Analog Reel to Reel Tape Delay Effect Demonstration

[@wendystarita7996]

Thank You! Nobody has simply put this technology on youtube and has shown what people have been doing with 3 head reel recorders for decades. You have done a fine job.

[@ccmdav]

Excellent demonstration. Very effectively explained. It also goes to show me how well implemented tape-delay DSP effects are in the present, so much so that the only reason to use the real thing is for that defining sense of authenticity that only the real thing can provide - and with music, inspiration is usually more important than technicalities. To each their own!

[@ZZ-xz6lc]

Yes...one of the BEST videos on how to do this. Very well done! Thank you for doing an amazing job!

[@antigen4]

except maybe the most important part is missing - how to actually make the loop to do it and not waste scads of tape

[@hoover728]

First off, using a loop won't wont waste less tape, since a short loop will wear out way quicker. Secondly, with a loop you'd need the erase head active or the loop would just record layer upon layer of everything you play. This is a cool effect on its own, but a different beast altogether. I'm not sure how easy it would be to set up a reel to reel to erase that way.

[@AndrewWukusick]

I was actually given one of these same units last year by my in-laws, they found it in an old storage shed they clean out & figured I'd have some use for it in my studio. I never really knew what I was going to do with it, even considered selling it. Now I am very glad I kept it, this video is freakin great.

[@jasonpenn3871]

This video is for using a tape delay with a mixer and out to studio monitors or PA. Using it with a guitar amp is a different set up. Ritchie Blackmore used his AWAI reel to reel into the front of his two amps in the 1970s - Marshall Major 200 watt heads - there was no such thing as an effects loop in those days. The transistor pre-amp section of the AWAI reel to reel was a key component of his tone, adding a gain stage/boost before it hit the preamp of the Marshall. What cabling he used is a mystery but I'm pretty sure he used some kind of DI box before the Marshall input because the output impedance of the the AWAI would be at line level as opposed to the instrument level needed for a guitar amp. He would plug into either the left or right microphone inputs of the AWAI, not both, with a standard 1/4" jack but needed a cable that was RCA out from the AWAI to 1/4" jack in and out from the DI box to the first Marshall. He would have a tape moving from one reel to the other with an audible delay. Once it finished, the tape reels would be swapped but running at a slow speed a tape would last an entire gig. Towards the end of the 70s his AWAI became unreliable so he used it for the preamp section only without the tape delay. Theoretically you could connect a reel to reel into the send and return of a guitar amp's effects loop, sending from the microphone input and inputting from the reel to reel output but you would still need a DI Box and RCA to 1/4" cable to correct the impedance. I have had two reel to reel machines for about 7 years, a Sanyo from 1967 and an AKAI Dolby from 1975, both have three heads so work as tape delays. I bought these second hand but had them cleaned, serviced and with upgrades to faulty components by an electronic expert. The Sanyo cost £100, the AKAI £150. Demand for reel to reel machines has gone up in recent years and you are unlikely to pick up a functioning one for $20 anymore, average price in the UK for a decent 70s machine with no or minor issues is about £200.

[@eliaslugo4223]

Wow awesome music thank you for sharing 🔊🎼✨

[@klbax63]

way better than $899.00 for the t rex replicator and cheaper than a vintage Roland space echo

[@nichtimmer9134]

I live in austria! And thats is good so than in germany and austria have dynacord, echolette, hohner and many more companies build in the 40s to 60s and older (from beginning of electro music in the 20s) build some unknowed but famouse effects and amps used by some of the famoust guitar player! ...here i get a real tape delay mini for 100 to 200 bugs (some are Complete new made Electronics, but after there repair the price is the same approx 200 bugs) so cheep i can get a real tape delay, the dynacord tube felay (also echolette - tube delay) cost a bid more 300 to 700bugs but thus are Iconic tape effects of the 50s to 60s!!! and nobody on this earth cann get cheeper a vintage delay than we here 😎🎸💥😁😁😁 ...love that fact, also unknown vintage hand made/wired tube amps from 50s and 60s (one have the better and deeper tube drive spring reverb build in his amp (deeper than the fender tube spring reverb unit) gor 50 to 300 bugs!!! Thats only why its not so famouse but they are not cheep at back at the day like fender, vox and marshall but now thay are so cheep to buy and are one of the best sounding amps ever (geeman Engineering) thay are on the same level, sometimes better (like the amp with the deep tube spring reverb - some old surf musicans will kill for that amp or give his gender to get tham) like vox, fender and marshall amps!!! Some english band used it in the 50s and 60s!!! The echolette and dynacord super are the first real tube tabe delay ever build!!! ...love to live here, so i get cheep high end vintage amps and effects!!! The old vox, tweed and plexi cost in every land the same and are so high in price! Love they but thay are so expensiv!!! But thanks god, i can buy so good vintage thinks for low money 😁😁😁 ...happy about that!!!

