New section: AC and DC motors. Explanation of differences and list of Echorec models and their electric motor type. Visit the Echorec Bible here.
Echorec Bible Updated
New section: magic eyes. Explanation of EM81, EM84 luminescent tubes used as recoding level indicators in Echorecs. Pictures, datasheets. Visit the Echorec Bible here.
EM81 (left) EM84 (right) front view
Echorec Bible Updated
New section explaining internal trimpots. Detailed descriptions and comparison table covering trimpots on every Echorec model. Check out the Echorec Bible here.
Echorec2 T5E Trimpots
Echorec Bible Updated
New section explaining labels in Italian,French,English and German used in Echorec models from the 50′s and 60′s. Check out the Echorec Bible here.
Echorec Bible Updated
New Echorec models added to the Echorec Bible: Amp7 (1972) and ME-8 (1982). Check out the Echorec Bible here.
ATR Magnetics Seminars
ATR Magnetics announces Spring Calibration and Alignment Seminars.
Topics cover: theory of magnetic recording, mechanical and electronic calibration of machines (tape operating level, speed, azimuth, zenith, head wrap, bias and equalization adjustments), choosing tape formulations, media care and storage and trouble-shooting and maintenance issues.
Planned dates for 2013 seminars are:
-
Friday, March 22nd,2013,
9:30 – 5:00 -
Friday, April 26th,2013,
9:30 – 5:00 -
Friday, May 3rd, 2013,
9:30 – 5:00
Cost per day is $250, with discounts available for ATR customers. See details at http://www.atrtape.com/ and http://www.atrservice.com
Audio Preservation
A couple of interesting papers about analog audio recordings preservation by digitization:
- Capturing Analog Sound for Digital Preservation: Report of a Roundtable Discussion of Best Practices for Transferring Analog Discs and Tapes (click here to download the pdf hosted by The Council on Library and Information Resources)
- Sound Directions: Best Practices for Audio Preservation (click here to download the pdf hosted by the Indiana University)
Shelves of vinyl records (Photo credit: NFSA Australia)
Binson Echorec: AudioExMachina’s Echorec Bible, every model listed
AudioExMachina Echorec
The first and only complete catalog (as of June 2012) dedicated to Binson Echorec delay units, used by, among others,the Pink Floyd on every album since 1967 “The Piper at the Gates of Down” up to 1977 “Animals”, is now online at AudioExMachina’s blog.
Years of hystorical research have been condensed in a single document (more data will be added periodically) trying to help readers to identify and compare features of every model ever built.
A comprehensive table collects info about number of magnetic heads, tone controls, tube or transistor architecture, feedback path, and more. Visit the AudioExMachina’s Echorec Bible from the main menu at the top of this page or by clicking here.
A Journey in Audio Editing History: Part 5
Superior sonic quality of tape and ease of editing of (digital audio on) DAWs make a nice pair. A rather common strategy is to take advantage of both media during music production: record on tape and transfer later to DAW of editing and/or edit on DAW and later mixdown to tape.
A more flexible solution consists in inserting a tape machine in the signal path by recording on tape and immediately playing the signal back to the DAW, in realtime. The tape deck may be fed by live inputs or send/returns on the DAW/mixer.
A major problem of this procedure is that the output from the tape machine is delayed (see part4 about tape delays) due to the distance between the rec head and the playback head.
The following video in two parts (by Brad McGowan and Ken Mahru of Little Red Wagon Studios) shows how to time-align the delayed signal by using a latency delay plugin and DAW’s latency compensation.
Part 1/2
Part 2/2
A Journey in Audio Editing History: Part 4
Tape loops as featured in part 2 and part 3 involve a “record once – playback forever” process, for use as rhythm generators or polyphonic instruments. Those would be signal sources.
What about using tape as part of a signal processor instead, by feeding a live signal to the tape loop while it’s playing?
Placing a recording head and one (or more) playback head displaced along the tape path implies a delay due to tape travelling from one head to the other. The delay duration changes when changing tape speed.
That’s how a tape echo device works, here is an example showing a Roland RE-201.
The tape echo effect isn’t limited to dedicated devices. It can be obtained on most reel to reel decks too (depending on the head pack). While tape echo devices always use loops, a reel to reel can be used as a delay by loading a loop or a normal tape reel (it makes no difference). Here is a demonstration of usage of a deck as an effect.
We are apparently still off-track regarding the original post topic (audio editing) however we’re here for a good reason: head displacement, while being an advantage for the purpose of obtaining delay effects, is a problem when coupling a tape deck with DAW for advanced multitrack editing. In this case the delay is called latency, and is undesired.
Next post will address this problem and solutions.
