Endgame Tape Music Techniques: HP's Computer Controlled Reel-To-Reel

I finally made the dream of the ultimate tape music experiment playground come true, and it took only two years. I presented this endgame setup of a HP tape recorder and a vintage computer at VCF Berlin. As the talk is in German, make sure to put on closed captions, I translated everything to English.
Thanks to Roxanne Touring for getting me into this, Stefan Höltgen for the invite and Meise of CCC for filming.
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[@Hainbach]

Turn on captions for English subtitles. Get GAUSS: apps.apple.com/us/app/gauss-field-looper/id1530684073

[@Timbobs]

The sweaters aren’t just fashionable, they are also great noise generators. Wouldn’t expect anything less from Hainbach 😄

[@K-ORA]

I love this comment lol 🤘. Gotta get me some sweaters

[@HerwardHoyer]

Sweater noise - a new plugin is born!

[@K-ORA]

@@HerwardHoyer That's a plugin I'd buy and use 😂🤘

[@Hainbach]

Oh my, now I got make at least a new bank for Noises with that.

[@reggiep75]

I can't wait for a sweater VST with a filter bank and looping. WE NEED IT! 🤘😂🤘😂🤘

[@CuriousMarc]

This must be the most deviant use of an HP 87 and an HP instrumentation tape recorder ever. Brilliant! And so nice to hear you talk in German!

[@Hainbach]

Thank you Marc! It is now all setup in my studio and is such a dream to play!

[@martingoldmann]

Tschörman Hainbach proudly presents :)

[@kaitlyn__L]

It’s good to know you’re just as relaxing in German as English :) I knew enough computer and music words to listen without the subtitles most of the way, which was unexpected but not unwelcome!

[@thomasfourth]

Excellent! This system really feels like the logical destination of the techniques you've been exploring. I'm excited to see how your implementation of it develops now that the foundation is established!

[@HANGINGOUTWITHAUDIOPHILES]

Wow. The sound on sound section is amazing

[@exoner6110]

Wonderful piece of gear. I spent hours with BASIC decades ago, simple but efficient language. My suggestion: live-record (or feed) some EMF-Sounds to the machine and modulate them using the HP-computer. This might be fun. Thanks for the presentation.

[@kevinsturges6957]

These are the most beautiful things.

[@egghead9518]

Single handedly making the case for programming (BASIC), sine waves, slew limiters, tape, pendulum mode, mechanical systems, in expressive electronic music... oh my. This is a fundamental link in technology continuum. Thank you for revisiting the possiblity for human expression contained in these fantastic machines.

[@BerndScheurer]

wie schön! ein HP87. in jener zeit schlug ich mich mit dem HP41-taschenrechner rum. ein HP-desktop war ein unerreichbarer traum!

[@senilyDeluxe]

1:18 Machine: *makes weird noise* Post-Edit-Hainbach: "Now in this part I experienced some technical troubles, so let me show you how it supposed to have sounded" Machine: *makes weird noise* Lustig, so'n EPROM-Simulator hab ich auch, ELV EPS-1000, Centronics Druckerinterface geht rein, Flachbandkabel mit 28 Pin DIP Stecker kommt raus, passt in nen normalen ROM Slot. Hab ich aus nem Schrottcontainer gezogen, zusammen mit nem 386er mit EPROM-Brenner-Karte (inkl. Software) und ner UV-Löschlampe.

[@MahlenMorris]

His verbal imitation of phone interference sounds was so spot on.

[@Zepheriah]

Ahhhhh! I've been excited about the HP tape recorder ever since you posted about acquiring it. It sounds fantastic!

[@ektopia]

Stunning as usual

[@DRRNNDGL]

Absolutely beautiful

[@oobledooble3342]

I’ve been eagerly awaiting on a video for this HP tape machine for a long time and it didn’t disappoint! I’d love to see more videos with it in your home studio setup.

[@andrewmorse7912]

You keep raising the bar! I’m so glad you got this all working for the presentation and shared on YT. Love your work.

[@rp8564]

Hi it's Hainbach and its good to have you Hainback ❤️

[@rp8564]

Would be really interested in seeing you work more with this set up!

[@louadmurphy2587]

It's beautiful in so many ways i love it

[@thevoidinclusive4366]

one of my favorite videos of you lately. really touching to see you presenting to a crowd in German. and as always the sounds and the presentation itself were wonderful. the fading of your sweater reminds me of how long I've been watching and enjoying your videos. it's really endearing. thank you 💖

[@808v1]

thank you for the captioning!