[@nichtimmer9134]

Look here the link! Thats a amp ...complete handwired and have that deep tube reverb as a eign chanal in the amp!!! kzbin.info/www/bejne/fZiae41siJqAl9E

[@axeslinger013]

I'll stick with my Crazy Tube Circuits Echotopia unit...

[@nym053]

Agreed. I've had both this model of reel to reel and the Replicator Jr. D'lux. The Akai sounds significantly better, and here in Denmark they're quite affordable. Note: I look like the guy above, but we have different names obviously 😅

[@alfsmith4936]

​@@nichtimmer9134I payed £25 for my Copicat and £150 for my RE-501. There are cheap bits all over the world.

[@jeremyjohnson7676]

thank, because of YOU those machines are now very expensive.

[@ManuelMartinez-dy7gv]

I'm buying one of these tonight because of this video.

[@tooleyoclock]

Awesome. Nothing sounds better.

[@shrimpster97]

Manuel Martinez meto lol

[@durulseren2134]

Manuel Martinez did you?

[@kevinjamiesonbelou]

Yup. Me to

[@matbow13]

Your explanation and presentation were easy to follow and and insightful! Thank You

[@drew945101]

If you're using the FX send for the pass through, than you could ALSO: -Send a second signal out of the AUX send to the other stereo input on the tape mechine - Send that signal back out to channel 3 on the board - Hard pan channel 3 and 4 (L-R). -Adjust the EQ different on both channels 3 and 4 and run them out to two different amps. - Record that into a stereo track on Pro Tools and you've got the craziest stereo delay feedback affect that the world has ever seen 🤯

[@hakonsoreide]

For even more fun, most reel-to-reel machines, including mine, have both line and mic inputs, and except on very simple models, you should be able to use both at the same time. That means you have four channels in, often each channel with its own volume control too. I actually tried using my machine as a delay effect for the first time yesterday (without having seen any videos on it yet), and it worked brilliantly. It didn't occur to me to play around with the EQ, though. I'll play around with it some more and see what else I can do with it after watching this.

[@RiffMusic1970]

I like the way you think.

[@Picato75]

Great explanation!! This is how Blackmore´s AIWA works as well

[@TheSickNeeds]

Who is the one dork that doesn't like this? Excellent demonstration.

[@alexallredmusic]

This is a great demonstration of tape delay effect(s). Well done!

[@raceface_m2579]

This is so well detailed. Very informational. Thanks for going over how to send and such.

[@thedeadxtras9927]

You did a brilliant demonstration, explaining it all really well, , precisely, and with enthusiasm, presented practically on guitar, tape machine, mixer and mic excellently in my opinion. Stumbled on your video looking for accessible, information , explaining Tape Echo Delay and its history to how it’s evolved especially in the guitar world to present day with guitar FX pedals, definitely sending to one of my guitar students learning about delays, so thanks for a great demo and taking your time to put together and produce this great short film, it’s greatly appreciated.

[@thedrummingrealtor]

I always loved the sound of the guitar in the intro of The Dead Kennedys’ “Police Truck”. Now I know what they did to get the sound! Thanks man great vid

[@brightworldmusic2114]

I like how you can hear the delay echo get more and more eq'd as it passes thru ... a wah effect. Also, you can use your elbow, knee, foot, whatever to press against the left reel to slow it a bit and add some variation to the delay length as you play.

[@schipbreukeling3]

lol

[@copperaudio9664]

Very nice, thanks for the demo! Great to see young people still working with analog. I have a deck and small mixer to hook up and play with in the garage. Can't wait...

[@65CJ5]

Yep. My dad used to do this all the time when recording his puppet shows and music for those shows.

[@tomasenrique]

This demonstration is AMAZING!

