The Longest Tape Loop Challenge - Can We Break a 40 Year Old Record?

According to Wikipedia, the longest tape loop was realized for Stockhausen's "Solo", beating Brian Eno's ambient masterpiece "Music for Airports". Together with @LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER I attempt to break that record made over 40 years ago. It got messy.
Special thanks to Robin Maconie for helping in the research on this.
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[@Hainbach]

Music and the surviving loop are on patreon.com/hainbach This is the article on Wikipedia that claims the previous longest tape loop lengths (as of 4th of June 2023): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tape_loop The Nagra is fine after a little clean. it was made for on location recording.

[@niivoenterprises-4217]

Looking forward to trying to break your record. should be fun ;)

[@panubrodkin7107]

Stereo-8 / eight-track cartridges were available up to 120min length. So, the tape loop length was 120min/4 * 60s/min * 3.75in/s * 2.54cm/in = 17145cm or ~172 meters.

[@tanzkatzen]

I mean.. could have gone to an airport... a large hall without sea breeze is probably easier working location for this type of stuff..

[@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER]

What a day!!! Haha well fun. So amazed it actually worked with all those odds stacked against it 😂

[@PaulJohannDevensvon]

Hi Hainbach and Sam; nice! It reminded of a sound art installation i made in Belgium, at Les Brasseurs artspace. With a tape loop of 58 m and 62 cm in length. It ran through a revox tape machine with a changed order of heads - playback, erase, record. It was playing back sounds to the space and re-recording it ; like Alvin Lucier’s work ‘I’m sitting in a room. The loop ran for more than two months. The work’s title: ‘Dock / Ancien Palais de Justice’. But indeed; you’ve beaten me!

[@jonaschristensen2295]

Spoilers! ;)

[@canid_caninepixelodyssey1726]

Great stuff seeung you guys together.. You guys should do more joint ventures 💯💯

[@thedukeofbreakfast]

Whenever life feels tough, just remember that you live in a world where Hainbach and Look Mum No Computer spent an afternoon making gigantic seaweed-tangled tape reels on a beach in Ramsgate in a howling gale, and everything will suddenly seem a lot better.

[@jjeshop]

*Sam

[@thedukeofbreakfast]

​@@jjeshop *Stefan And that's Mister Battle to you.

[@jjeshop]

@@thedukeofbreakfast okay you thought something else... Here's where you failed: it's not "look mum no computer" his name is Sam.

[@thedukeofbreakfast]

@Edward Cranium cheers my guy. I know his name. Why you chose to arrive out of nowhere and correct me for using his LMNC moniker instead of his IRL first name, assuming ignorance on my part, is a matter for you and your therapist. Conversely, why you felt it necessary to correct my reference to LMNC's online name, but not to call out the use of Hainbach's, is less a matter for your therapist, and more a matter for anyone's guess. My own guess is probable infant heavy metal poisoning. As is also in evidence from your inability to follow the logic of my own reply to your Reply-Guy reply. But by all means, do continue to pollute what was hitherto a feelgood comment thread with your troglodyte presence.

[@JS-tm1gq]

@@thedukeofbreakfast I thought their names were "dude" and "mann"

[@justawatchin2]

5:45 little sums a Hainbach video up more than "do we wanna drop it to half speed now?" while jumping around excitedly

[@VLena_art]

I was laughing so hard hahaha so true.

[@spookyfm4879]

Yeah, that moment made my day! The joy of a child!

[@wellurban]

Glad to see you followed the first rule of ambient: always make sure the effects are recorded fully wet.

[@Hainbach]

That is a winner!

[@DeadWhiteButterflies]

"we're gonna try and recover it a bit" * puts it in the sink * Flawless plan, Sam. Never change 😆

[@NicStage]

As frustrating as the wind was, I love the way it creates a link to the environment. The whole process of cleaning and detangling the tape adds another beautiful layer of chance to the composition. Love it! Also: Props to getting such good audio quality on on your vocal mics out there.

[@Hainbach]

Yeah those little Rode mics are great, and DaVinci helps to clean up the audio

[@Thefreakyfreek]

When German and old school British engeering comes together one can only hope it's for good and not evil

[@agerven]

When the engineering is targeted at creating and enjoying music, there is no evil involved.

[@Thefreakyfreek]

@@agerven apsoluly

[@MisterCross]

I love seeing you two together. Finding each of you separately at various times and now years later you two making musical mischief brings a smile to my face.

[@alexanderthomas2660]

Congratulations! Those were probably the worst possible circumstances to try to break this record. I guess the only way to make it worse, would be to try it with the same amount of wind at the edge of Kīlauea's lava lake or something…

[@paulriggs42]

Now that is a very natural destruction loop….. wind, sand and sea…… What a cool project ! Congratulations on the world record ! 🎉

[@paulkocyla1343]

You guys are both excellent! It´s amazing that you do some projects together.

