybe, just maybe, you should be considering making some tapes. Yes, you read that right. Audio cassette tapes are still manufactured today and many plants that make vinyl records and/or CDs still manufacture the good ol’ cassette. THESE ARE SOME OF THE REASONS YOU MIGHT CONSIDER MAKING TAPES: Size - The compact size and weight of a cassette makes handling and shipping tapes easy. Shipping rates will only increase. Once packaged up, a standard LP weighs over a pound; a cassette will be about 4 ounces – a big difference when shipping. Going on tour? Don’t want to lug around a 50-pound box of records from show to show and worry about warping? Tapes! Sound - Tapes, like vinyl records, are an analog format. They have a unique “warm” sound and they wear out over time. Also, like records, on the right playback system tapes can sound phenomenal. [Editor’s note – I can vouch for that. I have a properly maintained Nakamichi tape deck that will make even crustiest flea-market tapes sound breathtaking.]
Cost - Cassettes can be made professionally in super small runs as low as 50 or 100 units for $1-2 per unit, depending on length and artwork options. In most cases, you’d have to order 1,000 CDs to get a per-unit rate that would beat that. Vinyl is so expensive to make, it’s not even worth talking about. This low cost can be passed on to the consumer and local record shop. At $5-8 retail, everyone makes something and you keep the money where it should be.
work on cassette decks. Also, many old cars have cassette decks.
Turnaround – Currently, record plants are completely backed up by major labels with senseless reissues for Record Store Day (and the even sillier Black Friday RSD). Boo! Professional CDs require a glass stamper to be made and generally take a few weeks. Tapes are super quick! Just send in files for your artwork, a prepared master, and in a week or so, professional looking and sounding tapes should be ready for you and your fans.
THREE COMPANIES THAT STILL MANUFACTURE TAPES:
Download Codes - If you need a download code, you can purchase codes from Bandcamp inexpensively and insert the codes into the tape cases. Easy!
3. ENAS Media - 5018 Lante St, Baldwin Park, CA 91706 - (626) 962-1115
The DIY Aesthetic - If you want to leave out the manufacturing plants, you can make tapes at home if you have a second deck or a dubbing deck. People respond to short runs and handmade artwork. It gives fans a real connection with your art, something no mass-produced product can do. Playback - Cassette players can be found inexpensively and most quality repair shops still
In a time when supposedly everything is at our fingertips and it’s so hard to engage people because big money has all the attention, maybe making 50 or 100 special little copies on a format we refuse to acknowledge as obsolete, is just the right thing to connect with people. The rest can grab the download.
1. National Audio Company (NAC) - 309 E Water St, Springfield, MO, 65806 - (417) 8631925 - www.NationalAudioCompany.com 2. M2Communications - 235 Bellefontaine Street, Pasadena, CA 91105 - (626) 441-2024 http://m2com.com
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Trevor Baade is the owner of Jacknife Records & Tapes, a music shop in Atwater Village, CA that stocks an equal amount of vinyl records, compact discs and audio cassette tapes, honoring the three formats equally. The shop also releases new music by artists such as My Hawaii and Miles Cooper Seaton of Akron/ Family, as well as classic music like early Daptone Records albums, all on tape. For more, visit jackniferecordsandtapes.com.
PERFORMER MAGAZINE MAY 2015 29
CASSETTE CULTURE
THE HISS IS BACK: THE GROWING RESURGENCE OF CASSETTE CULTURE Why Your Band Should Consider This Cost-Saving Merch Opportunity
A
s a child of the ’90s, I’m just barely old enough to feel nostalgic about cassettes. My first album was a tape of the Austin Powers soundtrack (actually a pretty decent collection of ’60s acid rock), and a few years after that, I can remember dubbing a copy of my friend’s scratched-up Operation Ivy CD on a boom box at our local skate park. By high school, I’d snagged a warped Fishbone cassette at a thrift store to slam into my family station wagon’s tape deck as my buddies and I trolled our suburban main drag looking for someone to buy us beer. While they are easy to romanticize, cassettes for me were in reality never more than a novelty 30 MAY 2015 PERFORMER MAGAZINE
— either a cool find at the bottom of a free bin or a cheap alternative to spending $18 on a new CD. It’s easy to dismiss the recent cassette resurgence as a nostalgic trend, but in fact, many people driving today’s tape boom never had more than a passing relationship with tapes. Twentyand-thirty-something year old music fans’ infatuation with this outdated medium stems not as much from nostalgia, but from an aesthetic connection that Spotify, SoundCloud, or even vinyl can’t replicate. In between the golden age of LPs and the everlasting promise of the compact disc, there was the compact cassette tape. Originally introduced by Philips in 1963 at a radio convention in Berlin,
it was not until 1983 that cassettes overtook LPs as the industry’s top selling audio format. Aside from a newfound portability with the introduction of the Walkman in 1979, cassettes also ushered in a subculture of mixtapes and DIY recording. The affordability and ease of distribution of tapes offered a new freedom for bands and helped fuel ’80s underground scenes like hardcore and college rock. By 1991, however, CDs had overtaken cassettes as the top selling format, and by 2005, fewer than a few million cassettes were shipped in North America, according to data gathered by the Record Industry Association of America. But around the mid 2000s, a number of
A release on Lost Sound Tapes, for example, consists of 100 tapes, costing roughly $2.50 each to produce and then sold for $5 a piece. Although many DIY labels dub cassette copies on their own, Manning stresses the value of professional duplication: “Having tapes professionally duplicated is super important! It gives the best sound quality possible. Lost Sound Tapes started by duplicating tapes at home, but after 10 or so releases, [we] decided it was too time consuming and difficult to maintain our equipment to keep the quality at an acceptable level.”
indie record labels began popping up releasing cassettes exclusively. Burger Records in Southern California, for example, started releasing tapes for garage rock outfits like Nobunny and The Go in 2007 and quickly grew into one of the country’s most celebrated (and truly independent) labels. Today, hundreds of indie labels are releasing tapes worldwide, and sales continue to grow as a subset of music fans turn to cassettes as an alternative to the fleeting quality of digital music. Cassette culture has even begun to go mainstream, getting coverage from publications like Newsweek and Billboard and even receiving the “Cassette Store Day” treatment like its vinyl brethren.
moved away from the physical form and I think a lot of people are beginning to resist the shift, gravitating towards physical items to provide a more human, handmade quality.” Another reason for the resurgence of cassette culture is the affordability of tapes for musicians, labels, and fans alike. Cassettes are much cheaper to produce than CDs or vinyl, and can be an eyecatching option for bands to sell at their merch tables for only a few bucks. For Aubert, “The obvious advantage is cost. If all steps along the way are done properly, there is room for profit.” Adding that, “[Many] small labels would opt for vinyl, but the cost of production is a
CASETTE CULTURE
significant investment most cannot afford.”
