Baking tapes and music ownership

[Simoon]

A while back, I was given a box of Ampex 456 1/2" tapes by a friend. The tapes came from Ridge Farm Studios south of London. The studio is no longer, however, in its heyday, it had been used by quite a number of big name bands.

Anyway, I have a box of about 20-30 tapes, names of whom I shall not divulge here, however, if anyone has any tips on baking these tapes I would be most grateful because at some point, I want to know what I have.

Does anyone have any experience of using a dehydrator for this job? It sounds like a good way of being sure I don't melt any in the process.

And of course, can someone let me know the legal status of my find? Of course I do not own the rights to the song but what rights do my possession of the tapes afford me?

Should there be any hidden gems, can I release the recordings myself? Of course sending a percentage of the profit to the artist/band/etc.

Any useful info would be very appreciated.

Thanks

[Forgotten]

First of all I would say that the recordings would be the property of the artists who recorded them, so you cannot release them yourself until you have a contract with the artist to do so.

As for baking them, I believe there is some preparation work that needs to be done before you bake them such as running them off the original reel onto a new reel so that they aren't unevenly wound, and then you need to remove them from the reel. Baking is only a temporary measure, and once they have cooled down you need to transfer them quickly. I only ever saw it being done once, and the studio owner put them in his kitchen oven with the door open (I have no clue what temperature), put the tape back onto a reel, and left it in an open metal can until the next day when he transferred it to a new tape.

[thecontrolcentre]

And of course, can someone let me know the legal status of my find? Of course I do not own the rights to the song but what rights do my possession of the tapes afford me?

Should there be any hidden gems, can I release the recordings myself? Of course sending a percentage of the profit to the artist/band/etc.

Any useful info would be very appreciated.

Thanks

You have no rights as far as the music goes, and you sure cant release them without agreement of the artists. I have copies of every band/ artist I ever recorded or mixed or mastered. They're for back up only.

Have you considered contacting the artists? They may want to buy the tapes ...

[Simoon]

I've yet to do anything with them. Yes, I was thinking of getting in contact with the artists but I should really listen to what I have before I do, afterall, they could be blank.

I also thought about ebaying them, i'm sure some fans would love these in their collection. Especially if it's unreleased material.

Does anyone have experience of using a dehydrator for the job of setting the tape?

I think perhaps I need to get some blank spools and a worthy tape machine.

[thecontrolcentre]

I also thought about ebaying them, i'm sure some fans would love these in their collection. Especially if it's unreleased material.

TBH I doubt that's legal either ... you could end up with a court case on your hands.

[Simoon]

I don't see how. Surely as long as nobody is publishing the music I'd not be breaking any laws, it is afterall, just a tape.

If the artist were outbid in an auction, that isn't my fault. They should think themselves lucky enough to have a fan prepared to outbid them.

[original flipper]

Hi

My experiences of using recording studios back in the day was that you could 'rent' the tape for recording - they would not let you have the tape until you could purchase it at cost, so really they retained the tape in lieu of payment.

Some info here: http://www.wendycarlos.com/bake%20a%20t ... etape.html

1/2" tape may well likely have been used with an 8 track Otari, Teac, Tascam or 16 track Fostex machines (unlikely last candidate for 'big' studio) - I also know the 'Reggae' boys used to mix down onto 4 track 1/2" - although I think it is highly unlikely that would have been done in the UK.

At the end of the day you are going to have to buy an old 1/2" multi track of one description or another - the only other alternative is to use one of the companies who do multi track reel-digital transfers - this will be very expensive.

If i was intent on 'hearing' the tapes I would forget about the hydration/baking stuff - acquire a 1/2" 8 track (& mixer), play the tapes, output to computer, record and then clean the heads and repeat the process.

Personally unless I had lots of disposable income I wouldn't bother - you likely have a bunch of half arsed demo tapes that may have been used multiple times , chopped up and generally in poor condition.

Sorry for the long post - I have a bunch of 1/4" tapes (2 & 4 track) from music I produced in the early 80's with lots of vocals that I would like to transfer to digital at some point - acquiring a 1/4" 4 track though, is not easy.

[Simoon]

Thanks flipper.

I think I can keep the costs down by baking it myself and because the internet is so incredibly useful, I have found temperatures and times for the process....plus it states that the baking can be done more than once, should I need to, although obviously i'd rather get everything done first time.

Whilst I would love an Otari (I imagine this was most likely the studio's choice), a Tascam is going to be more likely as I own one, (as long as I can get in contact with the person I lent it to), however, they're relatively cheap, plus I can probably sell it again once i'm done.

Sadly, I don't think just playing unbaked tapes will be a good idea as Ampex 456's are prone to sticky tape syndrome, which can pretty much erase/ruin whatever's there, so some care will have to be taken.

Thankfully, at least one of the tapes I have is just a straight forward recording off a Kate Bush album (even the studio's were prone to bootlegging, albeit it at a higher quality than domestic cassettes), so I can experiment on that one first.

[original flipper]

Hi

I had never looked into 'baking' tapes - the thought of putting a tape into an environment of extreme heat is scary!

Now I have I suppose @ 130F +/- 10F isn't that hot, blimey, if you lived circa the equator you could just put them out on the veranda...

[vurt]

I don't see how. Surely as long as nobody is publishing the music I'd not be breaking any laws, it is afterall, just a tape.

If the artist were outbid in an auction, that isn't my fault. They should think themselves lucky enough to have a fan prepared to outbid them.

you cant sell what isnt yours
finders keepers isnt a law
in the uk we have "theft by finding" meaning if you try to sell them, you are selling stolen property.
unless you have made every effort possible to reunite them with owners.

[Forgotten]

I don't see how. Surely as long as nobody is publishing the music I'd not be breaking any laws, it is afterall, just a tape.

If the artist were outbid in an auction, that isn't my fault. They should think themselves lucky enough to have a fan prepared to outbid them.

Music doesn't have to be published to be protected by copyright laws.

[masterhiggins]

If you sell the tapes the fuzz will come after you and we’ll see your face on the news. Mwa ha ha ha ha ha