[@noahbudd270]

most valuable sound effects tutorial on youtube to date

[@tooleyoclock]

Noah Budd You’re very kind. Thanks.

[@SonnetGomes]

Thank you so much for this demonstration. I always wondered how tape delay worked...This is pure genius :D

[@NorthWoodsCountryBoy]

This is awesome brother. I just got a reel to reel and am so stoked to try this out! Very inspiring!

[@Geert890]

Your guitar sounds really good

[@bijibadness]

this is SO cool. so, so awesome. delay is the most gorgeous effect in my opinion . . . there's just something about it that sends my imagination soaring. of course with digital delay, it's all just so much more convenient . . . but there IS something truly magical about actual, factual analog tape. thank you so much for this.

[@FIAT2020]

When I was boy, I played around with a microphone with the same three-head reel to reel tape recorder, a very interesting effect was.

[@carlosramirezfabian1256]

That 3 3/4 sounded dope af

[@zacharysaunders2100]

this is so siiiiick! That's why it's called "FEEDBACK" great video!

[@dale1956ties]

I was doing it more than 40 years ago on a TEAC machine. This sure brought back some memories.

[@melkon1an]

D.Edward Rice shut up old man

[@andymclain2574]

How do U hook up your amp

[@flywittzbeats4008]

7 years later, and reel to reels are 400 to 3000$ a piece haha

[@WillowRat]

You can get one with burnt out tubes and replace those for less than $200, but it's still expensive as heck

[@joerectifier]

Fantastic and sounds organic and ANALOG

[@bernardogui3933]

great video Mr.

[@whrtvshu6218]

You made that really easy. Nice job!

[@ProfessorPoopington]

Just got my first reel to reel, and this was super helpful and concise. Looking forward to diving in.

[@stevenfaulk07]

Fantastic explanation friend!

[@noahcarvalho2105]

The guy knows what he’s doing 👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻

[@timridley1]

Lovely sounds

[@nickmaymusic]

This is an excellent demo video! I'll be sharing this with my Music Technology students. Thank you!

[@dennymcfastlane8530]

An oldie secret, but a goodie. We were doing this in the late 1960's. Richie Blackmore was the first i heard of, that was using a little more modified setup than this. And Yes--You can find the reel to reel's on Craigslist all the time for inexpensive prices.

[@almurphy5433]

Great Demonstration! You can buy stereo tape decks for 20 bucks but that one in good shape is more like 200 bucks. That's an AKAi from around 1974.

[@borealico]

Excellent explanation. 10/10

[@dizzy-dreams]

Excellent, I just got a Akai GX4000D for my LoFI stuff... I have to test this!! Thanks again for sharing.

[@HintOfLogic]

One of the coolest things I've seen in a while! Thanks for demo'ing!

[@joaquinbrasher3722]

The feedback is the best part of it

[@dylanlahman5967]

This makes me so happy

[@LFOVCF]

Just a great demo.

[@UOttawaScotty]

Holy shit man ! You just blew my mind, I was just about to sell my reel to reel but then I found this video haha, thanks so much for posting this !

[@PowerfulNoise]

the tone with mid boost is so tasty! nice video man!

[@omarcusihuaman4261]

DUDE YOU ROCK!!!! im buying a reel to reel just because of you

[@DrewFrench]

That was absolutely amazing. Seriously one of the best videos I have seen about this. Thank you for sharing your secrets in a clear and concise way without going on the rambling tangents that most DIY videos do. Holy shit my mind is blown. I just picked up an Akai 202D-SS for $25 and am going to play around with it tonight. I messaged the previous owner and he has a ton more tapes, some blank but mostly recorded on. I am going to see if they can be dubbed over. My only question is what type of tape are you using? It looks clear from here...

[@raoulduke3239]

An old vid of Ritchie Blackmore playing Stargazer with a reel tape machine on top of his 200w Vox head disguised as a Marshall stack brought me here.

[@jessehutchings]

Damn, dude. That's sick and sounds AMAZING

[@kamikazemartinez]

How beautiful Great video!

[@fffunky1201]

Thank you for this great video. I have just got a r2r so this is going to be fun.

