I miss rewinding tape

[gainreduction]

I really miss that short break you got when you pressed locate on the tape recorder and waited for the tape to rewind and locate. That was a breath of fresh air in the studio that's gone now. In DAW-land you go back in a second and you hear the damn song all the time, no breaks.

What was fresh about that small down time was that once the music played again your ears and brain was a tiny bit more fresh. And during that down time a conversation may start that makes the break even longer which makes the music even more fresh once you hear it again. I really miss that.

Another thing I miss about tape is that you listened to longer runs of the song, from top to end even a lot of times. Looping a verse 100 times in a DAW makes me puke now. I felt more creative on tape, maybe 'coz it was more limited than a DAW.

Now I'll stop whining and go back to staring at the screen and not listening.

Oh, what I DON'T miss about tape is (when mixing) trying to eq the only hit on the floor tom that's in the song. Gotta love a loop in DAW for that.

[Bishbashbosh]

Try installing an AVID Mojo on your system.....
That should add several seconds break between pressing play and hearing a sound......

[thenewyear]

I also like the rewind break. Someone else mentioned this magical period of time just recently on GS.

Anyway I am feeling pretty lucky, my computer is totally knackered and without it all my digi hardware is only so much paperweights.

As a result I've been recording onto tape for a couple of weeks now and there is nothing quite like it to inspire creativity.

[opentune]

Originally Posted by gainreduction

Oh, what I DON'T miss about tape is (when mixing) trying to eq the only hit on the floor tom that's in the song. Gotta love a loop in DAW for that.

Whenever i had to work with tape (1" 24 track or ADAT), i let the drummer
play a long tom pattern on a free piece of tape. So i was able to process
the toms and then i went back to the song to do some small changes.

Try that next time you have to record on tape.

I don´t miss that "short break" when the ADATs ate my tapes...

[Bob Ross]

You think *you* miss rewind time, ask the poor schmuck in the booth doing take after take while you keep saying
"Let's try that again, rolling."
"Let's try that again, rolling."
"Let's try that again, rolling."
"Let's try that again, rolling."
"Let's try that again, rolling."
"Let's try that again, rolling."
"Let's try that again, rolling."
"Let's try that again, rolling."
"Let's try that again, rolling."

[3rd world order]

Originally Posted by Bob Ross

"Let's try that again, rolling."

4 ****ing hours on one vocal line with the BRC and he still sang it flat... ARRRRGH.

NEVER again...

[Jamz]

Personally I do not miss the rewind time. That said, whenever a client whinces over a computer hiccup I am tempted to remind or educate them as to how much time they're saving just by not having to rewind and find locate points .

[theblue1]

Hell... I just remember what an amazing thing it was when I finally got a four track in my home studio with a proper zero-stop. My first four track was an old TASCAM 'knife-switch' (3340?)... you couldn't go from rewind to stop without having a big risk of stretching or even snapping your tape. You had to slide straight from Rewind to FF in order to use the motors for breaking.

[GYMusic]

Noithin' like the smell of opening a fresh reel...

[zarembo]

Originally Posted by GYMusic

Noithin' like the smell of opening a fresh reel...

AMEN to that!!

[Bob Ross]

Originally Posted by theblue1

You had to slide straight from Rewind to FF in order to use the motors for breaking.

I learned on an ancient Ampex 300 1" 8-track and developed that same practice, such that to this day I've done that on not only every analog reel-to-reel deck I've ever used (folks tell me I can beat on the A800 but force of habit keeps me treating them gently) but also on MDMs & DAWs! Folks look at me like I'm an idiot when I absent-mindedly start rocking the Rew-FF buttons on a HUI!

[gear is cool]

different strokes for different folks...i love the tape rewind, my sessions go much quicker on analog, i end up not having to edit/cross fade etc. the crap out of everything...and it sounds soooo much better...it's just what i dig and my clients prefer rolling tape...i love the few moments of rewind to talk to the client and maybe tell a joke or 2 just to get his/her mind off of "it" for a sec.

if the poor schmuck does take after take they is getting a lot poorer with each one.... maybe should come back another day when he/she is feeling it or perhaps he/she just plain sux and it ain't my gig to turn schafer into champaine

[yeloocproducer]

It's the studio equivalent of taking a drag////

[Jay Kahrs]

I dig analog too...it's more then just the rewind time. A properly aligned tape machine has so much depth & dimension it's sick...actually, it just sounds like a record!

I approach a DAW with the same mindset and it's not so bad. Nobody's forcing you to hit play after the 'instant' rewind. Sometimes I'll scrub back through the audio or just wait a couple seconds while I fiddle with something else like a producer panel. On the flip side, sometimes it's great to be able to hit stop and instantly start again. If there's a trainwreak nine bars into the take you can start again instantly while everyone's in the moment rather then hitting stop, rewind...wait 20 seconds for the reels to rock back to zero and then rolling again.

[Ricey]

Originally Posted by Bob Ross

You think *you* miss rewind time, ask the poor schmuck in the booth doing take after take while you keep saying
"Let's try that again, rolling."
"Let's try that again, rolling."
"Let's try that again, rolling."
"Let's try that again, rolling."
"Let's try that again, rolling."
"Let's try that again, rolling."
"Let's try that again, rolling."
"Let's try that again, rolling."
"Let's try that again, rolling."

yes, rewinding during overdubs is a beeotch and nobody misses that.
but for mixing, i love tape. avoiding the whole "audio quality argument" black hole- the rewind and the lack of a screen are both big points when trying to listen to something.