Unlike vinyl, which saw a 52% increase in 2014, it’s difficult to pin down exactly what the state of the cassette industry looks like in terms of sales. Tapes are rarely tracked or bar-coded, and are often self-produced by bands and DIY labels that sell directly to fans online or at shows. Anecdotal evidence, however, points to a small, but engaged niche audience that is steadily growing. Marc Weinstein, founder of California’s fabled Amoeba Records, told Newsweek he’s seen tape sales increase substantially over the past few years, while Burger Records claims to have sold over 300,000 cassettes since its founding. Craftsmanship and affordability are great, but how do cassettes really sound? Although the old cassette tape has a bit of reputation for being unreliable and sounding, well, shitty, the warm analogue and sometimes lo-fi sound perfectly suites the garage rock, punk, noise, experimental, and instrumental hip-hop artists who champion the format. “The hiss is back,” proclaims Manning. “Everyone hated it for decades and did everything in their power to get rid of it, but now people love to keep it in.”
When asked why he thinks people are rediscovering cassettes, Jon Manning, founder of Lost Sound Tapes in Seattle, explains, “It’s exactly the same response as, ‘Why read a book when you could download it and read it on an e-book reader?’ The music, while it is the most important aspect, is only one part of a complete work of art.” The physical experience of holding a cassette is a huge reason for tape’s appeal, and artists and labels take great care in designing the cover art, j-card fold out, and even the cassette itself. This, coupled with the fact that most releases are limited to at most a thousand or so copies, makes each cassette its own unique artifact and keepsake. Oakland-based musician Mark Aubert, whose done cassette releases with labels including Acorn Tapes and Carpi Records, sums up this sentiment well: “We are still in the ‘honeymoon’ period of technology; data has PERFORMER MAGAZINE MAY 2015 31
TAPE LABEL
CURIOUS POSSIBILITIES: The Ins and Outs of Running a Tape Label in 2015 WHY ON EARTH WOULD I DO THIS? When I consider the decisions I’ve made in my life, I often think of that playful hypothetical question: “What would you do if you had X amount of dollars?” A few years ago, the online store I run became subject to the whims of the Internet and more-or-less went viral for a week. To most people, the money I made from it probably wouldn’t be seen as much. But for me, a person who lived checkto-check, it seemed like a fortune. I could have taken a trip, gotten a better bike, or fixed my car, but instead I started a tape label. As with many tape lovers, there’s an aspect of nostalgia that draws me to the medium. Most of my earliest emotional connections to music happened via cassette. The tape of Paul Simon’s Graceland that would flip endlessly on my family’s road trips. The soul mixtapes we’d 32 MAY 2015 PERFORMER MAGAZINE
dance to in the kitchen. The tape of Guided By Voices’ Bee Thousand my uncle bought, giving me my first taste of lo-fi production. The tapes I would use to record the Seattle freeform station while living in the woods of rural Washington. The tape of a local punk band that made me feel like I could start my own band. I’d romanticized the medium long before I ever considered releasing anything.
an idea of what “antiquated future” could sound like. If there are elements that could be possibly interpreted as retro, but being done in a very different—potentially futuristic—way, I consider it a good fit. The store is the labor-oflove-turned-business; the tape label remains a labor of love. I make a little money on some tapes, lose a little on some, and break even on most.
TAPE’S PLACE IN THE FORMAT FOOD CHAIN The label I run is called Antiquated Future Records, an offshoot of the Antiquated Future online store. I started it because I thought I could fill a hole, release things that might otherwise go unreleased. The reclusive genius types, or artists who might want to do a more raw, off-the-cuff album than their normal fare. The label isn’t bound by any genre, just
Justifying a tape label to others isn’t always easy. With vinyl, the question of its existence in the digital present is easier to reason. Even if a person can’t hear the quality difference between a vinyl record and an mp3, he or she can usually acknowledge that other people can hear it—and wanting something that’s higher quality is typically thought of as admirable. But buying, let alone releasing, a format that’s generally seen as lower quality?
TAPE LABEL
To most people, that doesn’t make sense. Every audio format changes the listening experience in some way. To me each one is interesting and unique, and the medium is a part of the experience. Some music is more inclined toward the inherent grit of cassettes—it’s why you find so many tape labels that release experimental or lo-fi music—but personally I like the quality the medium lends to any recording. I also like to think of tapes as slightly more egalitarian than other formats. Tapes are affordable, small, sturdy, and don’t require expensive equipment to play—they function as a unique physical art object without the fragility or financial burden of vinyl. And if you include a digital download code with them, as my label and many other tape labels do, they can be both physical object and a means of transmitting the more “practical” digital files. THE MATERIALS AND COSTS INVOLVED Anyone with the passion, some friends that make sounds, and a couple hundred dollars can start their own label. Many people get their tapes dubbed through National Audio Company (NAC), a long-running tape manufacturer and duplicating company. 100 copies of a tape through NAC—with cases, j-cards, and some words imprinted on the cassette—will run you around $200. You just need to allow a month turnaround and know you’re dealing with a giant company (one that, according to their website, loads over two million miles of cassette tape each year), and it’s not going to be an especially personal experience. If you invest in some dubbing machines yourself (usually a couple hundred dollars used for good quality ones), or find someone who dubs tapes as a side business, you can lower your costs a lot. Buy some bulk tapes (which you can get at any length from 1 to 94 minutes) and cases from a company like Delta Media, buy some blank labels from the office supply store, and print some j-cards at your local copy shop. Like most things, it’s a situation where you’re trading money for time (you want it cheap? you have to do some work), but if this sounds fun and you plan on making a lot of tapes, buying your own machines can be a good investment. GETTING HEARD While it’s true that many music blogs and magazines don’t accept cassettes for review consideration [editor’s note – Performer happily accepts tapes!] and most radio stations still prefer CDs, there are also sites like Cassette Gods that only review tapes and the Tabs Out Cassette Podcast that, yes, only plays tapes. And since many music
review sites don’t even accept physical submissions anymore, it isn’t as limiting as it might initially seem. When I started the online store seven years ago, CDs were our bestselling music format. Tapes and vinyl did about the same. But now, in 2015, at a store whose main clientele reads zines and in some way participates in DIY culture, CDs barely sell at all. But we sell many hundreds of tapes every year. LPs sell somewhere in the middle, but tapes are king. When we table at events, I talk to people young enough to not have their judgment clouded by
nostalgia, but who are none-the-less pulled toward the format. And I see more and more people being curious about the great many possibilities that a cassette can contain. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Joshua James Amberson is a writer based in Portland, Oregon. He’s the author the critically-acclaimed zines Basic Paper Airplane and The Prince Zine. The former co-chairman of the non-profit publishing company S.S.O. Press, he currently runs Antiquated Future Records. For more visit antiquatedfuture.com. PERFORMER MAGAZINE MAY 2015 33
TAPE LABEL
WHY THE F%!# DID I START A TAPE LABEL?
