What Happened To My Analog Tapes?

[@LeonWentAway]

at 10:45 - you are hilarious billy, I am currently binge watching your videos, they're great!! Keep em coming!

[@angermanagementstudios]

“The way she casually said “you can stay at my place tonight…”” Mate, your channel has been a wonderful find for me this last couple of days.

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Thanks! I was waiting for someone to say something about that line!

[@megwatts1903]

Especially since about Nov 5th...

[@thetokyoteens]

I feel like I just watched an episode from a television show dude. Absolutely amazing! Next level stuff here…💜

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Thanks! It felt like I was filming an episode that would never end.

[@SeanKerns]

And your hunt for track sheets is why I'm always happy if people stuffed them in the box with the tape.

[@budgetkeyboardist]

I remember recording to 16 track tape in college. At the time, it was great and we loved it. If I had to do it now, it'd feel like punishment. But going from 4 track cassette to 1 inch 16 track was amazing at the time. 16 whole tracks! These days I use 16 tracks from drum machines in my DAW. Some folks pine for the good old days. I pine for the people... but not the tech. Still, it does have its own sound that it contributed, and that can't be denied.

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

"I pine for the people" - Bulls eye!

[@jimrogers7425]

What happened with analog tape is a bit of a story in itself. Analog tape is basically rust glued to plastic. The ‘rust’ is known as ‘oxide’ (of which there are many different formulations). The ‘glue’ is known as ‘binder’. While the various tape manufacturers developed their own oxides, the binder that they all used was from one manufacturer… 3M… who is known for their ability to make great adhesives. The only problem was that somewhere in the early 70s they changed their binder formulation without realizing that this new formulation attracted moisture… something that took 20 years to discover. The common solution for this is to ‘bake’ the tapes, thus drying them out so they can be transferred. I once had the opportunity to work with the late, great Roger Nichols who told me the best solution was to put the reel of tape in a vacuum chamber and lower the pressure to the equivalent of being at 50,000 feet, which would draw the moisture out without harming the tape. Since we don’t conveniently all have a vacuum chamber lying around, while this may be the BEST way,it’s just not practical. The good news is that once this binder problem was uncovered, it was also corrected, so that the analog tape currently being made will not suffer such a problem. Great video! Cheers!

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Thanks! I actually have more tapes to bake... ugh.

[@ScottGrammer]

Love the Tascam MS-16. I ran and maintained one in the early nineties, and synced it with ProTools 1.0 in a small studio in North Georgia. The Tascam is a fine deck - until the soft heads wear out. I use a dehydrator for tape baking myself. I use an infrared thermometer to make sure of the temperature - it works fine.

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

I was syncing to Protools for a while as well.

[@garyconway6769]

Just got my 7th reel to reel this week, Pioneer 1011L the best one yet! I only started buying them about a year ago. Some of the tape are really bad and at some point I will have to bake some of them. The fun part is getting a reel that someone else recorded on and listening to their playlist finding a gem something I may have never heard before or not heard in years. The other great part is I am able to buy machines I wanted as a teen at a fraction of the price I would have paid back in the day at estate sales. Watching you go thru the process of playing your tapes and finding something you had done so may year ago must be a real thrill. Great video Cheers

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Thanks! So awesome that you are finding these old machines and tapes.

[@ScottGrammer]

I have an rt1050, the 1/2 track 15 ips version of your machine. You'll want to replace all the blackleg transistors in it and perhaps the relays, unless that has already been done. Great machines.

[@brentchambers511]

I just finished a pot of coffee in some sort of time vortex. This was a true joy to watch. Thank you.

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Thanks so much!

[@frankpaush]

...smell ... YES :) I wonder if Kempers would sell better coming with a smell generator fitting the amp profile ...

[@s.t.e.r.e.o.]

This is one of the coolest videos I’ve seen on youtube. Seriously watery eyed. Love the journey and reminiscing and you taking the time to bring this to us. Thank you.

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Thanks so much! This one took a bit longer to make than usual but I felt like it was worth the time.

