400+ 4-track Cassettes

moschops · Post by **moschops** » Tue Apr 24, 2012 1:56 pm

Years ago I was in a band that recorded just about every time we played. When the band split we had generated an archive of 400+ 4-track cassette masters. Ten years later, I have begun the project of digitizing bits & pieces from these tapes, with the eventual goal to epoxy all the tapes together and make a coffee table, or perhaps a pair of end tables. A lot of the music was improvised, but we also wrote actual songs. This stuff has limited appeal, and the quality varies, but I think there are some Tape Op'ers who will appreciate it for the audio sketchbook that it is. Thanks for listening.

http://nilcamp.bandcamp.com/

BrontoSoreAss · Post by **BrontoSoreAss** » Tue Apr 24, 2012 7:28 pm

This is awesome. Love the Coffee table idea

dimag333 · Post by **dimag333** » Tue Apr 24, 2012 7:52 pm

dude....I make more money duplicating tapes that recording now!! AWESOME!

No-Fi · Post by **No-Fi** » Wed Apr 25, 2012 9:52 am

Those are some tasty jams. What kind of tape machine did you use? The mixes sound great!

Jeff White · Post by **Jeff White** » Wed Apr 25, 2012 3:50 pm

I facebooked this...send it into NPR. Seriously, great story, tasty jams!

If this shit isn't the total essence of TapeOp I don't know what is!

Jeff

moschops · Post by **moschops** » Wed Apr 25, 2012 5:47 pm

Thanks very much, folks! There's <i>a lot</i> more where this came from.

We used a Tascam 464. At the start we just had Radio Shack mics--a PZM over the drums and an electret condenser near the snare, a Shure made Realistic on the guitar, and the bass went in direct. The drums would be pre-mixed on a shitty little Rat Shack mixer before going into one track on the 464. One track was left open for bounces and overdubs. The space was a 19th-century cellar with 5-foot ceilings.

Later on we used a Rode NT-1 over the drums and 57s on the snare and guitar. The Ratt Shack mixer was replaced by a small Soundcraft board.

moschops · Post by **moschops** » Sat Apr 28, 2012 7:38 am

Here's a short video of nil playing in our squalid dungeon cellar studio in 1999. I can't think of a shittier environment--basically a dirt-floored crawl space. We were a trio, but when friends would visit they would be shanghai'd and forced to record with us, as was the case here. The sound at the beginning is from the hi-8 camera. I reach over and start the 4-track about halfway through.

http://youtu.be/dr_nT9nTfQU

studilaroche · Post by **studilaroche** » Mon May 07, 2012 11:35 am

Are you one of the individuals not liberated by the exploding furnace?

EDIT: Nice work, gentlemen. For $2 it's a done deal.
Ben

punkrockdude · Post by **punkrockdude** » Tue May 08, 2012 1:35 am

I really like Waterless Polo. It has a special "atmosphere" around itself. Regards

Justin Foley · Post by **Justin Foley** » Tue May 08, 2012 7:16 am

Why the hell would you trash those tapes if they have music that you like on them? The are a much more stable archive of that music than whatever you're digitizing them to.

= Justin

Osumosan · Post by **Osumosan** » Tue May 08, 2012 7:43 am

I thought youtube was the most stable medium.

artercay · Post by **artercay** » Tue May 08, 2012 10:39 am

"Why the hell would you trash those tapes if they have music that you like on them? The are a much more stable archive of that music than whatever you're digitizing them to. "

+1

leave the furniture building to old DATs.

moschops · Post by **moschops** » Sun May 13, 2012 6:59 am

I plan on dumping the stereo mixes onto analog reels for storage. The tapes themselves will not be trashed. They will be epoxied together lovingly by their cases so if future generations are bored enough to make 19.1 surround mixes of this shit they will still be able to get at the tapes with the use of simple tools.

The table will be a functional display of the physical mass of the archive. I'm thinking of fitting an old iPod within it that will shuffle the entire playlist. Hell, I can see this table one day being installed at the MoMA? in the back room where the janitors play cards.

moschops · Post by **moschops** » Fri May 25, 2012 6:18 am

New (short) release from the cassette archive--eight tracks made for the spontaneous songwriting competition at songfight.org. Free download.

In Dubious Battle | The Songfight! Tracks

Thanks for listening!

moschops · Post by **moschops** » Mon Oct 22, 2012 8:24 am

Work on volume 2 of this 4-track collection is well underway. Here's a free 'single' of two recently unearthed tracks that no one in the band has any memory of.

As always, thanks for listening!

http://nilcamp.bandcamp.com/album/virtu ... se-sparrow

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400+ 4-track Cassettes

400+ 4-track Cassettes

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