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recording to tape!
 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2023-07-23 17:14 [#02629312]
Points: 25264 Status: Regular



LAZY_TITLE


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2023-07-23 17:20 [#02629313]
Points: 25264 Status: Regular



LAZY_TITLE


 

offline steve mcqueen from caerdydd (United Kingdom) on 2023-07-24 21:35 [#02629329]
Points: 6531 Status: Addict



LAZY_TITLE


 

offline steve mcqueen from caerdydd (United Kingdom) on 2023-07-24 21:49 [#02629331]
Points: 6531 Status: Addict



the father


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2023-07-24 23:27 [#02629340]
Points: 25264 Status: Regular | Followup to steve mcqueen: #02629329



oh my god. this is like LAZY_TITLE for tape, isn't it.
haven't dug in at all, but... thank you so much

i am actually not going to look at it immediately to let my
own ideas free run for a bit.

first one, just riffing on a tune stuck in my hed

second one, i've been noodling around with this on my office
ukulele for weeks, i was intending to do a vid but... never
mind? perhaps this is sufficient

third one: i'm going to do this one in the shower for
acoustics, with either an sk-1 or vl-tone, and a large
mechanical bell

...and that was enough that i didn't get to it before i went
to sleep. but i did conclude: oh, hell. this is my next
album. record it all directly to the ~master tape~ zero the
counter after each track, and we're at track #3

then, later -- i imagine this book will get into how to dub
[properly] so i can sell tapes.


 

offline steve mcqueen from caerdydd (United Kingdom) on 2023-07-24 23:33 [#02629341]
Points: 6531 Status: Addict



raise u an Allen Strange LAZY_TITLE

i dunno why you're on about tape, it's not that good
really... it has some interesting properties, but they are
vastly outweighed by the convenience of digital shit
i don't know why im typing this, gpt mode


 

offline steve mcqueen from caerdydd (United Kingdom) on 2023-07-24 23:40 [#02629342]
Points: 6531 Status: Addict



not seen that Delton T. Horn book before.... I miss me copy
of Art of Electronics


 

offline steve mcqueen from caerdydd (United Kingdom) on 2023-07-24 23:54 [#02629347]
Points: 6531 Status: Addict



someone told me once a crossfade on tape is not a
straightforward ( a * t + b * ( 1 - t ) )


 

offline steve mcqueen from caerdydd (United Kingdom) on 2023-07-24 23:56 [#02629348]
Points: 6531 Status: Addict



reading my recent posts i sound literally retarded


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2023-07-25 10:09 [#02629357]
Points: 25264 Status: Regular



["welcome to the party pal" bruce willis gif from any number
of sites that have since shut down, closed public access, or
"cleaned up old accounts"]

sometimes the alt text description makes more sense than a
lazy link


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2023-07-25 10:15 [#02629358]
Points: 25264 Status: Regular



someone told me once a crossfade on tape is not a
straightforward ( a * t + b * ( 1 - t ) )


this is exactly the sort of thing i have a fantastic time
never ever thinking about -- how to translate what i am
doing into formulas that can be typed into max and/or msp.
instead i'm thinking about my track, and how it's it going?
okay, so i'm doing this spinning thing and... there... kind
of like calculating a jump onto a moving train.

if you're telling me the mixdown would sound different,
well, that i care about far more. i'd obviously just want to
monitor through the recorded tape and i'd find my footing
eventually.


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2023-07-25 10:30 [#02629359]
Points: 25264 Status: Regular | Followup to steve mcqueen: #02629341



i dunno why you're on about tape, it's not that good
really... it has some interesting properties, but they are
vastly outweighed by the convenience of digital shit
i don't know why im typing this, gpt mode


this is where i am all "haaalp" and i dunno. i just work
here, alright? i don't run this place, and if you drop the
needle, oh... here i come across as some sort of
human tape head in a turing machine that is out of control.
i am so many layers deep; we have been entirely unable to
even estimate how many! but... fuck it, we're used to this;
we roll with it. at the end of the day, i'm a strange robot
that starts moving downstairs before he's sure about going
downstairs, and by the time he's sure he wants to go
downstairs, he's halfway there, and...

music was not mentioned there at all, was it? you can see
how i may not have clean answers for you

at the very least, making music fixed me up well enough that
i can vaguely juggle functioning with not changing how i am.
i'm kind of terrified to stop making it, like i worry i'll
get worse

and no one buys anything. and a physical release? why? it's
a FLAC from USB off the desk of a live recording that is as
direct as it will get. i don't have money to press to vinyl.
i don't have a car to drive it to the post office. and no
one buys anything, which is suitable because i can't afford
to buy things for people to buy

then out of arguing about "what's the point of vinyl" i'm
like "well no one sends me money, how about a tape machine?"
and, well, go figure... but at least you sent me that book;
i do appreciate that very much


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2023-07-25 10:35 [#02629360]
Points: 25264 Status: Regular



after a few days of thinking "i should find that tape
recorder" -- the one in the vid -- and then getting
distracted, i finally find it. it only then becomes clear
that i didn't actually have a reason to find it.

but then i make those two stupid things and THIS IS GREAT.
so, i figure: something in my brain said "we have tape you
idiot" and then i'm like "now what" and i record a riff on
an earworm, then one i've had kicking around, and now my
brain is sending me lots of ideas.

but already technical problems. the bell needs... i dunno,
wd-40? how do you work on a vintage... well, i don't even
have words to classify bells. it's red. you wind it up. it's
fucking loud. it needs servicing

and maybe, yeah, i do have a lot to learn. but i'd rather
learn it with a sixteen track, because, like i said -- that
would just elevate the crap out of what i do. i would get
into varispeeding. and

is this a good idea? i'm not sure. will people buy a tape?
almost certainly not. it might be an excuse. like i said, i
just work here. send me a tape machine. and a car. and money


