KVR Audio

trimph1 · Post by **trimph1** » Wed Dec 17, 2014 12:54 pm

mmmmm...storage of reel to reel....mmmmm

stardustmedia · Post by **stardustmedia** » Wed Dec 17, 2014 1:01 pm

Another thing we lost is biasing the heads, service them, aligning them, etc.... But we still have calibration of converters

aciddose · Post by **aciddose** » Wed Dec 17, 2014 3:18 pm

Nothing is lost. One can not lose what one does not have.

Ultimately what is "lost" is the ability to not have to understand what is occurring while producing a particular result.

Instead, one is forced to not bother understanding another process which replaces the original one to produce another result of which one is also ignorant of the details.

So in other words nothing is lost at all. Q.E.D.

Next up, what is lost in new marmalade vs. original recipe? The originality is lost. Hipsters panicking.

Most of all though I think what's lost is our ability to lose whatever we recorded. In digital formats we are stuck with the original recording in absolutely pristine condition for all time. So what have we truly lost? Our nostalgia.

*delete*

jancivil · Post by **jancivil** » Thu Dec 18, 2014 11:31 pm

I'm actually uncomfortable with real (more-or-less) silence for very long in a piece of music I'm making, I have samples of {really high quality

} tape hiss (or other M.O.s) I'll stick in there.

trimph1 · Post by **trimph1** » Thu Dec 18, 2014 11:58 pm

jancivil wrote:I'm actually uncomfortable with real (more-or-less) silence for very long in a piece of music I'm making, I have samples of {really high quality } tape hiss (or other M.O.s) I'll stick in there.

Hink · Post by **Hink** » Fri Dec 19, 2014 1:06 am

jancivil wrote:I'm actually uncomfortable with real (more-or-less) silence for very long in a piece of music I'm making, I have samples of {really high quality } tape hiss (or other M.O.s) I'll stick in there.

that's interesting, while never having done so in a song I actually like the suspense of dead air and the absolute quiet of it. The first example that comes to mind is "Rock On" by David Essex (yes I still listen to that song), as a child I recall lying in bed, all the lights out and hearing it on the radio often (AM radio of course). In a different way it is one of my dark songs but not dark as in you would think. Songs that were listened to often at night, in bed (Money is another). Maybe part of that liking the silence came from my dad being a radio nut, he had his own ham station before he was ten and taught a radio course at a college as far north and east as you can go in the country (Maine). He always had a shortwave radio and then scanners, a CB in his car, I had a shortwave radio (later I had a CB) and would spend hours slowly going through bands for interesting stuff (not sure I found anything

). I was so use to static and AM radio noise to boot that the dead air kind of amazed me

Bhan · Post by **Bhan** » Fri Dec 19, 2014 1:49 am

"The irony is that it didn't because with digital everybody wants x100 more takes because the reset is instant."

What's lost ? ....the spontaneity of a " nearer to " real time performance. Tape ( like a live venue ) focused the band or performer to rehearse to the point of precision so that going through that process brought them to new level of comfort and confidence. Digital : you make a thousands stabs at a performance and edit it to sound confident and well rehearsed. Layer sounds like you're making something new and improved.

jancivil · Post by **jancivil** » Fri Dec 19, 2014 1:58 am

That isn't lost to me, I feel completely free to stay with 'realtime' when that provides the best result. I don't think I had a lot more fear of the record button then vs now, but 'tape' is a corollary to that, tape as a focusing factor doesn't work for me. What's lost is that flattering set of things Herodotus brought in, or other artifacts you wouldn't replicate in other media.
Although you definitely could say that having to mark the tape with grease pencil and commit to a razor blade edit is a focusing fear.

also, there is no silence on the AM radio, there is no silence on that record; silence in a digital track is closer to absolute. I had five or eight seconds in 'Lichen D', which didn't work musically, it seemed unnatural to me. Once I did that (and I really did take care to it as tone) I decided I like to do it. I edited some audio recently in an area that isn't quite silent, and applied so much gain to the reverb tail it brought the noise floor up to perceptible, and I left it. It's flawed, but I prefer it.

Hink · Post by **Hink** » Fri Dec 19, 2014 5:23 am

the thing is the silence on the record being broadcast (which of course was not 100% silent) overrode what background noise was natural on AM radio. If there was just an open mic or if there was no signal at all there would be noise but the recording of silence so to speak came through more quiet. Of course I was a kid and now I hear digital so maybe I'm just remembering a fond memory from those days when my ears were not as demanding as they are now. Ah well, it's a good memory anyhow

hibidy · Post by **hibidy** » Fri Dec 19, 2014 5:30 am

Those fabulous Boston recordings? 8 track. Two guys, the other members were just sit ins. Talent trumps gear. That's why I buy a lot of gear

jancivil · Post by **jancivil** » Fri Dec 19, 2014 7:42 pm

Hink wrote:the thing is the silence on the record being broadcast (which of course was not 100% silent) overrode what background noise was natural on AM radio.

Ok, yeah. I took it too literally. Silence is tense in context. When I first did that, the tension had a quality I didn't like, I guess. Like the total absence of sound was the wrong tone.

rcat · Post by **rcat** » Fri Dec 19, 2014 8:43 pm

I haven't read this whole thread. However the OP's original question begs a question by me. Are there any virtual DAWs or hosts currently available that emulate analog mixer and reel to reel tape recording throughout the whole recording process? I'm talking about the DAW itself, not plugins or add-ons. Thanks.

Ogopogo · Post by **Ogopogo** » Fri Dec 19, 2014 8:44 pm

Dunno about tape, but the Reason mixer is modeled on an SSL I think.

woggle · Post by **woggle** » Fri Dec 19, 2014 8:53 pm

no point putting this here

sonicpowa · Post by **sonicpowa** » Fri Dec 19, 2014 11:49 pm

woggle wrote:Tape records a continuous signal --

How come a tape is any more "continuous" signal than digital, the storage medium is just different: digital (separate) samples vs. magnetic (separate) particles?

What is lost in computer recording compared to original tape?