[@maxmixproductions]

Hey! I recorded a couple of songs on that machine! Engineered quite a few tracks too! Cool to see it’s still running like a dream. Even better is the nostalgic feeling you get from listening to the old stuff.😎

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

I'll be using it more over the next few weeks.

[@valleywoodstudio7345]

During lockdown I resurrected an old Fostex E16 - I'd not used tape since the mid nineties - but wanted a project to do. After lockdown I started doing workshops with it at Uni where I teach music production, and the interesting thing is students came in expecting it to be about the sound, but left afterward thinking deeply about their production processes with digital as opposed to the 'make a decision now' aspect of tape and its imposed "limitations" Some did final projects on the Fostex and really enjoyed the experience, especially the lack of the safety net of multiple takes and editing - and to take risks. I think there is a role still in learning through the prism of the limitations imposed by older technology.

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Yes! The sound is a small part of the magic. Commitment is soooo important. Thanks for commenting.

[@valleywoodstudio7345]

@@FreakingOutWithBillyHume Who'd have thought a 35 year old semi-pro machine would be doing sterling work educationally , hooked up to a SSL AWS! I've a small video on my YT page showing it hooked up, including sync to PT so if need be they could combine both projects. As an educator (alongside my freelance recording work🙂) I'm particularly interested in how the learning period develops skill sets. The responsibility and limitations with pre DAW tech I think developed some form of excellence and transferrable skills - something I think still has value to this day. So maybe a pro may not want to work with tape any more - it however had a big impact on how they think and work. So in education there is room for these old clunkers! You're a great educator btw 👍

[@slipmaxim]

Glad to see new content, Billy. Thank you for all the effort.

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Thanks Maxim! I had to work on a couple of albums so I wasn't able to post much. But I have been filming a lot of content.

[@MICHIGANROCKSANDROLL]

AWESOME!! Keep digging. We had a 4 track back in the 70's and I have had to bake some tapes too. My friend insisted on AMPEX tapes. His gear his choice.

[@ScottGrammer]

Ampex was the best there was. Second in line would have been Scotch, and then maybe Agfa. They all suffered from sticky shed after 15 years or so.

[@MICHIGANROCKSANDROLL]

@@ScottGrammer BASF never had the problem and was used in England fairly regularly. My little studio bought maxell and these tapes id not shed.

[@GMAtheory]

Fun video, got to work with the big 16 tracks just a bit before we went to 12 track AKAI machines. Thanks for the trip do n memory lane!

[@SeanKerns]

I use a commercial dehydrator about the size of a bar fridge, because I get in ten or more tapes at a time, and I like to spread them out. Aside from the oxide binder causing the problem you showed, the backing likes to strip off on tape guides, too. I mitigate that by replacing solid guides with rollers where I can. Not sure whose baking time recommendations you're using, but I consider Eddie Ciletti's work in the field to be the bible for this stuff. I'll often drop the temp to 125 or so, and bake for at least 12 hours, with an equally important 12 hour cooldown.

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

I'll try that baking time / temp formula on the next run.,

[@ray_notes8170]

Word to the wise: if you recover your tapes from binder hydrolysis by baking them, setup your digital capture before playing them. They won't stand up to repeated plays. Each time will likely cause more high end roll off if not drop out.

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

True! Good advice.

[@rty1955]

I used every broadcast video tape machine that Ampex ever made, I now restore these machines back to working condition and use them to xfer old television shows, commercials etc. I bake my 2" quad video tapes for 10-12 hours, then digitize them immediately as they will not hold up to repeated playbacks. Imagine tape against video heads rotating at 14,400 rpm!

[@ray_notes8170]

@@rty1955 I've seen some of this restoration work, getting quad tapes digitized - it's incredible. I've tinkered around getting a few old reel-to-reel machines back up and running (belts, pinch rollers and associated mechanisms) but I've never monkeyed around with the big video tape formats. It's impressive stuff.

[@Le-Tôf_68320]

I love your 16 traks on a 1 inch tape, your sound is beautyfull!!! I have some tape recorders and a half inch tascam 8 traks recorder, it's a pleasure to see them turning and give you a sound!!!