[Bob Ross]

Originally Posted by Ricey

yes, rewinding during overdubs is a beeotch and nobody misses that.

Actually, you missed my point: I think rewind time is a *good* thing as far as the artist is concerned. Otherwise they get no breaks to recompose their thoughts between takes, they're just forced to crank it out instantaneously, take after take like an assembly line.

[ImJohn]

I really miss that short break you got when you pressed locate on the tape recorder and waited for the tape to rewind and locate. That was a breath of fresh air in the studio that's gone now. In DAW-land you go back in a second and you hear the damn song all the time, no breaks.

So, just defrag your your hard drives often. You don't get as many breaks but a defrag will probably give you a longer one than a tape rewind.

No fresh tape smell though!

[Ricey]

Originally Posted by Bob Ross

Actually, you missed my point: I think rewind time is a *good* thing as far as the artist is concerned. Otherwise they get no breaks to recompose their thoughts between takes, they're just forced to crank it out instantaneously, take after take like an assembly line.

ah, so. i did miss that! but i do find tracking vox on a DAW helpful, because you can hit record at exacty that moment the vocalist is ready('that' moment being an intuitive thing between each singer/engineer), whether that means waiting a beat or not... also, it's added another lifetime to the transport on my machine

[theblue1]

Originally Posted by Bob Ross

I learned on an ancient Ampex 300 1" 8-track and developed that same practice, such that to this day I've done that on not only every analog reel-to-reel deck I've ever used (folks tell me I can beat on the A800 but force of habit keeps me treating them gently) but also on MDMs & DAWs! Folks look at me like I'm an idiot when I absent-mindedly start rocking the Rew-FF buttons on a HUI!

Now that I'm rooting around in my 80's memories, seems I recall a then-old 2" 16 track MCI deck we had to rock. I was there when someone 'panicked' and didn't. It was not pretty...

Them big ol' 2" reels have a lot of damn mass and consequent momentum.

[paultools]

Originally Posted by GYMusic

Noithin' like the smell of opening a fresh reel...

226 was the sweetest
250 was the most toxic
456 was the most common

Wonder if you can get it in a can at a California car wash?
You can find just about anything else there!

[7 Hz]

What I want to know is, what the heck happened to varipitch? Between the no-varipitch situation, no rewind break, no start / stop pick-up noises, and digital clocking issues, analogue still seems a more creative, professional medium.

[joeq]

Originally Posted by Bob Ross

Actually, you missed my point: I think rewind time is a *good* thing as far as the artist is concerned. Otherwise they get no breaks to recompose their thoughts between takes, they're just forced to crank it out instantaneously, take after take like an assembly line.

But every artist needs a different time break to be ready for the next take. Its true that most want that break, but there are always a few artists who want to go go go - they are hot, they 'almost had it' and if you take too long to cue up the next pass they don't like that either.

The DAW gives you the option of waiting as long as you like to push that button or setting up loop record and letting the artist have at it non stop if that's what he wants.

It _does require some discipline, but there is no reason you couldn't give yourself some rewind time- a little break for the ears and mind- by hitting return to zero and then meditating a bit before hitting play. I have heard of people taking 5 minutes of silence every hour to 'replace' these rewind breaks and rest their ears. Kind of like saving up your sick days.


It would be cool if some programmers could make that a selection in the preferences- a "Tape Rewind" simulation . It would probably be very easy to implement. Hit rewind and it would take a few seconds (proportional to the amount of time being rewound)- and as it went, you would faintly hear the music chipmunking in reverse in the background.

[mogWai]

Well, you can do that.

Cubase has a jog/shuttle control and you can always hit '-' and wait for it to rewind manually.

But no one wants to do that! Why?

Because waiting for stuff to happen is boring

[3rd world order]

Originally Posted by mogWai

waiting for stuff to happen is boring

boredom is the precursor to creativity... some of the best mixes i've ever done sprang out of "hating" the song and wanting to destroy it...

destruction is not negative

[mogWai]

Originally Posted by 3rd world order

boredom is the precursor to creativity...

Ah.. and doing is the er.. way things get done .

[Jay Kahrs]

Originally Posted by 7 Hz

What I want to know is, what the heck happened to varipitch?

Beats the hell out of me...but yeah...I do miss vari-speed, that was a highly useful tool from both creative & corrective perspectives.

I miss the way it ramps in when you hit play.
Nice and gentle on the ears.
Someone should create a plug that does that.

With the DAW it is like WHAM! harsh.

Even waiting for ADAT's to all sync up was better.


D

[Jamz]

Originally Posted by 7 Hz

What I want to know is, what the heck happened to varipitch?

PT + Sync IO provides VSO capabilties.

[lucey]

Originally Posted by gainreduction

I really miss that short break you got when you pressed locate on the tape recorder and waited for the tape to rewind and locate. ...
Another thing I miss about tape is that you listened to longer runs of the song, from top to end even a lot of times. Looping a verse 100 times in a DAW makes me puke now.

Like breathing in, and out ... working with a big honkin' tape machine has a rhythm and gravitas (to use the trendy word) that can be used to advantage.


I miss mastering tape, the real performances and band integrity. Right about the time I could afford to upgrade the 2 track, work tailed off.

[themaidsroom]

i love the smell..........
i use both every day.....

i can now almost picture the respective outlines of the sound in the room,
pre and post conversion, once it's digital, it's definitely coming from
the speakers and the space between them, before the conversion, the
sound seemed to be everywhere.....
the people who have the chops to work with tape are usually
easier to listen to repeatedly........




be well

- jack