How Reel-to-Reel Tape Works

[@BeTheAeroplane]

I'm well versed in tape, and a knowledgable producer. But I still watch this video all the time. There's something really relaxing about it.

[@HushWave]

I own this same tape machine but 24 channels, and I still enjoy watching this video.

[@Ponk_80]

This is why i love analog, because you get the sense that something is actually happening, with all those moving parts, digital can’t replace that, emulation will never be the same as the real thing.

[@morbidmanmusic]

every thing is real...

[@robertpurdy4452]

I used to work in a studio in Salt Lake City, Utah and threaded 2" or 1/2" tape all day long, editing with razor blades and splicing tape. I kinda miss those days.

[@AlbertoMartinezDelRio]

By far the best Reel to reel tape machine video.

[@russ6541]

I have no idea what he’s saying, but this is thoroughly entertaining for some reason.

[@jaywilkey1323]

I think it's the way he's lighting up while talking about his passion. It seems like this is the first time he's had this kind of conversation with someone who's genuinely interested and understands what he's saying. Honestly I'm really glad with what Rob is asking and the way in which he's asking it.

[@russ6541]

Jay Wilkey just seeing this comment, but agreed!

[@JHMBB2]

Thank you for this video, I've been obsessed over tape recordings for some time. I'm so fascinated by how we used to record music onto analogue tape professionally, and this is a great look into how it was done!

[@TheTyper]

Man I love these types of videos from you Rob. Such interesting stuff.

[@malcelinho]

1st: That's one of your videos that I liked the most! Damn, so informative and interesting. Thank you very much for this, Rob. For real. 2nd: An simulated AAW is something that I didn't know I wanted

[@mylesmikieal]

God bless the music producers and engineers from this Era 🤯🤯🤯

[@krisscanlon4051]

He essentially did the job of a tape operator/tea boy from the 60s/70s! studios. Amazing footage.

[@miketomas8564]

Gaudy. I miss loading 2 inch. Such a satisfying task. Much more than mouse & click..

[@robertw1871]

Very cool, I actually feel educated on how and why this stuff works, makes a difference when you have someone that really knows what they are talking about and not just trying to remember stuff…

[@VintageGearMan]

Listening to B.T. Express on 8 track at this very moment. Rock'in!

[@VintageGearMan]

This video applies to all tape recorders. Excellent vid.

[@charlesguzelli5589]

Actually Les Paul began experimenting with overdubbing in the early 1930'a and multi-track in the mid 1940's. He would use acetate discs to record various parts putting them together. Magnetic tape machines didn't exist yet as wire recorders were only way to capture voice. In the late 1940's Bing Crosby invested in Ampex and the Ampex 200 A tape machine was born of that investment. Bing gave Les Paul the second machine made. Les not satisfied, added a second record head allowing him to create "sound on sound" which gave him unlimited "bounce" capability, but was cumbersome. Ampex went on to develop 3 track machines for RCA in 1955 and then with Les and Ampex developed the 8 track machine which he took delivery in 1957 and was called Sel-Sync. A year later, Atlantic records, an independent label took delivery of the 2nd 8 track machine in 1958 while others had only 2 tracks to work with. Famed Abbey Road studios had 4 track machines, but the first Beatle album that used 4 track was St. Peppers. By this time, American Studios had moved onto 16 track machines. Hard to believe, but some of the greatest recordings were made using rudimentary equipment including the Beatles as George Martin was a master of bouncing tracks. Great video. In my music production days, I used MCI 16 and 24 track machines along with a Fostex 4 track for remote recording. I still find the analog format fascinating.

[@D-Fens_1632]

And let's give the Grateful Dead credit for being the first to lug a 16 track machine into venues in Jan-March 1969 to record the first 16 track live album. Which ironically was only made to offset the studio costs when they scrapped their latest album they'd been recording on 8 track. When 16 came in, naturally they had to redo the entire album and fill up every track, at great expense.