[@FLH3official]

The mad dream team in action. And you've chosen the best day to do it, with around 20 knots of wind, clever! 😃

[@angaudlinn]

The enthusiastic jumping Hainbach exclaiming: "You wanna drop it to half-speed now?!" was the highlight of the video! :D

[@DirtyPlumbus]

Never a dull moment with you guys. Nice work. 👍

[@CableWrestler]

Nice to see you two Collab. I once made a tape loop that went from my music classroom, down a hallway, in to another room, through chairs, through a window and back in the window of the original classroom. Played at normal speed it took about two minutes to complete

[@PaulMadddox]

What a legendary duo!

[@DetroitMicroSound]

More of this fun stuff from both of you, out in the world!!! I bet between you two, you can smash your own record, by several fold. (Literally, by doubling back the tape, back, and forth.) I'm imagining a room filled with pulleys, and a whole mile of tape going by...... Could be a feature of Sam's museum. An entire small room dedicated to the worlds longest tape loop. An installation, created by you both, together. Don't be done, here. In fact, museum goers could start the loop recording, and add something of their own to the loop. Eventually the loop would be a huge mass of sounds, over sounds, over sounds, continually over-dubbing every time they start it up. It would sound like a huge crowd, eventually.

[@Hainbach]

Truly a lot of room to explore this further

[@DetroitMicroSound]

@@Hainbach Absolutely!

[@kaitlyn__L]

And if it’s long enough that, combined with all the sound on sound shenanigans it’s never the same each time round; it will be the longest tape loop which never quite loops!

[@DetroitMicroSound]

@@kaitlyn__L Exactly! If you like it, you'd better sample it, because it'll be dubbed over eventually... Imagine everything in Sam's museum that makes sound, being able to be routed onto the extremely long loop......or just any microphone you want to plug in.....Or...the one on the wall for those that just want to hit start, and start talking, or singing....Or...maybe a collection of mics, already hooked up...just hit the button for the mic you are using, and hit start. Telephone handsets....toy mics, vintage mics, whatever Sam has..... I would definitely love to have a chunk of my music on the loop someplace.

[@therezinUK]

Hear me out: one room of the museum with a slightly-raised plexiglas floor, and under it is the tape loop freely spooling around like a Roland Space Echo with the top cover off.

[@vinylarchaeologist]

I don’t know guys, I think there might be _a tiny bit_ of wow & flutter on that recording, not sure if you noticed 🤔

[@neuzethmusic131]

Well, they are not aiming for the Top of the Pops I suppose 😉

[@PaulJohannDevensvon]

Hi Hainbach and Sam; nice! It reminded of a sound art installation i made in Belgium, at Les Brasseurs artspace. With a tape loop of 58 m and 62 cm in length. It ran through a revox tape machine with a changed order of heads - playback, erase, record. It was playing back sounds to the space and re-recording it ; like Alvin Lucier’s work ‘I’m sitting in a room. The loop ran for more than two months. The work’s title: ‘Dock / Ancien Palais de Justice’. But indeed; you’ve beaten me!

[@Hainbach]

Two Months! Wow! That sounds like a beautiful work, when did this happen? My secret hope was that I would learn about a lot more tape related projects throughout history, happy you commented.

[@PaulJohannDevensvon]

Thanks! These two months were in Januari 2019. I used a handful of motors that supported the tape transport; the friction was immense. I could send you a link, but youtube doesn’t accept that :-) I made several tape based works; one will be on show in Saarbrücken at Experimance festival.

[@michaelkonomos]

Wow. You two have WAY more patience and commitment. I would have given up after too many disasters. Love it.

[@neuzethmusic131]

Anglo-Dschörmän engineering at it's finest! Splendid, chaps 😝

[@FUNKINETIK]

The perfect location for a nice grainy sound and tape deprivation. The recording not only has the sound of the ocean within it but also the taste. : )

[@joshroolf1966]

You both do such high caliber work, it's wonderful to see your collaboration. I can imagine, in some n-dimensional pocket that Alan Splett and Pauline Oliveros and Daphne Oram and Osbourne Ruddock and Mr. Stockhausen and all the many other pioneers are sharing party favors and ghost juice and applauding your understanding and extension of the artforms.⛅🛸🎛🎼🎵🎶💚💛🧡 May your respective governments recognize you both as hard working cultural treasures and fund you for bringing joy to some generations of synthesizer enthusiasts and inspiring people to understand the electrical engineering involved. 💎⚡❤

[@Hainbach]

Thank you 🙏

[@simondavid2519]

Looking at you doing this feels like being a kid again. Doing dumb stuff just for the sake of doing it. It’s the most beautiful thing that can be :)

[@loopinnerthe]

The best fun you can have with a few grams of rusty iron I have ever seen. Congratulations you two for being bonkers and also very brave and clever.