R
The UK Perspective on the Current Cassette Revival
unning a Cassette Tape Label in 2015 is like going to the school prom in a wheelchair. It’s nice that you went, people smile and pat your head, but nobody wants a photo with you. I am writing this while I sit at the Hackney Record Fair in London, with my tapes, two awesome boomboxes, a Walkman and the feeling of being judged by other record labels. VINYL record labels. You see, the rise of vinyl over the last few years has meant a lot of new labels have sprung up out of bedrooms across the UK to much fanfare. What most people don’t 34 MAY 2015 PERFORMER MAGAZINE
realize is that vinyl has a little brother called “cassette” that rides its coattails for dear life and has surprisingly cemented a place, albeit very niche, in the heart of the record buying public. I started POST/POP out of my love for “dead” formats and the heavily romanticized idea of making and receiving mixtapes for friends and partners, because getting a tape shoved in your hand with scribbled band names and DIY artwork is akin to a getting a meaningful hug or a slightly-too-long glance from the person you fancy. Mixtapes mean
something to people. It shows you have made an effort, and in this time of social networks and the ability to summon any song that’s ever been made in an instant, it’s one of the last ways to communicate your feelings to someone using a physical medium. Every single one of my cassette releases mean something to me in some way. It’s my mixtape to the world. It just so happens that my mixtapes are official releases from some of my favorite bands of all time (ASH, The Subways, Menswe@r etc). It’s the main reason to start a record label. You love music,
Controversially, this is where I believe the stigma lies with current tape labels. This recent wave of Cassette Culture was born from the lo-fi noise groups, mostly in America, and mostly contained bands and music that lent itself to the DIY aesthetic of dubbing tapes in your bedroom during the day, and selling it at your gig later that night. It was cheap, and the sound quality didn’t matter so much, as it added to the whole ambience. This idea took off and spread across America and over to Europe and the UK. Again, it was mostly lo-fi bands who grasped this concept, and identified with the quirkiness and costeffectiveness of cassettes. So what happens when Cassette Culture is saturated with bands who all have a certain vibe? It becomes isolated and disassociated with popular culture.
When I realized that my beloved format was turning into something that even I couldn’t stomach, I vowed to start a tape label that catered to bands that people wanted to hear. The bands that you hear on the radio all the time. The bands that make up the mixtapes that you make for your best friends and loved ones. The bands that define the word “Summer” for you. Bands that have sold millions of records and bands that haven’t sold so many just yet, but you really hope they do.
TAPE LABEL
a particular format and specifically a bunch of bands that you want forever associated with your idea, and you go for it. If your taste in music isn’t stellar, then you have a problem.
I feel that in order for a format to thrive, it needs to have the content, the songs, to make people part with their hard-earned cash. I’m writing this as the perusers of the Hackney Record Fair casually glance at my tape stall with looks of confusion, bemusement and a little disdain, then quickly move over to one of the hundreds of stalls selling vinyl at astronomical prices. It’s going to be a long journey, but as long as I have batteries in my Walkman, everything is going to be okay. Pop Will Prevail.
“Tapes are one of the last ways to communicate your feelings to someone using a physical medium.” PERFORMER MAGAZINE MAY 2015 35
CASSETTE CLUB
Graveyard Orbit Walks U Preparations For The Au
[Editor’s note – this article was originally published by Unrecorded at http://www.unrecorded.mu/features/ cassette-club-june-edition. It has been republished here with permission of the author.]
H
ow do you bring a subculture off of the Internet and into real life? That’s the question that gave birth to this year’s first annual Austin Cassette Fest. Since starting a record label last August, cassettes have taken over my life – and living room. Starting Graveyard Orbit was based out of this love I still have for all the little indie labels that meticulously curated my adolescence. I was always interested in cassettes, but never really considered them a viable medium for starting a record label. After all, the convention is that cassettes are outdated, obsolete – for people who got stuck somewhere between 8 tracks and CDs, or else for, well – hipsters. 36 MAY 2015 PERFORMER MAGAZINE
But when I decided I was going to start a record label, I began to think, “Why not tapes?” They’re inexpensive, easy to customize, and you can do everything yourself (DIY4LYFE). And as I thought about it, the idea grew into something much larger. I always loved producing, designing, and packaging my own music, so why not do that for others? Why not start an actual record label and utilize tapes as the ideal medium? As a kid I was fascinated by the packaging of cassettes – I loved opening up the inserts and admiring the album art and liner notes. There’s no denying cassettes have this special aesthetic that you just don’t get with CDs – that’s why there’s so much kitschy merchandise and clothing that’s branded with a cassette tape. With my own Graveyard Orbit releases I put a lot of time and consideration into the album art, inserts, and overall look and feel, building on that timeless aesthetic and getting to pay homage to all the little labels and cassettes I used to love as a kid. When
you are able to go from designing the layout, to dubbing the tape, to seeing all the components come together to form the album, you begin to fall in love with the medium and its creative potential. As I dug deeper into cassettes and Graveyard Orbit, I discovered a whole subculture with the same obsessive appreciation. I wasn’t the lone weirdo making tapes in his bedroom and selling them on Bandcamp – turned out there were TONS of small, independent labels doing the same thing. It was amazing to discover just how much music was actually being released on cassette. Unlike the major financial investment that is vinyl, you could take a chance on some obscure music and release it to cassette with little out of your own pocket. This opened up the field to genres upon sub-genres of new music and bands to discover. I was so thrilled to find such a community of like-minded,
CASETTE CLUB
s Us Through Austin Cassette Festival passionate people, yet I couldn’t find this community almost anywhere outside of online spaces. It felt like online dating with no hopes of ever spooning. Which sucks because spooning is fun – just like tapes! I really wanted to bring this community off line but worried that online forums and groups wouldn’t necessarily translate into real life communities, or even real life interactions. All the same, I wanted to try! I wanted to be able to hang out with these people “IRL,” talk about their releases, and get to know everyone who was producing these amazing releases. After a failed attempt at tabling at a local record convention, I began to consider starting my own “record convention,” but on a much smaller scale – and exclusively with cassettes. I had no idea where to begin planning an event – after all, I made tapes, not parties – so after pitching the idea around to a few people, I finally recruited Gillian (owner of Sound Dessert) to help plan the event and Mass Gallery (a local, cooperatively run art space) to host it. Gillian and I met every week for three months, meticulously planning, obtaining sponsors, drinking beer, booking bands, and planning both the day and evening festivities. I don’t think I slept more than five hours a night during the planning of Cassette Fest. At first it was awkward advertising an event that celebrated labels and musicians still making and distributing cassettes. To a lot of people, celebrating a “dead format” like tapes was like digging up a corpse and trying to throw it a surprise party. Hilariously pointless. But it wasn’t just about the tapes; it was about the passion around curating and creating music in its physical form again. It was about the community that was popping up online, and bringing that into the public eye. And with every label, band, and sponsorship confirmation we received, I grew more excited. People were interested in this community! I always knew it, but it was seeing all of this support and excitement rolling in that really solidified it for me.