[@dannydougin3925]

Do you store tapes tails out?? I hope!

[@FreazyTek]

Analog FTW!! Just got into vinyl and there's nothing better than good old analog sound ;-)

[@pcallas66]

It's funny that there's no audible difference between time code numbers (at least in my opinion). Another really good video. Thank you for sharing.

[@VintageGearMan]

Anyway I had a lot of fun writing this. I hope to open some eyes in a positive way. Love music. Best to you all.

[@richardwills7768]

You're not a real engineer until you've erased at least one master...

[@MrNaufan]

Lol that would be a nightmare

[@PrestonHazard]

Guess i’m a real engineer then

[@driftliketokyo34ftw35]

Intentionally or unintentionally?

[@Synster73]

What a great video 👏

[@apshinn]

AMAZING video!! Wish I had this video so many years ago! Thank you guys!

[@VintageGearMan]

DJ's were a big part of America! Bring em back!

[@sweetness_5772]

They still do record master recordings on these reel to reel tape machines in (music) recording studios. Classic!

[@cristhiantoro851]

Amazing! Beatifull! Wonderfull! ...............The Heaven! ... T_T oh my god!! The Tape Recording Studio Must return!!!!!! The Sound Recording on Tape IS ART!!

[@resington]

Yes, more of this sort of thing.

[@DavidNwokoye]

So thats how Meshuggah made their first album.

[@adissabovic]

IIRC, they recorded to ADAT. :)

[@richmit7154]

@Aron Trent bot moment

[@KosmoDeuz]

Ahahahaha good joke

[@VintageGearMan]

Bring back the DJ's! Wolfman Jack! Now he was amazing! What a guy. Amazing story line behind him to. He did not become the worlds best DJ overnight. He was persistent and did not give up on his future success.

[@aminormemory-musicartist]

Soooo cool!!! That was really interesting!

[@TheMrSelby]

that's reely cool

[@russ6541]

Harry Selby I have a feeling some idiot will try to correct you, but you have puns on your side!

[@Tom-jt9ec]

The mechanism is relay cool as well...

[@VintageGearMan]

If a radio station picked up a real DJ these days it would be off the charts! People would love a real cat on the waves man!

[@AgentWaltonSimons]

The question I have is, through all of this, where was Mr Wibblespoon? I'm sure he'd have had some questions too... Or is he so expensive you only bring him in just when you start recording?

[@gregthegroove]

I know it’s not the same 100%, but I use multiple analog tape modeling plug ins on pro tools. I use mostly Slate digital plug ins. I use virtual mix tape plug ins on every track in pro tools, along with analog modeling compressors and analog old skool desk emulators. It sounds awesome and you can hear the warmth and difference

[@jimigrok]

thanks for the very good interview !

[@VintageGearMan]

This control room looks a lot like the CMC studio I was recorded in back in the 80's

[@thaexception3406]

Very informative - knew his stuff for real

[@rods6405]

There might be another 8 meters below the 16 already installed you could convert these 16 racks to 24 with a option kit fitted quite few back in the 80's

[@edwardbarr1533]

a splendid video,very informative and instructive for the children of the digital age in one playI have already had the signsof conversion Keep the Faith

[@McMxxCiV]

There's something I don't entirely understand yet. If monitoring the record head lets you hear the input, and the playback head lets you hear what's already on the tape, then isn't what you play always 86 milliseconds* behind what's already on tape? *at least, not taking into any further delay in the playback -> headphones -> ears -> brains -> hands -> microphone -> record chain.

[@Bill-eq5ov]

Yes.

[@rods6405]

when in the sync mode the record head lets you and the musician hear tape playback while recording the musicians performance with the same record head, everything outside the tape machine happens (effectively* ) at the speed of light or just as if the complete band was performing together.

[@ferabra8939]

2 inch 16 track is a better format than 2 inch 24 track. The best format was of course 1 inch 4 track. The Studer J37. It's no coincidence that it was the machine used for all the Beatles' masterpieces.