[@tekvax01]

Four of my favourite things; Sam, Hainbach, tape loops, and the Niagra! *(Those bells were really awesome too!)

[@n666tion]

the most hainbach moment : 5:45 x)))

[@BenODen]

Good show! That is an epic record. The loop has great analog character, funky and grand!

[@DynamicRockers]

The dream team! Come on guys break this record :)

[@macronencer]

Fantastic, congratulations guys! I kept thinking you would never make it. I was kind of imagining ways to make it easier, like getting a load of metal poles with eyes on the top so you could thread it through them... but in the end, it was a lot more fun watching Sam wash the seaweed off in the basin 🤣

[@Mike.Barclay]

Trop trop bien, C’est génial! Merci pour votre créativité

[@alexanderallegra432]

Kinda hard to add this level of inspiration together being you guys collaborated

[@els1f]

I wish i had 1/1000th the ebullient excited energy that Look Mum has!🤣

[@mahusonicstorytelling8693]

When LMNC said "Oh crap" I imagined him catching a crab with the tape 😂

[@BatteryOperated]

That's a fun idea...!! 👀 ❤ Great work dudes!

[@ridgerider7402]

You guys 😊 So much delight, well done 🙌

[@battledj2933]

So nice to see back an Casio SK-5, (still have it with the original box) brings back a lot nice sampling moments.... (you had "sampling" and "sampling long" lol)🙂

[@Elluvis72]

two free spirits! I love you guys

[@sparkstron73]

Good fun, now those are some salty distressed sounds, but oddly quite relaxing👍😎

[@burmesecolourneedles4680]

Epic, awesome, preposterous, insane, inspired, brilliant, sublime!

[@2112jonr]

I can't think of many joint Anglo-German world records, but this is an appropriately crazy one to share. We should be jointly very proud of this !! 😀 Excellent work guys !! Epilogue: I'm now wondering if there should be indoor and outdoor categories for this record ! 🙂

[@Hainbach]

There should be whole tape loops olympics

[@i_never_asked_for_an_alias]

You two are a great bunch.

[@discgolfpancho]

I am a proud patreon supporter of exactly two people, LMNC and Hainbach. Congratulations to my two favorite humans!

[@Hainbach]

Thank you for making this madness possible!

[@vinylarchaeologist]

One of your best thumbnails yet ❤

[@Hainbach]

Thank you!

[@Rivenworld]

As we say in the UK "This is totally bonkers" lol.

[@mrcrud5]

Haha man this is epic. I'm surprised this actually worked. Well done gents

[@lektik2941]

What a wild (and messy) experiment!

[@damonopz]

Love this video as always. Wonder if it will be recognized as a record?

[@wd4187]

I'm not sure I can imagine a worse place to try this hahah! Surface of the sun, maybe? And I genuinely can't believe the tape stayed on the idler! You're braver than me Hainbach!

[@Hainbach]

Ha yeah! I will need ten idlers from you, please reserve those for the next batch

[@wd4187]

​@@Hainbach You're already on the list ;) I'll let you know when they're ready

[@zsombor_99]

You must pick a lot less windier day and definitely attempt this again! 😉

[@alistairsteadman3765]

Well done lads. That was great fun

[@afuckinusername]

Triple thumbs up, couldn’t stop smiling! That was fun!

[@crspcrs7958]

🎉 ihr seid echt die geilsten! Wondering what’s up next ….

[@jonathonkiner7415]

Hainbach jumping up and down when asking, "do you want to drop it to half speed". Hah.

[@scottvogel8477]

I hope you two do more colab videos. It was awesome watching you two.

[@tomahzo]

When Look Mum No Computer is on the project you know it's going to be wacky ;D

[@WRXcellent]

Hainback and LMNC inspire me to make music like no one else!

[@robmooijaart5313]

Fantastic!!!! Love it 😊

[@ringsystemmusic]

This is a preposterously silly video and I wholeheartedly approve.

[@atstrollz6875]

gz for the record!

[@blackmoofou6385]

Nice! Just Hainbach and Will trying to create the worlds longest multi recorded tape loop in massive winds on the beach! Nothing to see here! Awesome 😂

[@davestorm6718]

Maybe try multiple sections of pvc pipe connected, then run the tape through them. Two pipes, say, 1 for outbound tape and 1 for inbound tape with the pulley at the end to prevent tangling. Bind the pipes together for stability. A silicone grease (non-petrol grease) could be applied to the inside of the pipes (or to the tape) as it should not damage the tape.