people throughout the day. People of all ages were buying from the 10+ labels we had tabled, drinking booze and water from all our sponsors and enjoying the sounds of Grace London, BLSHS, Pope, Man of the Down, and Artificial Earth Machine. We even had a strictly cassette DJ set from The Vegetable Kingdom, which was fascinating. I was running around the entire time, but it didn’t escape me that I was surrounded by like-minded strangers, all of them passionate about tapes, music, art, design, DIY, all of it – and how amazing this was. After the day party was over, we moved the event to Cheer Up Charlie’s for the official after-party, where Basketball Shorts, Chipper Jones, and The Vegetable Kingdom closed out our evening of fun. I, of course, used this opportunity to celebrate the success of Austin Cassette Fest. It was here that many of my friends and participating labels asked me about next year. I honestly wasn’t sure if the
festival would be an annual occurrence, but due to the encouragement of the community, and all the “fuck yeahs” from patrons, I can definitely say that we will be seeing you next year. While planning Austin Cassette Fest I discovered several new labels putting out some really great music. I would highly recommend checking out Accrue Cassettes as well as two brand new labels, Wabi Sabi and Wood Between Worlds. We also made a cassette compilation featuring a band from all of the participating labels, as well as some of the bands that played live at Cassette Fest. For more information on all the labels that participated at this year’s Austin Cassette Fest, please visit www. austincassettefest.com. Photographs courtesy of Breezy Ritter Photography and Radio Fonix Apparel.
All of our planning finally paid off May 17th as I watched Mass Gallery fill up with PERFORMER MAGAZINE MAY 2015 37
THE TAPE PROJECT
The Tape Project: Relea on Audiophile-Approve
T
he Tape Project releases classic a lbums on reel-toreel, duplicated from the orig ina l master tapes. You would expect these tapes to sound good of course, a nd you should expect they would sound better tha n the LP a nd digita l sources. But you will be shocked at just how much better they do sound. The Tape Project is owned jointly by Paul Stubblebine of Paul Stubblebine Mastering, Michael Roma nowski of Michael Roma nowski Mastering a nd Da n “Doc B.” Schma lle of Bottlehead Corp. They ’ve graciously a llowed us to re-print a Q & A about the compa ny, a nd why they ’ve decided to release open reel tape in today ’s ma rket. Why are you doing this? Dan: Most people have not had the experience of hearing studio master tapes. Many formats have been introduced with the promise of bringing master tape sound into the home listening room. Yeah, right. We don’t expect that this tape project will replace any of your 38 MAY 2015 PERFORMER MAGAZINE
other favorite formats, so we see no need to dwell on the drawbacks of any other format. Suffice it to say that we don’t offer an “analoglike” listening experience. We are offering a chance to have in your own listening room an actual analog listening experience as close to the original master tape as practical. OK…but open reel tape in this day and age? This is a truly insane idea. What made you decide to do it? Dan: I had been putting on this show (Vacuum State of the Art Conference) for several years, and my distraction with show administration meant that I always had an ill-prepared demo room for my own Bottlehead products. So I decided for VSAC 2003 that we needed a really good sounding, dialed-in display. I was talking with Paul and we wound up deciding on tape playback. Paul made a few master copies just for the show. My bud Dave Dintenfass of Full Track Productions put together an Ampex 350-2 for us. Paul and his cohort “Geets” Romo came up from San Francisco, and we played tapes, in addition to LPs and hot-rodded digital front ends.
Paul: I expected the tapes to sound good of course, and I expected they would sound better than the LP and digital sources. But I was shocked at just how much better they did sound. And I shouldn’t have been surprised; I’ve been working with tape masters for 30 plus years. Dan: Best Sound of Show from three reviewers at that show, and a Best Sound Of Show at the first RMAF (with headphones only, no less!) with tape playback, and then Best Sound of Show at CES 2007 from many of the reviewers at TAS seems to support our approach. So why are we doing this? To share that experience with our subscribers. Are you saying this is better than any other format? Dan: We find the sound of 15 ips half-track analog tape to be distinct from the sound of any other format. Mike Spitz of ATR Services always said, “Nothing sounds like tape.” How are the tapes made? Dan: Our duplication process begins with
THE TAPE PROJECT
leasing Timeless Music oved Reel-To-Reel the actual analog master tape. From that we make analog running masters on oneinch two-track format. The one-inch tape format transfer results in an extremely low loss of information, which we consider more like 1/2 generation than one full generation [removed]. These running masters are copied in real time to a bank of finely tweaked Ampex ATR-100 decks, yielding a “1-1/2 generation” copy. You just aren’t going to get any closer to the original master, short of buying a record label or two. What format do you use? Dan: We have chosen 15 ips, 1/4″ half-track stereo tape using the IEC playback curve as the format. This format is vastly different from the pre-recorded tapes of yesterday, good as they were. In fact it was the master tape format of choice for many legendary recordings, and is the preferred format of many record producers today. Why IEC equalization? Dan: I am asked this question almost daily. Typically, the question is accompanied by
the comment that the consumer grade tape machines out there are almost all set up with NAB playback EQ rather than IEC playback EQ. I’ll attempt to give a not-too-technical explanation. My reference, and a brilliant resource for those interested in more detailed discussion, is Jay McKnight’s collection of technical papers on his Magnetic Reference Labs website, home of the high quality MRL calibration tapes. The NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) standard for tape playback equalization was designed by Frank Lennert in 1948 for use with early Ampex tape machines and the then industry standard 3M Scotch 111 formula tape. Scotch 111 is well regarded for its ability to hang onto a signal over many years. But by modern standards it’s a “high noise” formula. And tape heads of the era were limited in high frequency response. The NAB equalization curve was designed to compensate for these factors by boosting the high frequencies above 3150 Hz during playback. The 3150Hz transition frequency creates a “boost” in the high frequencies that