[@dubdoodle7191]

One thing to remember. It's been almost 30 years since NLE / DAW have been utilized. And yet the best music ever produced since the beginning time remains to be that of analog tape. Tape demanded the best performance by artists, however DAW can turn the likes of a Fran Drescher into a Celin Dion !!!!

[@BrandonofRedemption]

Thanks Rob. Great information!!!

[@dougfig]

This was so informative. Thank you!

[@jfklmk13447]

Thank you so much for these videos !

[@summersky77]

Isn't tape supposed to be stored tails out? (meaning the tape reel is intended to be used as the take-up and you're supposed to dump it onto a supply reel for playback) Does it really matter?

[@dudeimadolphin4318]

WOW IM SO EARLY I LOOOOOOVE YOUR MUSIC ROB YOU GOT ME THROUGH A LOT AND MADE ME WANTTO GET BETTER AT GUITAR

[@Zelmel]

"This thing's from 1976 so..." So almost old enough to be your dad! :P

[@kikedrum77]

MCI JH 24/16 tracks 1980

[@campion05]

Im late to the party, but if the loaded reel had audio on it, wouldn't that reel have been stored tails out? Or did i miss that part.

[@johnviera3884]

at 14:03 listen up (+) or (-) charge. varying in amplitude x speed of medium = waveform

[@ryanvitty9743]

He’s says “hampen” instead of “happen” and it’s so unsettling lmai

[@k1lg0re50]

17:04 Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers... BAAAAABY SNAAAAAKES! ;-)

[@teriscallon]

lots of info here...nice

[@OMEGA-gi3yz]

awesome device!

[@brandonmoore8199]

This was awesome

[@MELONenSURPRISE]

Is this a comercial studio ?

[@consun14]

Real cool video 👍

[@samuraipai]

Whoa, this was a really interesting video about audio history tech! Thanks man :3

[@VintageGearMan]

2 inch tape is heaven! I got to be recorded at CMC Studios in Zebulon North Carolina in the 80's with my band! WOW, was I blown away on playback! Almost got signed. Another story. This is the deal,,,magnetic tape in general rules! IT ALSO LAST FOR ALMOST ETERNITY! I run some old original Leer Jet 8 - track tapes that still sound brand new and many other years of manufactured tapes. I still record to 8-track tapes. GREAT sounding. My cassettes still sound great to! Then last but not least, any (most) original LP pressings are outstanding! I hate mp3's. They sound like garbage. Soooo, with all this being said, I doubt any new records would sound as good because they were most likely ran through some sort of digital studio processing so what is the point? If the new old recordings (LP's) being made today were mastered from the original master tapes straight to vinyl then they would hold water. Otherwise you might as well buy a CD. No one thinks about the process or has a clue these days. ( "Just stating the facts mam " ) Dragnet.

[@jorgitorock]

Rock ON analog

[@zzxprezz]

I'm still using otari MTR 100

[@VintageGearMan]

Tape rules!

[@DAVIDGREGORYKERR]

What about reels of Videotape made for the quadraplex VCR machines?

[@rty1955]

No you cant use those tapes. Same way toy cant use 2" audio tape on a 2" quad machine. I worked in the largest post production facility in the east coast of USA. One day we fot a shipment of tape. I noticed it was AUDIO tape. I rejected 24 reels of tape. And our production came to a halt until we got proper tape. Video tape is coated differently than audio tape. The magnetic particles on quad video tape are oriented 90° different than audio tape. And 2" audio tape is coated 90° different than video tape. I restore 2" quad machine now

[@SFtheGreat]

I thought RTM in France was producing tapes based on BASF formulas.

[@dasboot5833]

Awesome ))))))

[@uwuster]

I'm sitting here listening to a 100 megabyte WAV file of a song with my 50 dollar headphones feeling envious.

[@jeremytravis360]

I wish I could find a good quality quarter inch tape for my Technics RS1506 reel to reel recorder.