[@niallmacdonald2710]

Fantastic. Thank you for this. Utterly fascinating.

[@whirrings]

Inspiring ideas and beautiful sounds as ever, many thanks 👍

[@marcelomodular]

so amazing, thx for share

[@K-ORA]

Great as always Hainbach, always love these kind of videos you post. I actually liked it in Deutsch with English captions.

[@joshuahelmeke]

Your audio design is getting BONKERS these days. You could easily find some of your tones in the golden age of progressive house (1998 - 2008). You always bring powerful memories back to the surface for me with your ideas. I’m seriously planning to run a eurorack modular synth through a couple of old-school tape machines. I’d also like to run an access virus TI2 through the same machines, then sample them into my DAW. Thank you for all your contributions. ❤🎉

[@dedicatedspuddler7641]

Very fascinating!

[@h0verman]

the stereo image of the line out playing at the same time (slightly offset) with the microphone recording at the presentation was really stunning for the couple of seconds it came through while you were talking

[@ringsystemmusic]

Wonderful machine and playing, would love to see more about it!

[@OneSwitch]

Some lovely music and sounds there. Most pleasant.

[@BernardGindrey]

What would be cool is if we could send you HP basic programs to run on this machin and you would do a video about the 5 you found the most interesting!

[@Hainbach]

Oh yeah! Maybe incorporating one of the HPIB ready function generators. Let me look into this - if you have an idea how to easily realize this technically (sending in the programs etc.) hit me up via hainbach101 at gmail.com

[@alairlibreinsfreie5785]

definetly more about this fantastic machine and its sounds!!!

[@reggiep75]

14:39 - The face that says "Yes, I so love this machine. " But yep, it really is a nice machine and there's so much it can do too. 🤘😊

[@MetaHoudini]

Super cool

[@kevinfrieden7929]

einfach wunderbar.

[@rayonism]

More content like this please!

[@pispalantimbaland]

Beautiful piece of music there with the Casio!

[@64thBuck]

Glad to have finally seen the talk! What a fantastic machine/process. Was lovely to meet you after the fest. And thanks again for signing my OP-1 desksaver!

[@Hainbach]

You are welcome, Andy! Have fun with it - I love recording through tape on it, makes some crazy good samples.

[@antidepressiv]

What a mesmerizing musical playground! So much potential for sonic exploration. I'd love to see and hear some more with this setup in the future :)

[@Tyrell_Corp2019]

For some odd reason, it made me think of the Antikythera Mechanism found at the bottom of the sea not too long ago. Thanks for highlighting the hidden wonders and the brilliant engineering of so many giants before us. I can't even imagine how they built this. Love what you're doing Hainbach. ✌

[@soniklink-WKD4496]

Men & Machines do wonderful things! Awesome stuff 👍🙂

[@christianlamalle8758]

What an interessant way to explore and create sound skapes ... and very pleasant for me to listen your comments in German ! ( my Grandmother spoke only german..... 🙂 )

[@BITRATE_MODE]

Ahhh!! What a lovely demo! I wish i could have been there! End boss tape machine... :)

[@EclipseAtDusk]

I’d love to see more of this beast, and I’d love to give this thing a ago - I’ll grab Gauss soon!!

[@nunofernandes4501]

Man, you look hardcore steampunk operating that reel to reel. Awesome!

[@richardsomerville5725]

The slow speed had the goods. Powerful and rich, reminds me of my Lyra 8

[@domeniquexander_]

Wow Sooo gut 🔥🔥🔥 @21:35 Wahnsinn! ❤️

[@kgbinfo]

I found two of these machines at an estate sale, but they were very dirty and I had no way to test them, so I left without them. I’ll probably never stop thinking about what could have been.

[@Projacked1]

Woah, that's a cool machine

[@louadmurphy2587]

18:37 the most important part of this awesome perf

[@dan.documents]

amazing talk!! + it was cool to hear you speak german

[@chillwalker]

Alter...du bist so ein Freak. Herrlich!

[@DIGOOfficial]

At 19:52! How amazing this sounds. I already have Gauss, but would love to see you work on an even deeper version of this for macOS, with AudioThing!

[@thespacekyd]

at 14:40 hainbach made the first bass face ive ever seen him make lol

[@collophonium]

mit dem pulli erinnert das video erheblich an irgendeine original 80er computer-show ...... 20 goto 10

[@flourfree2K]

It's amazing how you can turn any electronic or electromechanic device into a music machine! I try to say it in German (just for fun - not using Google translate): Es ist ausserordentlich wie du kannst musik-maschinen aus jeden elektronische oder elektromechanische geräte machen. Moreover: even a Casio VL-Tone can sound great in your hands! My "German" version of the above sentence: Mehr (über?): Auch ein Casio VL-Tone kannt gut klingen in deine hände!

