Loops.

Started by Euro Trash Bazooka, January 19, 2015, 09:17:18 PM

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Zugzwang Productions

OR you can record your sounds on a regular tape, then cut the section you want and assemble it as a loop. If you are precise enough you can be very selective with your cut. I was able to make a drum pattern looping cleanly with this technique.

l.b.

cellophane over the head didn't really work. insert/punch-in is very cool but leaves a pretty audible 'pop' when it comes in. useful for other things though. cutting loops out of pre-recorded tape i've done, but i was thinking of how to do it in a 'live' scenario. maybe throwing a switch in for the head is the way to go. has anyone done that mod before?

Zugzwang Productions

I have opened and unplugged the erase head on two machines, but I did not install switches. So they're constantly on "erase off " mode (until I plug it back of course). With this I was able to perform and loop live, but it's pretty complicated. On my Tascam 414 for example you have to switch from playback to record, so you can't listen to the track you're recording on live (although the sound you are recording can be heard through the Tascam).  After recording you have to switch your track back to playback to listen to your overdub. I don't know if I am clear enough, what is your tape player ?

Also I am not surprised cellophane did not block the erase head. It's basically a magnet so the magnetic field can easily pass through.

sick

Is there anywhere to find those endless tapes now?


sick

Quote from: Leatherface on September 06, 2015, 02:22:59 PM
https://tapeline.info/v2/blank-audio-cassettes.html


http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-a-cassette-loop-for-about-6-seconds./

All of those are three second or super long loops. I was looking for the 15,30, and 60 second increments.

I already know how to do a loop by cutting the tape


sick

#37
Quote from: Leatherface on September 06, 2015, 06:11:50 PM
Quote from: sick on September 06, 2015, 05:59:35 PM
Quote from: Leatherface on September 06, 2015, 02:22:59 PM
https://tapeline.info/v2/blank-audio-cassettes.html


http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-a-cassette-loop-for-about-6-seconds./

All of those are three second or super long loops. I was looking for the 15,30, and 60 second increments.

I already know how to do a loop by cutting the tape



http://www.ebay.com/itm/SANYO-45-Sec-Endless-Loop-tape-message-announcement-answering-machine-cassette-/271969326207?hash=item3f52a2947f
$10.47 for one tape?!

Yeah fuck it I'll just stick to cuttin em manually
Thanks tho
I rarely make tape loops as I have a sp-303 but the hassle usually pays off for the certain quality tape loops have

Zugzwang Productions

Quote from: sick on September 07, 2015, 03:30:18 AM
Quote from: Leatherface on September 06, 2015, 06:11:50 PM
Quote from: sick on September 06, 2015, 05:59:35 PM
Quote from: Leatherface on September 06, 2015, 02:22:59 PM
https://tapeline.info/v2/blank-audio-cassettes.html


http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-a-cassette-loop-for-about-6-seconds./

All of those are three second or super long loops. I was looking for the 15,30, and 60 second increments.

I already know how to do a loop by cutting the tape



http://www.ebay.com/itm/SANYO-45-Sec-Endless-Loop-tape-message-announcement-answering-machine-cassette-/271969326207?hash=item3f52a2947f
$10.47 for one tape?!

Yeah fuck it I'll just stick to cuttin em manually
Thanks tho
I rarely make tape loops as I have a sp-303 but the hassle usually pays off for the certain quality tape loops have

I have bought a bunch of endless loop tapes for answering machines for cheap. Actually the plastic shell is a bit different from regular tapes, probably because the transport mechanism on these machines was different. On the dozen copies I tested only a few were working correctly, so yeah I would not advice you to buy those very expensive tapes. Try to get them really cheap or better, build your own.

urall

i really get frustrated with doing tape loops, the tape usually don't have enough traction to keep rolling (tried with a rubber band on the wheel) i'm clumsy taping the ends together etc...  :D

Cementimental

Maybe it's a problem your recorder: I've found that for tape loops it's best if there's as little friction on the spindles as possible but rather the capstain next to the tape head that does the work pulling the tape thru

anyway yeah it's a massive pain to make a loop that actually works and doesn't jam :)

pentd

made some 5 yrs ago, but the results were so lousy and underwhelming that i tossed them haha... sticking to pedals ever since. should try to make some though... picked up some nice loop tapes (1min, 6min + 11mins) from tapeline a few years back, been re-using those ever since...

calaverasgrande

#42
I did this for a long time, a long time ago.
I used to pick up cassette decks at garage sales and flea markets. They were dirt cheap for a while when everyone was dumping them for CD players.
My friend Ryan Hopeless from Reversible Eye/Phantom Limbs/BSA showed me how to measure cassette tape so it exactly fits around the sprocket holes in a cassette. Or you make it a little longer and use the little structural pegs as guides. Another thing I learned from him was to use the 'invisible' scotch tape for splicing. It's thinner than ordinary scotch tape. I've also experimented with putting tape on both sides to make it durable. A few times I tried Krazy glue, which did work well, but also resulted in tape glued to my fingertips more than once. 
Later on I figured out that it doesn't really matter if the tape is longer or not. If you look at a lot of infinite loop Answering Machine tapes it is just flopping around inside. It actually gets pulled along by the pinch roller anyway. What was more important was to use good durable tape. I'd only use C-30 tapes or better, sometimes even cro2 or whatever expensive high bias tapes.

Later I got really into modding the cassette decks. I'd wire the motor through the headphone jack so that I could use a standard guitar amp switch to start and stop the motor.
You can also extend this further by adding switches for record and erase heads. Though this always ended up in tears for me as I ended up frying some part of the tape deck doing that. I think the long cable run to and from the footswitch introduced capacitance and the actual switching kind of nuked the heads or the repro/record amps.
If I did it now I'd use a relay or some kind of transistor switching.

Speaking of durability of loops, I used to like to record long tapes that were walls of sounds. Lots of gibberish from commercials, televangelists and such. Then I'd chop up loops from that and play them until they started to degrade and fall apart. That was when they sounded best!