is 3dB greater than the inherent loss of high frequencies that occur in the modern day recording process. Modern tape formulations (and tape heads) have improved so much from the early days in terms of frequency response and noise f loor that the high frequency f lux now needs to be cut during recording to get f lat response during playback with NAB EQ. So a shelf needed to be created in the recording EQ curve to compensate, and this keeps the recording engineer from being able to take full advantage of modern low noise tape formulations. From a modern tape machine designer’s perspective, this is getting messy! Now you’re boosting the highs way more than you should and noise goes up. So we need a new EQ curve that lets us avoid cutting the highs during recording. Yup, you guessed it, the 4500Hz transition frequency of the IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) playback EQ nicely matches the losses of modern tape formulations, and the recording EQ doesn’t PERFORMER MAGAZINE MAY 2015 39
THE TAPE PROJECT
need to make unnecessary compensation for overly-boosted playback EQ. Ironically, the IEC curve isn’t even a new EQ curve – it has been used in Europe for mastering almost as long as the NAB standard has been used for commercial playback. It’s a simpler curve to implement and gets the high frequency noise levels down to where noise reduction methods like Dolby and DBX become unnecessary. Sonically it’s a winner, and that’s means it fits right into the Tape Project’s goal of delivering the best possible music in the best possible format. Studio machines from the likes of Studer and Ampex come with selectable IEC EQ, and some “prosumer” tape machines like the Otari MX-5050BII and the Technics RS 1520 do as well (along with sporting the necessary half-track playback head and 15 ips capability for playing Tape Project Tapes). Some other machines can be modified to IEC EQ by a competent technician, and the ultimate is to have a machine modified to connect the heads directly to custom playback electronics with switchable EQ setting like those offered by HYPERLINK “http://bottlehead. com/”Bottlehead. OK, this all sounds pretty good. BUT – the world doesn’t need the same tired “audiophile” titles in yet another format. So…is the music any good? Dan: We made an agreement among ourselves from the start that the music must move us, or we won’t put it out. In fact we spend as much time looking for great titles as we do making sure our technical quality is as good as we can get. And we want to hear what you have to say about new titles. You can posts title suggestions in our Tape Project Forum Suggestion Box on our website. The price seems really high compared to LPs. Why the extra cost for consumers? Dan: Tape is very expensive, over $50 per reel these days. And there are two reels in each album. Now add in the license fees, production labor, facility costs, custom packaging, custom reels and you get an idea of our costs. And you probably get an inkling that we sure aren’t doing this to get rich. There is another interesting way to look at this as well. In two eBay auctions that we tracked [a few years back], an original Sonny Rollins Saxophone Colossus LP sold for $262.57, and an original Bill Evans Waltz For Debby LP sold for $464.99. By their descriptions these are LPs with average wear and tear. For about the same price you can get our noise free 1-1/2 generation master tape dubs – seems like a no-brainer. For more information, visit tapeproject.com.
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T
PLUS: Teaching Valuable Skills to Those Who Face Barriers to Employment
TAPE REPAIR
Tape Decks For a Cause & Basic Machine Maintenance roubleshooting used to be a part of daily life for anyone who owned a piece of electronic equipment – especially tape decks. There was always a chance of dirty contacts or tape paths, bad tubes, alignment issues, or the ever-present user error. Recently my dad, a man who lived and breathed the evolution from tube to solid state, pulled out his Hi-Fi gear and seemed befuddled when he couldn’t plug his record player directly into his speakers. “The connectors are not the same!” he exclaimed. In my best “I can’t believe you, Dad” tone, I explained that you need a phono preamp and an amplifier (or a receiver) to achieve proper sound levels from a source...duh. His personal plight is no different from the droves of people who have (re)discovered that special feeling from owning Hi-Fi stereo equipment. That special feeling always stirred my passion for repair, and fortunately I got a chance to share it with the right kinds of people at Isidore Electronics Recycling. Isidore hires people who face barriers to work and develops their troubleshooting skills using discarded electronics. Employees start off in de-manufacturing where endof-life materials (e.g. metals, plastics, and components) are recovered and saved from landfills and incinerators. After a stint in “deman,” individuals who are so inclined may move into refurbishment to achieve our main goal: reuse. This is the department affectionately referred to as Repairadise. The focus there is to use the one thing I remember from high school – the scientific method – to troubleshoot everything from tape decks to cell phones to big old military type equipment. Each repair requires different tricks, but all require a mindset that is primed to troubleshoot. Unfortunately, some of our employees haven’t grown up in environments where there is an emphasis on troubleshooting or embracing your failures. So, we start by teaching that re-examining why something didn’t work is a chance to gain real knowledge and insight into a problem. That knowledge
can then be molded into techniques. And, eventually, it can be applied to help solve different problems. For some people it can take time to accept this, but once they do, that’s when real growth and, eventually, mastery can come. All this, along with some good old triedand-true methods, can produce sweet jams in no time. For example, if your tape deck is having an issue, it’s best to clean it BEFORE you try to troubleshoot it. That’s because tape decks are sensitive, especially to dirt, imperfections, and certain types of opera reissues. I’ve never seen the process explained any better than on the back of my old Fisher walkman manual, something I still refer to to this day:
Note: head cleaning tapes suck, do it by hand with swabs. If things are really gnarly, break out the good stuff: GC Radio
Service Solvent (also removes super glue and paint!) in combination with Rubber Renue. WARNING: Both of these items have dangerously inebriating vapors and they can also “melt” certain types plastic, like cassettes cases or the front panel of your tape deck. I use the Service Solvent on the tape path and Rubber Renue on idlers and pinch rollers. It can take a few passes to get it back to normal. If cleaning doesn’t solve your issues, there are many different possibilities. In general, loose belts and spent idlers are prime replacement targets. If replacing those doesn’t work, that’s where the fun part comes in: it’s now you and your troubleshooting skills against the tape deck. Remember the best troubleshooters always ask questions and when presented with a sketchy conclusions, learn, and never back away till the good tunes roll. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Brian Fox has been designing and fixing electronics professionally for over 15 years. Currently he is the general manager of Isidore Electronics Recycling, where he is trying to save every last bit of electronics from an untimely demise. You can see what he’s fixing or who he’s helping on Instagram @isidorerecycles PERFORMER MAGAZINE MAY 2015 41
HOME TAPING
Did Home Taping REALLY Kill The Record Business?