[@Raketenclub]

wundervoll

[@nichtimmer9134]

2:20 ...hmmm, interessant solche sachen...

[@veloopity]

endcool !!

[@endorphinsmusic]

Time to see if that version of basic has a RANDOM/RND function 🙂

[@bricelory9534]

I would love to hear more about this wonderful machine! I didn't fully understand the presentation (the captions were very clear - just not my comprehension 😂 ), but it was truly magical and beautiful...I want to see if I can program a ZOIA/Euroburo to do something similar, even if it won't get the lovely tape. Thank you for sharing your creative mad genius!

[@MahlenMorris]

I don't know how one would type code into a ZOIA, but this does give me ideas for a VCV Rack module to find or create.

[@bricelory9534]

@@MahlenMorris well, that is, using the ZOIA loopers to emulate something akin to this, with clocks and square wave lfo's to modulate speed, rec, and possibly reverse playback

[@id.unknown1283]

I loved using basic to make games for the C64. I used to make a lot of text games that made fun of everyone in my family including myself.

[@kauwgomboom]

I burned my hand on my little GM2315 too! But wow, what a powerful tool Hainbach!

[@Hainbach]

That is such a wonderful Sine generator, I love how it pulses in between settings

[@kauwgomboom]

@@Hainbach I never tried that but in the video it sounded awesome indeed! I am so obsessed with replicating this workflow now, I am going to try to see if I can write a scene in Teletype to send midi to my 1010 blackbox to mimic the workflow you have with this wonderful tape machine.

[@peffken8834]

Geil. Geiles Tool/Instrument. Mega. Da ploppen bei mir die Ideen wie zerplatzende Blasen im kochenden Wasser auf. Abgesehen davon, Monsieur Hainbach, Sie haben sich meiner Meinung nach für den Soundtrack von "Bladerunner 2069" prädestiniert. thx

[@youbecha64]

I want more info on this project!

[@fablesofsilence]

That is almost LMNC territory! Sometimes I wonder how many hours your day has. But mostly, I just love what you do 😊 What a cool machine.

[@Hainbach]

Sometimes I wonder that, too. This project was so long in the making, but without the deadline I would not have finished it. I had never even done the programming at home before, just picked out the pages in the HP BASIC manual.

[@fablesofsilence]

@@Hainbach luckily programming wasn’t in Assembler 😂! Well done either way.

[@senarodrigo]

This might be a weird request, but if you transcribed the talk in German, and then translated it, do you mind also setting the German subtitles? I speak some German, but it's easier if I read it at the same time while I listen to it (That's how I watch movies and series in German, with German subtitles on). If it's not too much trouble :)

[@Hainbach]

ok, will See!

[@Hainbach]

Argh, they are all gone! I don't know why but YT deleted the German subtitles it auto-generated. Maybe the will come back if I wait.

[@gregvittore5004]

Niiiiice signore! Android version would be nice as well.. One day 😉😊🤘

[@nativeVS]

Der naechste Schritt ist jetzt noch mit dem Computer einen Clicktrack zu produzieren (natuerlich ueber einen HP generator) der in Sync mit der Maschine laeuft. Danach kommt die Koenigsdisziplin: Melodien/Harmonien werden ueber den Generator von dem Computeprogram gespielt waehrend gleichzeitig die Bandmaschine ueber Varispeed harmonisiert.

[@Hainbach]

Ja, alles in Planung! Mittlerweile hab ich vier der Boards repariert, multitracking here I come!

[@nativeVS]

@@Hainbach Ja nicht nur Multitracking, sondern auch gestackte Delays wenn der Ausgang jeder Spur in den naechsten Eingang geht. Mit den FM Karten muesste das auch spannend sein, dass man neben den Audio Delay so auch ein Shift Register fuer CV hat (das auch noch perfekt synchron laeuft). Mit all diesen ideen muss ich jetzt nur versuchen eine dieser Maschinen irgendwie zu ergattern... argh.

[@fruechtekorb]

haha, HP-IB, heute GPIB oder auch IEEE-488 kannst du auch gut mit NI Labview programmieren, also auch die ganzen Generatoren oder auch feedback nutzen. Da ist ja die Frage ob man da nicht mal ein CV-GPIB interface basteln sollte.

