Max The Tape Recorder's Fourth Album
More technical infos
My fun with the "Max The Tape Recorder" albums is to recycle and record on old tapes (reel-to-reel, cassettes etc...), often made for "consumers" and not necessarilly for professional applications (although I sometimes use pro ones too, and the tape quality varies depending on the era it was made), and I try to get the best out of them using multi-track recorders.
I generally try to calibrate the machine as best as I can for the tape used, although sometimes I may also experiment on this side:
of course the Tascam 238 8-track recorder for cassette tapes was made to use only CrO2 Type II chrome tapes, other types of tapes can also be used with a few technical tricks.
These albums are where I go crazy and experiment with the technical aspects, and the music also.
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Track 1: "Cé l'printemps!!!!" Tape: 3M DC 6250 Data Cartridge Tape - 1/4" 1020' Tape's state before recording: new Machine used: Fostex E-8 Recording speed: 30 ips --- Very thin but quite resistant tape made for computer data. |
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Track 2: "À contre-courant" Tape: Audio Magnetics - Type I Normal Bias Tape's state before recording: used Machine used:Tascam 238 Recording speed: 4.2 ips (Pitch at max) --- Very old tape probably from the '70s. |
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Track 3: "Arigato arigato" Tape: Ampex Tape's state before recording: used Machine used: Fostex E-8 Recording speed: 30 ips --- This was an unknown manufactured pre-recorded tape but already erased and recorded over when I got it. |
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Track 4: "A fantasy" Tape: Scotch 206 Tape's state before recording: new but not full Machine used: Fostex E-8 Recording speed: 30 ips & 60 ips --- I recorded the drums at 60 ips by playing with the motor's settings, and recorded the other tracks at 30 ips. |
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Track 5: "Facing one's fears" Tape: Unknown brand (possibly Capitol tape) in an empty Realistic metal reel Tape's state before recording: used Machine used: Fostex E-8 Recording speed: 30 ips |
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Track 6: "Playing with the big boys" Tape: Maxell UR Normal Bias cassette tape Tape's state before recording: used Machine used: Fostex E-8 Recording speed: 30 ips --- Nice experiment using cassette tape on a reel-to-reel machine. |
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Track 7: "Dance party of the living dead" Tape: Unbranded - No brand name written anywhere Tape's state before recording: used Machine used: Fostex E-8 Recording speed: 30 ips |
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Track 8: "Les nerfs!" Tape: Unknown (Written only "REEL" on it) - Type II High Bias Tape's state before recording: used Machine used:Tascam 238 Recording speed: 4.2 ips (Pitch at max) --- After the experiment using cassette tape on a reel-to-reel machine why not now use reels in a cassette! ;) |
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Track 9: "Is it me or is it cold?" Tape: Nassau Tape's state before recording: used Machine used: Fostex E-8 Recording speed: 30 ips |
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Track 10: "Data transfer" Tape: Scotch 282 "Sandwich" Tape's state before recording: new Machine used: Fostex E-8 Recording speed: 30 ips |
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Track 11: "Boring day... (just passing time...)" Tape: Maxell XLII 35-90 - Position "EE" Tape's state before recording: used Machine used: Fostex E-8 Recording speed: 30 ips --- This tape was made for machines that had the special "EE" option on them; The Fostex E-8 was not made for this kind of tape, as far as I know it doesn't have the bias possibility to achieve the needed calibration and would produce noise artifacts when recording, the noise heard in the music piece is that noise but amplified. Very good tape but made for specific machines. |
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