[@keiferreefer1]

Hey that is so cool, the " Echoplex" was tape driven, probably the same concept

[@34672rr]

gotta have varispeed. also a 3 head cassette deck works just as well. The reel to reel is a cool visual prop though

[@martinbladelvan1949]

I have a Sony T-CK 490 three head cassette deck but the record and playback head are combined in 1 so no delay : (

[@schipbreukeling3]

@@martinbladelvan1949 Heads: 1 x record, 1 x playback, 1 x erase that's on the manual. You have the good one.

[@4headgaming448]

This was a fantastic demo!! Thank you!!

[@kidkodama]

fantastic video

[@SwapneelGhosh95]

Great video demonstration! Cleared the concept.

[@cho03]

Hey man, excellent video. I have a little old portable reel to reel. Have wanted a space echo for ages and I think this will be a great little alternative.

[@sesa1076]

I love the tongue in cheek "...Use it ...tastefully, alright?"

[@jjohnson4301]

Nice explanation. Really nice.

[@marcokuhner2445]

Really enlightening! Thx a lot

[@reverendgaddy2435]

Your studio equipment sounds really good. Even pro quality!

[@mcroann]

Maybe this is a stupid question. Can i use a normal tape deck on my home stereo?

[@alexptvz1076]

great demonstration !!!! so easy

[@peterfalconer]

Excellent demonstration - thank you. 👍

[@julesl6910]

Epic. Mad Professor used this technique as a young man by modifying standard cassette recorders.

[@arborealsquid2380]

Awesome video, thanks! Got one the other day and plan on doing this once I get some more reels. :D

[@impossibletruffle]

Excellent. This has given me some ideas.

[@PushOnRecordings]

Great explanation man. I was wondering the theory behind tape delay for ages. : )

[@justindrakecroft]

Nice demo!

[@lufebarrlob]

nice video !! congratulations! so easy and very good explained

[@SabinaCovarrubiasComposer]

Beautiful!!! Thank you

[@roncarter2188]

That sounded so good. Well done.

[@heldervasconcelos3351]

man this was such a great sound. loved it. i was going to invest in the el capistan but now i am confused

[@milesnottage5900]

Thank you for this - really useful for my music tech classes!

[@Dyallo1988]

Thanks for this video! Love to see how they did it back in the day :)

[@santillca]

I like your performance to 3.47.Nice!

[@RGXeducation]

Fantastic video!!

[@valrogolino9599]

what a very -very nice job..thanks...

[@neocollective]

Great video !!! the doggie there at the end liked it too :) Thanks for posting !

[@kedocom]

could you do this with an effects loop in a guitar amp?

[@OperationChicago]

Nice video, can't you just do this with a delay machine as well ?

[@MyManDan]

Wow i just learned something!

[@anagonzabay5826]

this was therapeutic

[@NilakshaFreeson]

This is so damn awesome

[@as3fawf]

Really interesting! Thank you for explaining!

[@BarbieChaite]

you are lucky to find a reel to reel recorder for that cheap. Where I live, even the broken units are more expensive than the price you got...

[@tooleyoclock]

Very lucky. And, sure enough, I accidentally bent one of the spindles when I was moving to a new house recently. Huge bummer. I’m gonna try to fix it.

[@johnlafleur3593]

Thanks, I found something to use my Akai Reel to Reel for now. Can I hook a line of pedals with the tape echo also?

[@digable_celestial_dwarfs6778]

Oh _THIS_ is why I'm suddenly getting bid up on every piece of reel to reel gear at auctions 😒

[@hakonsoreide]

... or that anything vintage is in ridiculously high demand now, regardless of what it is. Stuff that people threw away not 20 years ago is now being sold at ever-inflating prices.

[@lewisknudsen1]

Dude this is so cool thank you

[@novakattila]

I bought a teac 2300sx just so I can do tape delay. In my opinion no plugin can really sound like a true analog tape delay. It has such a thick and amazing sound. And my teac isnt that expensive, you can get one for $200

[@albie5429]

When you say space you're talking about the time delay, would you know exactly that time delay is? Thanks

[@jeff0566jsm]

I love it ! Your a GENIUS!

[@falklandss]

What kind of cable are you using to connect the fx send to the tape machine? 🤔

[@coldwar1977]

Sounds better than any pedal

[@amonster8mymother]

I have a akai 1730. ❤ I want to create slap back echo with it how do I do that?

[@proxxydust2993]

sick video my dude