W
e live in a society where it’s as easy to access free music as it is to find out tomorrow’s weather forecast. From music streaming websites to websites that convert YouTube videos into mp3s, we’ve become a culture completely unafraid to pirate the work of others. This attitude isn’t exactly a new one, though. Music piracy has been around since vinyl records could be re-pressed without the permission of artists or labels, dating back to early bootlegging in the 1950s. However, music piracy didn’t become a widespread domestic practice until the blank Compact Cassette tape entered the picture in the 1980s. An improvement on reel-toreel tapes, the Compact Cassette was less bulky, less expensive and supremely portable. Unlike previous piracy (and live show bootlegging) that had gone on for commercial use, music copying now became a practice for the everyday home listener. LPs and compact discs could be recorded onto these blank tapes. Songs could be recorded straight from the radio on all-in-one radio and cassette recorders. Cassette tapes were easy to share with friends, as well, and were often traded at school or work. The music industry took notice of the emerging “copy culture” and attempted to fight back. One of the most popular efforts was the British “Home Taping Is Killing Music” campaign. It argued that the decrease in music sales due to music piracy would lead to an overall decline in the music industry. Their visions of the future would hauntingly become a reality – to a certain extent, and perhaps not due to their initial reasoning. 42 MAY 2015 PERFORMER MAGAZINE
Despite the effect this “piracy” was having on the music industry in the 1980s, some artists actually supported home taping. For starters, home taping allowed for musicians to record themselves far more easily without having a label to back them. This helped in the rise of DIY genres such as hip-hop and postpunk. Some in the industry, like The Dead Kennedys, even encouraged it to the point of including a blank side to their 1981 EP, In God We Trust. [1] Island Records even had a short period of time where they sold a One Plus One range, where they had a copy of an album on one side of the tape, and the same album on the other side except without its copy protection. However, even though some didn’t mind the growth of piracy, the industry as a whole did. There is no denying that home taping in the ’80s led to the multitude of pirating facets people utilize today. Music sharing websites, such as Napster, boomed in the beginning of the new millennium. The spirit of sharing music with friends embodied in the passing of homemade cassette copies and personallycurated mixtapes was revitalized in these websites, and with even more force. As the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) reported earlier in the 2010s, “In the decade since peer-to-peer (p2p) file-sharing site Napster emerged in 1999, music sales in the U.S. have dropped 47 percent, from $14.6 billion to $7.7 billion.” [2] The introduction of iTunes’s Home Sharing feature, where two computers can freely dump music to each other’s libraries, has also been utilized for obtaining music for free. Currently, countless websites (both legal and not) for directly streaming albums also
reside on the Internet. Other websites allow for users to take YouTube videos containing music and convert them into mp3 files. Even less cutting-edge methods, such as burning CDs from public libraries, are still heavily used. Some argue that most of the revenue in the music industry today is generated through concerts and licensing and no longer in recorded music sales. For example, Madonna generates 95% of her income through touring as part of the current deal with her label. [3] There even is a belief that music piracy has actually helped in the boom of the live music industry. As Steven Caldwell Brown, Music Psychology PhD student writes, “One study argued that demand for live performances is in fact HYPERLINK “http:// w w w. scienced i rect .com /science/a r ticle/ pii/S0167624506000308” \hreduced when piracy is prevented. Another observed what the authors called a P2P-exposition effect, in which exposure to recorded music (whether acquired legally or illegally) HYPERLINK “http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007% 2Fs10824-010-9130-2” \hmotivates concert attendance.” [3] This theory basically states that piracy allows people to hear about more music than they would’ve before, thus turning them into fans of more artists and encouraging them to desire to see these artists perform live. However, others in the industry blame the rising prices of concert tickets on music piracy. According to some, higher ticket prices are the music industry’s way of compensating for lost sales in recorded music. Though this is just a theory, it’s backed by former Executive Chairman of Live Nation, Irving Azoff, who tweeted in 2010, “So if you want
HOME TAPING ticket prices to go down, stop stealing music.” [3] Though music piracy has potentially led to growth in the live music industry, it could also (potentially) be responsible for the recent rise in ticket prices.
increased 32 percent to 11.8 billion in 2013, while digital music sales plummeted from $1.34 billion to $1.26 billion, the first drop digital track sales have seen since their origin in 2003. [4]
Home taping as a whole led to a common attitude that music was, in a way, free for the taking. This attitude lives on even in some of the legal methods music listeners use to this day. With YouTube and the free version of Spotify, users can freely listen to music as artists earn a very meager amount from advertisements. Recently, Jay-Z has made a splash (no pun intended) with TIDAL, a music streaming service that has no free option, and many artists, from as Kanye West and Coldplay, have shown their support for it [editor’s note – we’re not impressed, Jay]. When it boils down to pure numbers, the number of songs streamed through websites like YouTube and Spotify
Some have argued that the desire to share music has existed since the rise of sheet music ages ago. However, sharing becomes piracy when it comes to f lat out stealing and distributing the work of another without permission and compensation. Home taping in the 1980s led to a world where piracy was being committed by the average music listener and not those typically viewed as criminals, or by counterfeit/bootleg/grey market distributors. Since then, the entire landscape of the music industry has shifted. Has it been for the better? REFERENCES AND ANNOTATIONS 1:Rogers, Jude. “Total rewind: 10 key
moments in the life of the cassette.” The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 30 Aug. 2013. Web. 12 Apr. 2015. <http://www. t h e g u a r d i a n . c o m /m u s i c /2 0 1 3 /a u g / 3 0/ cassette-store-day-music-tapes>. 2: “For Students Doing Reports.” RIAA. Recording Industry Association of America, 2015. Web. 12 Apr. 2015. <http://www.riaa. com/faq.php>. 3: Brown, Steven Caldwell. “How piracy is changing the music industry landscape.” The Conversation. The Conversation US, 22 Sept. 2014. Web. 12 Apr. 2015. <http://theconversation. com / how-piracy-is-cha ng ing-t he-musicindustry-landscape-31919>. 4: Luckerson, Victor. “Spotify and YouTube Are Just Killing Digital Music Sales.” Time Magazine. Time, 3 Jan. 2014. Web. 12 Apr. 2015. <http://business.time. com/2014/01/03/spotify-and-youtube-arejust-killing-digital-music-sales/>. PERFORMER MAGAZINE MAY 2015 43
TAPE GLOSSARY
FULL GLOSSARY TAPE TERMS AN [Editor’s note – the following glossary has been graciously provided by Corey Bailey, where it was originally published on his website at www.baileyzone.net/ glossaries-tape.htm.] Acetate Tape Acetate Tape refers to the material used as the base for tapes manufactured from the early ’50s through the 1970s. During the 1970s, polyester became the preferred base material for analog tape. It’s worth noting that each material has exhibited problems over time. Acetate becomes brittle if the oxide has dried out. The acetate base can deform, causing a condition called cupping. Too much moisture during storage can cause a condition known as “vinegar syndrome” in which the acetate base releases acetic acid and the tape will have a vinegar odor. Azimuth In the world of magnetic tape recorders, azimuth refers to the alignment of the gap in the record and playback heads relative to the direction of travel of the tape itself. The head gap represents the centerline of each head and should be precisely 90 degrees to the tape. Any variation will result in a loss of high frequency information. Azimuth is one of the adjustable parameters of each head and there are specific methods to check and adjust for the proper alignment. Back Coating Many brands of professional polyester audio tape had a coating on the backside (opposite the oxide) that was electrically conductive and performed some important functions: 1) The foremost purpose was to help prevent static buildup, which could cause arcing and subsequent audible snaps in the recording. 2) While helping to eliminate static, the same back coating allowed for more even packing of the tape on the reel. 3) The back coating also served as an insulating layer that helped prevent