[@danmiller1701]

Check out ATR magnetics master series tapes

[@philosophiaentis5612]

How is this compared to 24Bit/192KHz?

[@rty1955]

Apples and oranges

[@rods6405]

ok and excellent!

[@DougGrinbergs]

MCI JH16

[@VintageGearMan]

Digital,,,on and off. One's and zeros. ANALOG,,,,,continuous sign wave! NO MISSING AUDIO INFORMATION!

[@VintageGearMan]

Sadly when radio stations went digital that in no way sounds king anymore either. Yup, stuck with crappy mp3 format music now!

[@tomtina313]

revox ist the best machine of the Wordl

[@lyntedrockley7295]

They could have turned a light on.

[@JEKm_]

AAW

[@adimikulic]

I wonder if he's a fan of digital

[@VintageGearMan]

You have not lived until you run a turntable, cassette deck, or reel to reel. Even a 8 track player sounds great compared to mp3's! If you buy the gear,,,,you will realize how much you have been cheated out of what real music should sound like period. I am me and I approve of this message. Thank me later. P.S. Get some real heavy duty 1970's speakers to.

[@pcallas66]

In A Gadda Da Vida probably wouldn't have fit at 30 ips on this tape. It's cool though.

[@louisliu2432]

Format war!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@VintageGearMan]

The people that can maintain these machines are dying off. Hopefully someone still has interest in the art. Hopefully.

[@satan1189]

Why does this have so few views

[@jaywilkey1323]

You're not doing your job. Rob signed the pact. Now the onus is on you, sir.

[@tam_ryan1036]

Er..... you get more low freq at lower tape speeds because lower frequencies travel slower and it gives them more time to get on the tape?!? Is that actually a thing, electronically? So funny hearing analogue talked about in this way as I started my career in the tape era and I can remember we couldn't wait to get rid of wow and flutter. We bought gear with the lowest possible w and f figures. 'Bring on the digital age', we used to say. Nostalgia rules, I guess :-)

[@jetison333]

Even in digital audio, if you turn down how many points per second your taking, you'll start losing higher end, because the frequency is faster than the point per second. So it makes sense it would be a thing to me.

[@rods6405]

No I thinks its bolocks!

[@anthonytobias620]

So reel

[@mrcoatsworth429]

Very informative and interesting! However, I don't think he did a good job explaining how the audio information is actually stored on the tape. He talks a lot about the machine, but not the tape itself.

[@rty1955]

Audio recording on magnetic tape is very simple. A tape mist be pulled at a constant speed past the heads and this is done by a capstan & pinch roller. The reels only supply and take up the tape. The capstan rotates with precision either by a motor that was synchronized by mains voltage (old days) or in modern times by a precise oscillator (either crystal Controlled or by some other electronic method) id this motor varies in speed, if not, the machine will experience bad "wow & flutter" in addition to faithfully reproduce a sound it mist be at a precise speed all the time. Some capstans can be sync'd or locked to a frequency. This is what happens when two tape machines are "locked" together. As long as they start together, they will stay together. Those are known as "servo" signals. If you want I can describe those as well. The first head a tape comes in contact is the erase head. In multitask recorders each track has its own head that is stacked up on each other. Multitask heads are normally called a "Stack". Each head is a coil of wire wrapped around a structure that looks like the letter "C" with a microscopic air gap. The tape closes this magnetic gap. The finer the particle and the finer the gap results in better quality you will have. The erase head is supplied with a set bias frequency. & voltage. The bias frequency is normally 3x the frequency of the highest frequency u want to record, normally around 100khz. This "erasing" will align all the particles the same way, and effectively "erasing" any previous signal. Then we move onto the record stack. The heads are made the same way except fed a different signal. Both the bias frequency and desired audio is fed to the head. The bias frequency is there to "stir" the particles on the tape to almost a fluid As the tape leaves the gap, only the audio portion of the signal remains on the tape. Bias frequency & voltage are extremely important and mist be set properly for each tape formulation to get the most optimal quality from the tape itself. Some machines have switches to select which tape formulation you will be using. Most recording studios will stick with one type of formulation as changing bias on a multi track machine can take a while (if done right). Bias setup is only for erasing & recording. And tools like oscilloscopes should be used. The playback stack is the reverse. When a magnetic field is applied to the head and voltage is created proportionate to the strength of the magnetic field. As the tape moves past the head the varying magnetic particles create a varying magnetic field in the coil that is proportionate to the audio signal. The result from the playback stack is a varying voltage proportionate to the audio signal. This voltage is amplified, and sent along its way, eventually to speakers which convert electrical waves to sound waves, and we hear it as sound. I restore 2" quad professional broadcast video tape machines and extremely familiar with magnetic recording principles. A 2" quad video tape machine is far more complex than a simple audio recorder.

