cassette looping?

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skinny.b
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cassette looping?

Post by skinny.b »

Hey, anyone mess with cassette loops? I've got a 4 track that I don't give enough love. How do you mix it into your productions? Been checking out YouTube videos and it looks like something I could get into. Cheers!
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asha c
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Re: cassette looping?

Post by asha c »

I messed around with a few on this, wanted to use it for more beat based stuff but nver quite got round to it, was fun just to mess around though
http://deathco.bandcamp.com/album/lofi- ... recordings
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MattCoops
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Re: cassette looping?

Post by MattCoops »

You mean like taking apart the cassette, cutting and splicing the tape back?
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skinny.b
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Re: cassette looping?

Post by skinny.b »

asha c wrote:I messed around with a few on this, wanted to use it for more beat based stuff but nver quite got round to it, was fun just to mess around though
http://deathco.bandcamp.com/album/lofi- ... recordings
Sweet man, yeah I'm thinking I'm gonna start messing about with it, even if it doesn't yield results I always like a diy project!
MattCoops wrote:You mean like taking apart the cassette, cutting and splicing the tape back?
Yeah man, that's it, I've had a little look into it but was just wondering where people squeeze it into their process
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Rabot
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Re: cassette looping?

Post by Rabot »

asha c wrote:I messed around with a few on this, wanted to use it for more beat based stuff but nver quite got round to it, was fun just to mess around though
http://deathco.bandcamp.com/album/lofi- ... recordings

I've listened to that and I think it's pretty dope!
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asha c
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Re: cassette looping?

Post by asha c »

Thanks man, was hoping to use them with other stuff but couldn't quite get it going, fun to experiment anyway.
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Larry Gordon (g)
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Re: cassette looping?

Post by Larry Gordon (g) »

using your four track cassette recorder as a primitive looping device is lots and lots of fun! I was doing a lot of this before I sold my portastudio (fucking mistake).

I never did anything "beat"-esque with it, although that's a definite possibility for anyone who is interested in four track loops.

what kind of 4 track do you have? if it has 4 tracks + a stereo in (5/6) then you can record and playback your loops on channels 1-4 and improvise/freeplay over the loops in the 5/6 channel.

i used the word "primitive" because unless you disable/remove the erasehead you won't be able to get seamless loops. there will be a drop in audio on all four tracks as the loop begins. i loved this effect because it kind of informs the rhythm of your loop always.

you could have never ending seamless loops if you make your tape loop avoid the part of the cassette shell that would interract with the erase head. i've done this before--it's a bitch cutting out the cassette shell plastic. and once you've done all the recording you want on the tape loop, you can't simply erase it and start over--you have to respool and reloop the cassette shell with new tape, since you've affected the cassette shell to never contact the erase head.

here's some shit i did a while back with the chain of
turntable > 303 > 404 > tascam portastudio 4 track looping

http://listen.colossaltapes.com/album/holiday-c20

have fun! glad to see someone is fucking with 4 track tape loops!
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skinny.b
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Re: cassette looping?

Post by skinny.b »

That's some gnarly noise there man! I've been messing with it a bit the past couple days, like you say there's no perfect loops, but I'm loving the accidental effects you get from abusing such a small length of tape! I've got the tascam 424 so yeah it's got the extra inputs. It's a wicked thing to be messing with, so fun!
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