[@veejay5730]

No need to worry about me breaking your record. I don't have the patience! Congratulations.

[@frankcallo6630]

This is making me think about the possibilities of old 8 track tape cartriges.

[@VirtualModular]

Wow, I thought my 1995 4-track was bad. The amount of wow and flutter on that! 😂

[@dessiplaer]

Be careful that Sam doesn't give away your secret identity. It could interfere with your ability to fight crime!😅 Great video!

[@dempsey2023]

Oooh Challenges! Gr8 werk fellas. Sounds like a soundtrack to an early 2000's dark comedy. How to download the full loop? Band name suggestion: Salt Brothers 😉 Cheers!

[@Hainbach]

The full loop is on Patreon.com/hainbach

[@martingoldmannmusic]

8:55 seeing you two headbanging to the sound definitely sets the nerd world record. What a wonderful video!

[@pjforde1978]

This was delightful.

[@nochan99]

My soundcard is broken; random clicks and pops are heard on top of any audio I play which normally is super anoying. But on this video it just blended in with the music. Thanks for "fixing" my soundcard guys!

[@Hainbach]

Ahaha but maybe use your broken sound card as an effect - a real glitchifier

[@baltimoreluke]

Most famous song that uses tape loops? "Revolution 9" -- Beatles? "I'm Not In Love" -- 10cc?

[@Hainbach]

Probably Revolution No.9 as there it is very obvious.

[@milesium-487]

The tape sounds like something you'd hear playing in an old 1960s-70s Doctor Who episode

[@inthefade]

An amazing feat!

[@Hainbach]

Thank you!

[@althejazzman]

The seaweed and tape tangle entropy will give me nightmares!

[@Sm2n]

Congratulations on the World Record!

[@getbentaudio585]

I freaking lost it watching Sam washed the tape in the sink. 🙈

[@EclipseAtDusk]

And just SNAPPING the tape all cavalier like that, DAMN. Man has no fear, love that about him

[@MahlenMorris]

Like all of us, that loop was born disintegrating.

[@Blackcastle01]

unfucking fassbar….2 ikonen…ton…natürliches rauschen vom meer( jaaa ..auch vom tape)…ist schon jetzt ein klassiker…jänsepelle würde der berliner sagen😍😍

[@jugobugo]

Yo, isn't that the "Feeling pretty glonky" guy? 😂😂😂

[@bahkus]

Hahaha hainbach meets no computer. Beautiful contrast:)

[@bahkus]

Meets wind:)

[@datashat]

excellent work 🏆

[@Duplanmodular]

Now I know what to do with my Nagra this summer !!

[@Rafaeldeimperial]

Aunque no lo crean eso mismo lo hice por allá por el año 1984 cuándo experimentaba con mi primer reel finalmente perdí muchas cintas de carrete y lo vendí. ... siempre hice experimentós con vinilos y cintas de reel cuando era solo un muchacho

[@AlexBallMusic]

If you'd have taken someone out with the tape, that would be a pretty cool way to go.

[@Hainbach]

You mean like strangle?

[@AlexBallMusic]

@@Hainbach Yep.

[@AlexBallMusic]

...or pinged them off into the sea.

[@stanleythrewbrick]

Super cool

[@Jonathan_Doe_]

The space echo tape jumbled up between two flat surfaces method might have been a bit easier… But then you wouldn’t have had some fun on the beach.

[@GIBDJ]

gna watch this later but here rn to say u look absolutely stunning

[@Hainbach]

Thank you! ☺️

[@hakansundberg5105]

Stefan Kudelski is looking down on you with awe! Likewise rotating in his grave! ;-)

[@Hainbach]

Ha I hope he would be proud of his work - I doubt any other machine could have handled this

[@hakansundberg5105]

@@Hainbach 🙂

[@Beeks81]

Ha! Now i know Hainbachs first name! I'm well on my way to finding out everything about him! I am not a very good researcher.

[@Veptis]

The museum lf non portable instruments would be a cool name for the sample collection

[@23Gears]

Destruction loops - Neptune edition!

[@Hainbach]

Under the sea, is where I want to be :-)

[@jaymack-p3n]

this is bonkers!!!!

[@MSH420]

Casio Sk-5, my first keyboard in 1987.

[@finsteraura-thema2705]

Gratuliere. Mal sehen, wie lange dieser Rekord Bestand hält 🙂

[@Bartyron]

Haha, nutters! But we love you.

[@riffzifnab9254]

You should borrow that car testing tunnel Tom Scott just made a video about for an even longer one.

[@marcoose777]

Joss bay or Margate main sands might have been more sheltered

[@garyg68]

I was thinking Botany Bay, long and straight.

[@CausticCatastrophe]

You can really hear the seaweed

[@5amJones69]

This is so stupid, I love it.