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print-through, a condition in which the recorded magnetic field migrates from one layer of the tape to another. Bias In a tape recorder, bias is a high frequency Alternating Current (AC) signal that is applied to the record and erase heads during recording. The frequency of the bias signal is supposed to be at least 10 times the highest audio frequency capable of being recorded by a given recorder (but rarely is). A typical bias frequency is anywhere between 40 kilohertz (forty thousand cycles per second) and 100 kilohertz (KHz). The reason for the bias signal is to magnetize the ferrous iron particles in the oxide in a manner which provides the best linearity for recording. The fact is, anything that can be magnetized does not magnetize in a linear fashion. Early attempts to record without a bias signal on an oxide containing iron particles resulted in poor frequency response. Applying a DC (Direct Current) bias proved to be of little benefit. The first patent for AC bias for use in electronics was filed by W. L. Carlson and Glenn L. Carpenter in 1921. However, it was Walter Weber who applied the technique of applying AC Bias to magnetic tape recording. Binder Hydrolysis This is a condition where the chemical binder in the oxide has absorbed moisture over time to a point that causes a chemical change in the composition of the oxide itself. This often results in “Sticky Shed Syndrome.” Another variation in the decomposition of the oxide results in a milky-colored stain on the surface of the oxide that dramatically increases the friction during playback, often causing the tape to come to a stop. Coercivity In the world of magnetic tape, this refers to the strength of a given magnetic field (erasure) required to reduce the recorded magnetic field
(signal) on the tape to zero after the oxide has been driven into saturation. Tapes using an oxide with greater coercivity generally require a stronger Bias signal. Capstan On a tape recorder, the Capstan is the rotating vertical shaft that pulls the tape past the heads. The tape is usually squeezed between the Capstan and a rotating wheel known as the Pinch Roller. Degausser A device that emits a strong enough AC magnetic field to completely erase magnetic media or magnetized metal parts. Demagnetization Simply stated: “The process of removing magnetism from any material that can be magnetized.” In the world of tape recording, tapes are demagnetized by being exposed to an AC field strong enough to overcome the coercivity of the tape. This process is accomplished by the erase head during recording. On tape decks, the metal parts that come in constant contact with the tape (particularly, the tape heads themselves) can become magnetized over time and have to be routinely demagnetized using a portable degausser. The process of demagnetizing the heads and various parts of a tape deck has its own learning curve. If done improperly, one can actually magnetize the intended parts and cause harm to tapes that are subsequently played on that machine. Dropout A dropout is a brief loss or sudden decrease of signal level (volume) most often caused by a defect in the oxide. Dropouts can also be caused by damage to the tape itself, a temporary clogging of the record head during recording, or, likewise, a clogging of the play head during playback. Tape defects can cause frequency-selective dropouts
such as a brief loss of high frequency information. Tape speed can be a factor in the effect of tapedefect related dropouts as the condition is less noticeable at higher tape speeds. Dynamic Range In the world of audio, Dynamic Range is defined simply as the range of volume from the loudest to the softest of sounds. Dynamic Range is expressed in decibels (dB), which is a logarithmic scale. We often refer to Dynamic Range in terms of the difference between the loudest undistorted signal that can be recorded down to the noise level (floor) of a given medium. Analog tape is capable of a dynamic range of roughly 70dB. A Compact Disc has a theoretical dynamic range of 96dB. The average human can hear a dynamic range of approximately 140dB. Erase Head The erase head on an analog tape recorder is somewhat self-explanatory. It does its job by being energized by the bias oscillator with enough voltage and current to saturate the tape with the bias frequency. The erase head is only energized during recording. Otherwise, it would be erasing tape all the time! The erase head is also the first to come in contact with the tape during playback or recording. If you view the heads of a tape deck straight on, the erase head will be on the left. Flutter Tape recorders are designed to pass the tape across the heads at a very constant speed. Any changes in the tape speed of a pre-recorded signal are perceived as changes in pitch. If these speed changes occur very rapidly, the effect is a “fluttering” sound; hence the term. Flutter can be caused by something as simple as a piece of tape that becomes inadvertently wrapped around the capstan or a very worn pinch roller. A type of tape degradation known as “Sticky Shed Syndrome” can cause flutter, as the tape itself tends to chatter across the heads.
Guides Tape guides are generally stationary posts that are placed very near the heads to keep the tape in proper vertical alignment. Worn guides cannot only lose their ability to keep the tape properly aligned, but can actually damage tape as it is passed across them. Heads Out Tape that has been wound onto the supply reel is “Heads Out.” In order to indicate the state of the tape, the loose end is usually folded and fastened to the reel with adhesive paper tape in such a manner that the folded and taped end will face the operator when the reel is placed on the machine (or a table, for that matter). This makes it easy to identify which way to mount a given reel of tape onto the tape deck. IPS (Inches Per Second) The linear speed of the audiotape as it is played on the tape deck. Tape speeds vary from as slow as 15/16 ips to as much as 30 ips. Generally speaking, the faster the tape speed the better the sound quality. Tape speeds of 3-3/4 and 7.5 ips were common for consumer tape recorders, while professional machines typically operate at 15 and 30 ips. Leader Leader is used to separate specific segments of audiotape such as each song on music masters. It is a paper or plastic product cut the same width as the tape. Leader is typically added to the beginning of a reel and sometimes to the end. Some manufactured tape comes with leader already attached to the tape. Some plastic leader is printed with markers for every second of time and is called “Timing Leader.” Library Wind This is a process whereby the tape is wound from one reel to the other at reduced tension and at a speed that is much slower than full rewind speed, typically around 45 ips. This results in a
TAPE GLOSSARY
RY OF ANALOG AND PHRASES very even wind on the take-up reel, and a tailsout configuration is desirable for long-term storage. Lifters The tape lifters are vertical posts that usually reside near the heads and are energized during fast-forward or rewind. During this process, the lifters move the tape away from the heads to prevent wear during the high speed shuttling of the tape from one reel to the other. Noise Reduction Numerous articles and books have been written on this subject, and it is difficult to summarize Noise Reduction in a few sentences. When it comes to tape recording, there are two basic approaches: Single-Ended and Dual-Ended. Single-Ended systems generally deal with tape hiss and other anomalies after the fact or after the recording is made. Today’s digital editing software is often designed to be able to improve upon recorded anomalies after the fact and is a good example of a single-ended approach. A number of hardware devices were made for single-ended noise reduction by companies like Burwen, DBX, Phase Linear and SAE and can still be found on the vintage hardware market. These hardware devices work in “real time,” meaning that the recorded audio has to be played through them for processing. Dual-Ended noise reduction involves processing the audio signal before and after recording. Ray Dolby was one who first applied this process in 1966 with the introduction of Dolby “A” type noise reduction, intended for use with professional audio tape recording. Dolby Laboratories subsequently introduced noise reduction processes for the consumer market and became a household word. Besides Dolby Laboratories, DBX and Telefunken produced very effective dual-ended systems that were used in both professional and consumer recording.