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2023-07-25 10:38 [#02629361]
Points: 25264 Status: Regular



i wanted a talkboy so bad. i actually cut one guy off as a
friend because his parents always bought him shit he never
used and the talkboy was the last straw

but, no, that wasn't why. the previous part was probably
correct


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2023-07-25 10:51 [#02629362]
Points: 25264 Status: Regular



i still like the celtic mods idea. i was planning to do
that. but then xlt is down and i finally get fed up with the
cable mess in the studio and it's too fucking hot to run a
room full of machines in the attic with global warming; go
figure

i'm genuinely not sure if i'll keep up with this tape
recorder. it's entirely possible i'll start recording celtic
mods and keep doing this. it's like gardening; you're never
quite sure. it finds entirely new ways to be what you wanted
or expected

but i should get back to work. and unfortunately i don't
mean music. the compiler is angry at me for unused variables


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2023-07-25 13:52 [#02629365]
Points: 25264 Status: Regular



the bell is still malfunctioning and i don't have time for
this. but i have to do something before i can move on. so i
just recorded it under various speed settings and yes, that
sounds like i figured

LAZY_TITLE

...except it's supposed to continuously ring; instead you
have to fuss with it to get anything. and i was going to use
it in the shower with a casio beat and nevermind. now track
3 is called "oh, go to bell" and track 4 will not be saddled
with any such nonsense


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2023-07-25 13:56 [#02629366]
Points: 25264 Status: Regular



i've also been saying, "i do music plastìque" for years and
no one's ever laughed. given that someone just sent me a
book on music concrète, perhaps it is finally this joke's
time to shine.


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2023-07-25 15:38 [#02629367]
Points: 25264 Status: Regular



track 4 is called track 4

(what's [a] track4? dunno man, i just work here)

it's nice, but... ...the hell is that noise it's making for
a bit? the terrible whistle? this tape player is a
fussbucket and it has to be absolutely flat.

i might open that book now to see if it knows what that
noise is.


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2023-07-25 15:40 [#02629368]
Points: 25264 Status: Regular



4track, different story. cassette quality is bleh i tried
this years ago. also messing around with an old reel to reel
deck, mostly to slow down drum loops. so i'm happy with FLAC
out of my mixer. a proper audio interface would help. maybe
i should just record it to mere stereo tape rather than
tracks

so no, i don't really want to get too into cassettes. but
this is fun. i never would have dragged out the autoharp
without going on this arc


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2023-07-25 15:45 [#02629369]
Points: 25264 Status: Regular



i suppose the way i'd go at a sixteen track is to do
precisely what i do currently -- record a stereo mix to two
of the tracks. then you have the same thing but it distorts
when my levels go over. and then i say: let's add a few
accents on top. another two tracks. see how mixing that down
goes. at worst the computer still exists.


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2023-07-25 15:59 [#02629370]
Points: 25264 Status: Regular



then i'd lose the patience to go slowly and say "i'm going
to make a song out of all my crappy acoustic instruments"
before saying "mmm that's a bit much at once i think i'm
going to free jazz for three minutes and then try to build a
track on top of whatever i get with maybe three or four
tracks" and sometime a bit into that i'd remember i wrote
this post.


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2023-07-25 20:23 [#02629387]
Points: 25264 Status: Regular



TRACK 0.00005 ~ 4'33"1


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2023-07-25 20:25 [#02629388]
Points: 25264 Status: Regular



it should have occurred to me it would be hard to link a
filename like that

4'33"1


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2023-07-25 20:40 [#02629389]
Points: 25264 Status: Regular



6. Chris Clark Orgasm

i'm officially running around the house with a really fussy,
dodgy tape recorder paused, thinking "i'll rattle that tray
next" then pause. "it's starting to rain again run outside!"
then pause. finish with a toilet flush

i should rip some of this to see if it's actually any good.
but alright, i'm past just varispeeding ukelele


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2023-07-26 01:46 [#02629393]
Points: 25264 Status: Regular



feel better now, steve? i've written far more too much than
your too much, and i figure you look better now

but i actually do things too


 

offline EpicMegatrax from Greatest Hits on 2023-07-27 04:06 [#02629407]
Points: 25264 Status: Regular | Followup to steve mcqueen: #02629341



i dunno why you're on about tape, it's not that good
really... it has some interesting properties, but they are
vastly outweighed by the convenience of digital shit i don't
know why im typing this, gpt mode


i'm going to organize the technical end of this in
here because i'm tired of fragments all over



if we confine the scope of your question to:
Q: why did you want to work with tape for
to see if i actually do want it or not. to show i
actualthis album



A:

- to see how i like working with tape [again]
- to prove i can work with tape
- ...and deliver an album to which tape is integral and
cannot be casually swapped out
- to determine more clearly how serious i am about a
16-track
- to try it on a small scale and get a picture of what
technical problems i'd face on 16-track scale
- to see if my feelings about the mediocrity of cassette are
still valid
- to get attention
- to procrastinate from work




...and, generally:

I'll come up with an idea for an album or whatnot and I just
get as excited as a kid who as just been told we're flying
out to disney world. However, this only happens once it's
been filtered through all the other ideas I've gotten
excited about, some of which have not panned out so well.
Years of working in tech has given it all a strange air of
genuine project management:

the bell is still malfunctioning and i don't have time
for this. but i have to do something before i can move on.
so i just recorded it under various speed settings and yes,
that sounds like i figured


"i don't have time for this" said the man to the
malfunctioning bell, as he debated which soap dish in the
shower the tape recorder would be happiest on

e.g. "i've taken a legitimate stab at resolving it, but i'm
not letting the album get stuck over this"


 


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