Max The Tape Recorder's Fifth 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: "Natural machine" Tape: Sony "Soni-Tape" PY-5 - 5" reel Tape's state before recording: used Machine used: Fostex E-8 Recording speed: 30 ips --- This is the first multitrack recording I made at 30 ips ever using one of the first tapes made by Sony, "Soni-Tape"; The piece was supposed to be part of the second album but thought it wouldn't really fit in; I think it fits perfectly on this fifth one. |
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Track 2: "Reach for the highest summit" Tape: Unknown brand Tape's state before recording: used Machine used: Fostex E-8 Recording speed: 30 ips |
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Track 3: "Festival in Vestifal" Tape: Curtis Tape's state before recording: new Machine used: Tascam 238 Recording speed: 4.2 ips (Pitch at max) --- The entire Festival (all parts totalizing 13m30s) was recorded on this "budget" tape. |
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Track 4: "Free your mind" Tape: Scotch (Unknown model) Tape's state before recording: used Machine used: Fostex E-8 Recording speed: 30 ips |
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Track 5: "Imperial buildings anomalies & vertigo" Tape: TEAC Studio 52X - Metal position Tape's state before recording: new Machine used: Tascam 238 Recording speed: 4.2 ips (Pitch at max) --- Rare "reel-to-reel" TEAC cassette tape in the metal position very valuable on eBay (I saw it once selling for $80 brand new); Good quality tape but rough on the dropouts: very small metal particules form on the tape when used a lot therefore not suitable for multitrack recordings in general; I in fact had a hard time transferring all the tracks to the computer for mixing with no dropouts, had to constantly clean the heads before tries. |
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Track 6: "Slavery goes on" Tape: Carrera Tape's state before recording: used Machine used: Tascam 238 Recording speed: 4.2 ips (Pitch at max) --- "Budget" tape part of a box set of 5 beautiful multicolor cassettes. |
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Track 7: "Organ on Viagra" Tape: Philips LP18 Tape's state before recording: used Machine used: Fostex E-8 Recording speed: 30 ips --- Fun instrumental piece made with different organ sounds, using the Roland Rhythm 77 Beat Box.
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