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TAPE GLOSSARY
Oxide This is the composition that has been applied to the side of magnetic tape that contains the magnetic recording. Oxide consists of a slurry containing the metal particles, a binder solution which helps adhere the oxide to the backing, lubricants to make the dried solution both flexible and less physically noisy when passing across the heads, and several other chemical compounds. The actual composition of oxide remains a closely guarded secret by the various manufactures of magnetic tape. Pinch Roller The Pinch Roller (sometimes referred to as a ‘puck’) on a tape deck is the round wheel that presses the tape against the capstan to move the tape across the heads. Pinch rollers are freewheeling and are usually made of rubber or a semi-soft composite material. Playback Head If you were able to view the construction of a play head, it would look somewhat like a horseshoe with several turns of fine wire wrapped around it. The tape is pulled across the gap of the horseshoe shape. The actual gap is tiny (microns across, in fact) in order to concentrate the magnetism that has been imparted onto the tape by the record head. Play Wind This is how the tape winds up on the takeup reel after being played. A “Play Wind” is considered to be desirable for storage. The reason is that if print-through occurs, the print-through information will be after the recorded audio and be masked or sound like echo. If the tape is stored heads-out, the print-through information can precede the recorded audio on the tape and is known as pre-echo. Polyester Tape This refers to the type of base material used for audio and videotape since the late 1960s. Polyester, sometimes referred to as PET, is a substance known scientifically as Polyethylene Terephthalate (I know, I can’t pronounce it either). Polyester tapes have shown to have adhesion problems as the oxide absorbs moisture over time, and the unfortunate result is that the oxide separates from the base, literally falling off in some instances or causing an unfortunate condition called “Sticky Shed Syndrome.” Print-Through When audiotapes are tightly wound on a reel and/or stored for extended periods of time, the adjacent layers can sometimes influence each other. That is, one layer can partially magnetize an adjacent layer. This condition can be more predominant if the recorded levels are extremely loud or “hot” or with thinner varieties of tape. The use of conductive back coatings on many
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brands of professional tape helped alleviate this condition. If the tape is wound heads-out, the partial magnetization will sound like pre-echo. This is one of the reasons for storing audiotapes tails-out. If print through occurs in a tails-out wind condition, it is either masked or sounds more like natural echo. It has been recommended by some that stored audio tapes be periodically rewound and stored again using a play wind or, preferably, a library wind, a very labor intensive process which is, in practice, rarely done. Record Head The main difference between a record head and a playback head is the size of the gap between the poles of the head itself. We’re talking microns here. However, the gap on a record head is typically wider than that of a playback head. Saturation This is the state reached with magnetic tape when the oxide has been magnetized to the point where it cannot be magnetized any further. Exceeding this threshold with an alternating current magnetic field (via the record head) will cause the magnetic particles in the oxide to become disoriented, and audible distortion occurs. Signal-to-Noise Ratio Speaking strictly in engineering or scientific terms: “signal-to-noise ratio refers to the strength of a given signal to the background noise associated with that signal.” Signal-toNoise Ratio can be applied to everything from astronomy to analog and digital recording. It is often abbreviated as SNR or S/N. Sticky Shed Syndrome This condition is particularly damaging to the tape being played, whereby the binders and lubricants in the oxide have absorbed enough moisture over time to cause the oxide to become soft. When played on a tape recorder, the characteristic symptom is a squealing or squeaking sound, which modulates the audio being played. The tape will often shed oxide on all of the stationary parts of the tape deck it comes in contact with. The temporary fix is to carefully bake the tape under controlled conditions. Sound-on-Sound An effect (sometimes a mistake) whereby a signal is recorded onto an existing recording. When played back, both signals can be heard but not separated. This process is
made possible by disabling the erase head when applying the second signal to an existing recording. Tails Out Tape that has been wound onto the take-up reel of a tape recorder is “Tails Out.” In order to indicate the state of the tape, the loose end is usually folded and fastened to the reel with adhesive paper tape in such a manner that the folded and taped end will face the operator when the reel is placed on the machine (or a table, for that matter). This makes it easy to identify which way to mount a given reel of tape onto the tape deck. Tape Baking The process of baking analog tape involves raising the ambient temperature of the tape to 120-130 degrees Fahrenheit (48.8 – 54.4 degrees Celsius) in a very low humidity environment for specific amounts of time based on the width of the tape, the thickness of the tape, and the size of the reel. The process was first proposed (even patented) by Ampex in the early 1990s. This procedure can only be applied to polyester based tape. Acetate based tape can be damaged by this process. Wow The sudden change of pitch of a recorded signal caused by physically altering the tape speed for a very short duration of time. The reasons for the occurrence can be everything from mechanical failure to the tape itself being stretched. Wow can also be created purposely by applying enough pressure to the supply reel during playback to momentarily alter the tape speed. Zenith On an audio tape recorder, Zenith refers to the relationship of the vertical alignment of the heads and tape guides to the deck plate or mainframe in order to provide even contact over the entire surface of the tape. Zenith, like Azimuth, is usually an adjustable parameter of each tape head.
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FLASHBACK “Fitted with custom tube electronics built by Esoteric Audio Research” HISTORY This unit was originally built by Ampex in the 1970s; they were known as some of the best 2-track recorders and the best sounding machines. The specific ATR-102 that I used belongs to Paul Stubblebine - a colleague and great mastering engineer located in San Francisco. In general, this particular type of tape machine was used for mixing down to stereo mixes. Nowadays, there are people that still exclusively use tape in their recording projects, but they’re also used as an effect - almost like a plug-in. You can loop material through it just to impart the quality of sound that you get from tape. Tape is basically a kind of compression. It deals with transients like drums and percussion and smooths it out in a very musical way. So using [this machine] is a way to get back to this sound… it’s much nicer than listening to a Waves L3 ultramaximizer. HOW IT’S USED I used the ATR on the last Sistema Bomb record, which I mastered up in San Francisco and which was nominated for a Grammy. The thing about the 1” 2-track format is that it has this big fat bottom end, especially at 15 ips. The ATR helps it to knock a bit better and gives it a thicker, low-end texture. The other aspect to it is that the tube electronics in this machine have this nice 3-D thing that
48 MAY 2015 PERFORMER MAGAZINE
they do - giving material some depth. The tube electronics are producing an interesting texture on the higher frequencies, as well. In fact, you can just run stuff through the tube electronics and not even touch the tape and you get a nice effect from that, too. MODERN EQUIVALENT There really is no modern equivalent, but the Universal Audio ATR-102 plug-in was modeled
after this machine. They took a picture of the exact unit and even copied its quirks - like the razor marks where I’d cut tape. ABOUT THE AUTHOR John Greenham is a Grammy Awardwinning mastering engineer. He currently works out of Infrasonic Mastering in Echo Park, California. Follow on Twitter @JGMasteringGuy.
Hey Marseilles. Nectar Lounge. Seattle, WA. 09.17.2014
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