[@VintageGearMan]

This tech is totally time is money doing this vid. Why?,, because this is what he does for a living. Sweet.

[@thegamingguy1]

Yo this bald head boul is fucking smart. I'm loving this content.

[@daymon6459]

Я ни хрена не понял что они говорят.

[@_ch1pset]

Calling digital recordings "ones and zeroes" is pretty reductionist. Digital audio is fairly complex, essentially because you are trying to approximate a continuous waveform with discrete data points. The more points you use, the closer the approximation. Also, you cannot hear digital audio. When a computer playsback digital audio, it gets sent through a circuit called a Digital-to-Analog Converter(DAC), which converts the digital signal into an analog signal. The playback hardware(your speakers) are analog devices and can only use an analog signal to produce real audio.

[@tucsonsoccor4952]

The point is that digital sounds 2 dimensional, lifeless, and shit.

[@dryued6874]

Ackshually, the waveform is not approximated. For all intents and purposes, it's reproduced perfectly as long as you have enough data points (44100 Hz is enough to reproduce all sound within the human hearing range). The only possible point of data loss is the bitrate, but I'm pretty sure 32 bits per point is enough to bring you below what you'd lose due to the analog noise.

[@bsadewitz]

In the end, you have to move a speaker. That is always analog. If you hear it, it is "real audio". The engineer even mentions some of the reasons people prefer analog, and they don't have to do with fidelity per se.

[@bsadewitz]

@@dryued6874 I think 24 already gets you there, but I'm not positive.

[@bsadewitz]

@@dryued6874 You can also oversample. For instance, a 1-bit DAC with a sample rate in MHz.

[@conradmeyer9991]

u think that the someone would buy that not me i want it for free?

[@Countdownsmiles]

Look everyone needs to relax about the mispronunciation. What like you've never messed up a word before

[@mattlynn7254]

Poodles

[@pavelcollee-foley7997]

204th

[@rty1955]

There are no such things as subframes in SMPTE timecode. Its either 30fps no drop frame or 30fps drop frame (29.97 FPS) You may know how to engineer audio signals, but you need to brush up on the technicality of how analog tape machines really function. I have worked with tape since 1960 and now restore 2" quad broadcast video tape machines and compare to those machines, audio tape machines seem primative. Audio tape machines can record up to 30khz faithfully and 2" quad video tape machines need to record up to 6MHZ on tape!! Quite a feat of engineering if u ask me.

[@rods6405]

30khz not at 0dB! what for no one can hear maybe your dog!

[@Videohead-eq5cy]

Second

[@VintageGearMan]

The one thing I know for sure BASF tape sucked!

[@alobosk]

That's the saddest studio I've ever seen. A 16 track 2'' ATR but no real mixer.

[@rty1955]

He goes from analog (mics) to digital (ADC) in his mixer, back out to analog (DAC) to analog tape, then back into his mixer where it again gets digitized, mixed and sent who know where. You're correct. However analog mixing boards introduce a lot of noise themselves

[@CrystalZ03]

First To say NOT first