[@COMATRON.]

16:08 and on sounds like a bitshifter :O the a btw. is neither major nor minor but lovely anyway

[@TrinityCodex]

someone should arduino a midi interface for that thing!

[@MsLeguman]

In the original HP accessories that can be bought, there was a looper kit .

[@Hainbach]

Oh I would love to see that! You have a link?

[@xavierpinchart7671]

@@Hainbach Page 4, bottom left on museumofmagneticsoundrecording.org/images/R2R/MagRecHndbkFurgeson.pdf

[@MsLeguman]

@@Hainbach Yes, page 4, bottom left, museumofmagneticsoundrecording.org/images/R2R/MagRecHndbkFurgeson.pdf

[@CashMattock]

I’m so glad to have snagged one of these machines. I asked you previously about the computer component but I’m not sure I want to get into that. It seems like, between the two, it could potentially be a capacitor nightmare. Thoughts?

[@Hainbach]

Its 100% worth it. But you need to find the proper interface. I will make a more detail video once I have it all fixed up proper.

[@CashMattock]

@@Hainbach awesome! Thank you!!

[@tinkerwithstuff]

Heh. Das nahe Ende vermittelt Vibes, die mich ans "graveyard mountain home" album von Chroma Key erinnern

[@jaguarfooger]

Can a Make Noise Morphagene be set up to act in a way that’s similar to the computer-controlled tape machine?

[@Hainbach]

Sure! You would need some sort of juicy VCA in front to mimic the fantastic saturations at least in part.

[@jaguarfooger]

@@Hainbach Thank you so much for the reply!! I'm a huge fan of your channel and your albums! I try to imagine my Moog semi-modulars and Make noise gear as if its like your strange old test equipment. I REALLY dug Landfill Totems!

[@tapeexperiments]

apocalyptic- especially slowed down

[@BrunoWiebelt]

du hast dich wiedereinmal selbst übertroffen ... super hainbach oder hainbachHochzwei

[@TonyLing]

1:20 Furtzenklang

[@paulmcmc4005]

Surely this will be used in your next album?

[@Hainbach]

Not in the next three (those are already recorded), but in future ones. I seek to put this in very prominent position once its fixed up.

[@paulmcmc4005]

@@Hainbach You are a busy man lol - Look forward to when this is utilised in your future work👍

[@stereoroid]

At about 16:00 I tried playing this video back at 0.25x speed … where do I send the bill for new headphones? No? Dang.

[@DJ-wl5yi]

1985 Tele-Kolleg Vibes 😂

[@Hainbach]

Voll! Die Hauptkamera hat auch den typischen Grünstich vom Tele-Kolleg, und die Tafel vollendet das Set.

[@PantaFlux]

Ziemlich schräg, dich so lange auf Deutsch reden zu hören. 😊

[@quincy3d69]

Tape sequencer !?!? alter was geht ? damals in den 90ern habe ich noch ein tape delay gesehen , aber sequencer !?!?!?

[@josesmith733]

DAY 3 of asking for another magnetic card reader video, but with a carefully crafted “magnetic card mobius strip”. Allowing you to make loops that switch between tracks

[@chillwalker]

Momentmoment...sehe ich da einen Phonic MM122? Ich hab davon neulich 4 Stück aus nem Keller gerettet. Da kann ein Panzer drüber fahren. Gutes kleines Pult.

[@Hainbach]

Ja, das hatten die im Medientheater.

[@alexstewart8097]

End game..? ONLY THE LORD GOD's IS THE LAST WORD. And whatever he said, AeLso remember that pride AeLways comes before the fall... just in case...Shema!!!

[@FreshTrebla]

Ganz komisch dich plötzlich auf Deutsch zu hören 😅

[@dachipbag4405]

Are you angry?

[@jonesthestone]

your german is pretty good,

[@Hainbach]

Yeah I learned it from Tele-Kolleg

[@jonesthestone]

@@Hainbach 👍

[@AxelWerner]

Melde dich mal bei @CuriousMarc hier auf YT. Der repariert andauernd HP gear.

[@Hainbach]

Wir sind beide Patrons von einander - er hat mir den Tipp mit dem ROM simulator gegeben.

[@burNouter77]

....it'z really super-weird to hear Ur german stimmklang...wemmern schon n weilchen im hainbachischen universum rumdümpelt....mit diesem sonst so gewohnt unverkennbar wundervollen dschörhmännn inglisch 🥸🦫👻🦭🤩💗💜❤ !!!