Lofi and Ambient Production Tip | Cross-Format Cassette Processing

The beauty of analog equipment is that cross/compatibility is not only possible, but can result in some lovely side effects. Here, I'll discuss some ways to spice up your Ambient, Lo-fi, and Experimental music production with some tricks to kickstart the creative process.
Was experimenting with recording and playing back across various cassette players/recorders I have in my setup and thought it would be worth documenting them in a little video. I often find that exploring these "technical" experiments allow me to make more informed creative decisions with my music. I wanted to share what I learned so hopefully others can build off of these techniques in their own music!
Note: uploaded this video 3 times as there were a few technical difficulties the first time round upside down smile emoji
Featured Equipment:
Tascam Portastudio 414 mkii
Sony TCM-200DV
Moog Mother-32
Volca Sample
Akai Headrush
MakeNoise Maths
Zoom H2n
If you enjoyed this video, please consider checking out my other music, both ambient/experimental and otherwise below. I am also on Spotify/Apple Music/Etc.
rektagon.bandcamp.com/album/f...
www.tylerpostigli.one/
Timeline
00:00 - Intro and Raison D'etre
03:49 - Recording a Test Sequence
05:55 - Playing Back a Test Sequence and Proof of Concept
07:25 - Whats Going on Here? Why do this?
08:28 - Setting up a more practical example
09:32 - Recording a More Practical example
10:08 - Lofi / Ambient 1 (if you just came for vibes skip to here)
12:22 - tneibmA\ ifoL 2 ft. Plumbutter
13:10 - Recording to Sony / Playing Back on Tascam
13:38 - Recording the Sequence
14:19 - Ambient 3 and Sign off

[@nansenscat9315]

You are so generous. A very clear, informative video. Super creative and fun as well. I learned a lot watching this, and the music you created here is beautiful. Thank you!

[@klosmexi]

This is an awesome video. Thank you!!

[@ManCalledMif]

Enjoyed this video. Great sounds and techniques

[@JazzyFunkaHolic]

Great video, thx for sharing 😊

[@brubecktime]

This is great to see! Thanks for sharing so many details on your process. I've been playing with a Fostex 28 and a Norns and it is super rewarding to have hands on controls during jamming. Keep up the awesome work! You have a new subscriber in the Netherlands

[@siofcreation]

This is incredible 🙏 Thank you so much

[@bcbudrecords]

Cool tutorial ... thank you !

[@BishopEddie5443]

Brilliant! My gear has been collecting dust but you've inspired me to come alive!

[@PerBarfot]

Thanks, enjoyed this one!

[@kengreen6901]

Thank you! This is a gold mine for me. I’m in way over my head, but now there is some light shining onto my cassette decks!

[@davidevans5921]

Thank you. This is a very clear explanation of something often misunderstood. Including by me, until now. Also, cool sounds!

[@avantlanuit]

merci de cette démo _ jolis sons et belle musique

[@drewmorris349]

Awesome video!

[@LouieTaylorMusic]

Fantastic video

[@robguitarwizard]

Sounds fantastic!

[@rektagon1547]

thanks!!!

[@StefanvanderKlooster]

This is awesome. Any recommendations on cheap portable casette recorders with speed control?

[@ianhively8378]

You can mod pretty much any tape player. If you open it up, there is a tiny pot (twisty thing) that you can solder another pot to). Just search “cassette speed mod” or “cassette player pitch mod” on youtube. Godbless

[@The_Trees]

Awesome video! Ive got a mini tape Sony dictaphone I should try recording with. Thanks for the idea!

[@Waroxe]

I love this video!!! 🙃

[@tapeexperiments]

Love it!

[@soundinmind]

Great tips bro. Subscribed

[@timmyholiday]

this was cool man, gonna try this out!

[@rektagon1547]

Awesome, thank you! Good luck :)

[@Rawbrrt]

This rules and is super helpful. Thank you

[@rektagon1547]

Glad it was helpful!

[@WillieFourMilli]

Thank u for this!

[@carlix8035]

Very cool.

[@I.O.M.]

Thanks for the comprehensive video. You never engaged half speed on the sony :)

[@kurikokaleidoscope]

Very interesting.

[@ACURAOCULTA]

Very good

[@travisraab]

This sounds so great. I have the same portastudio I should try this

[@rektagon1547]

Glad you dig! Definitely give it a shot, these two machines are a dream team combination in my book.

[@travisraab]

@@rektagon1547 so fun

[@eyrarlandculturecenter8027]

Amazing video! Thanks for this! I am using same portastudio + old RCA cassette recorder where I added extra mod for controlling the playback speed. Got a lot of new inspiration after watching it :) In 9 min, when you recording volca samples are you using channel 3 and 4 for stereo signal from volca. Is it a Y cable stereo mini jack -> 2x mono jacks?

[@rektagon1547]

Yes!

[@petehalupka3232]

Sick.

[@DroomSpook]

I like it.

[@Mrs_Heyman]

sweet !

[@georgewhite1972]

Very Boards of Canada sounding, nice

[@rektagon1547]

thank you! :)

[@Idc.350]

U should make a video on how to make ambience lofi textures with cassettes

[@sick6628]

Hi there, thanks for the insight. Do you offer or would you consider offering a one on one tutorial session (s) I want to learn how to set this up with some support so I can ask questions on the spot. How would I get in touch with you about this ? Thanks !

[@JureJerebic]

That speed math gave me a headache, not even thinking about doing this as it'd be a nightmare to sync up with speed and pitch of stuff in the DAW

[@rektagon1547]

Yeah for sure. This technique i think is best used to generate source material for further manipulation inside a daw or as the basis of an ambient/experimental piece!

[@wbm3085]

For the Sony to record onto are you going into a mic jack?

[@Xtn1Insecticide]

Are you using dbx on the tascam cause it only works on the stereo outputs out the back or if the tape is played on the tascam, not in another player without it. You might find it’s cleaner or just as clean if you just dub another tape on the other device,using the tascam outputs then just switching the original tape. 👍🏽

[@jon5957]

Does it make any difference if the tascam tape recorder is replaced by a digital recorder here? Doesn't the walkman already make the output super lofi on its own?

[@rektagon1547]

Not necessarily. These techniques for achieving different pitch and time effects are only possible with analog equipment as they exploit the differences between the two machines for interesting musical or creative workflow results. If by digital recorder you mean your DAW or computer it wouldn't really make a difference in terms of sound quality. Other "outboard" digital recorders can impart their own color in the quality of their converters or input transformers/preamps (if there are any) but not in the dramatic way tape does, especially a lofi machine like the walkman. I'm using the tascam

[@robguitarwizard]

Boards of Canada!

[@user-ob9zo9cr4c]

best

[@James.5703]

7:24 whoops

[@infodesk2512]

my uncle's friend crossed signals on these tape loops: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eKi2qauvfsqoirs i'm only 17, can I make loops on my phone?

[@edgodsall3740]

Tapes were deemed really shit back in the 80’s / 90’s, ha.. now apparently they cool again 😂.. ok 👌