[@whaleguy]

That bit in the middle with you randomly spacing out me spit out my coffee 😂

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Ha ha! If you worked with me you would actually see something like this happen at some point.

[@radiotruck8135]

In 1986 i got the job of doing a full alignment on a good 2nd hand 16 track Otari for 2CA Australia's production studio, I have to say it was great fun. Just a memory now.

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Sounds like a great memory and experience!

[@radiotruck8135]

@@FreakingOutWithBillyHume yes, i had to do the work in the control room, because the tech workshop was too small, and production was busy with an MCI 8 track. the only fault we had later...was a bridge rectifier failed in a power supply, So i replaced at lunchtime, and all was ok after that. I had only bought the spare part about 2 days earlier by chance. My boss came back after lunch to find it working again, and just for fun he "told me off" for fixing it too fast. All the VU meters and big reels tend to put me into a hypnotic state. Andrew

[@chickenlickin3820]

I'm freaking out too, my Revox B77 2 track arrives tomorrow!

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

WHAT???? That's awesome!!!!!

[@studiodude1]

Cool video! Yeah, tape has a lot of nostalgia attached to it but. oh Lord, I don't wanna go back to it. I really prefer the convenience of digital now. Oh man, there was a time when I swore I would NEVER go digital..... I was wrong. Good to see ya back on here! Missed ya, man!

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Thanks! It is a lot of extra work and I'm not planning on doing this for my regular work. But it's fun to mess with and I want to try a few things.

[@TheMixClub]

Amazing, The vibe is so cool on your track. I need to go though storage and back some tunes back to life.. Keep posting vids love it..

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Thanks! More to come.

[@bontempo1271]

Oh man, your videos are the greatest. I've got an old Teac 8 track that's been sitting there forever and i just can't get around to servicing it, plus a whole bunch of Ampex 456 that i did attempt to store properly, but god knows what the condition is now. That food dehydrator method is probably the way to go for me, cheers Billy !

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Thanks! I hope your tapes are in better shape than mine are.

[@bontempo1271]

@@FreakingOutWithBillyHume 😂

[@searchiemusic]

oh god as someone who's just getting into it in a more serious manner I appreciate being able to learn from your mistakes, of course no offense haha, but I think numbering each reel and box at the very least will help me going forward, I was having like moderate issue keeping track but this totally makes me realize that if I wanted to set up multiple tapes for a session I'd be going crosseyed very fast

[@searchiemusic]

14:40 ahaha presonus firepod spotted

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

I am happy that my mistakes help others avoid them. And I've made plenty of mistakes so more to come.

[@stevebutcher6117]

Thats awsome man! Keep digging through the crates man your finding gold. Enjoying this journey.

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Thanks! I just found some more stuff...

[@stevezz12011]

Apparently Ampex tape is one of the worst offenders for 'sticky' tape syndrome. Maxell is one of the best.....I've just transfered some Revox tapes from the '80's

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Yes. I found some really really old Maxell reels that I had used on my Teac 3340s - no problems at all.

[@PrestonHazard]

If you get a reel of 456 sealed in its original packaging, it’s almost always good. I’ve never had a problem. Ampex is actually really reliable and affordable. However, I have had problems with open boxes of it, most of the time they’re unusable. However Quantegy GP9 is perfect. Open or not that stuff is the Noikia of tape. It’s plays perfectly no matter whT

[@blakemcnamara9105]

How's ATR Magnetics?

[@jasonnesmith9482]

I was interning at Tree Sound, haunting its halls, when you were there working on Frisbee Bomb Craters! I wondered what happened to Jeff. I can't find much about him on Discogs. Nice to see you're still around!

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Oh wow! That goes way back. I've seen Jeff a little here and there over the years. Seems he does some work in film doing special effects. Hope all is well with you.

[@jasonnesmith9482]

@@FreakingOutWithBillyHume I am well! Thanks for asking. Moved to Athens many years ago, did a lot of records for myself and other artists as a producer and engineer, then got into mastering about nine years ago which has gone well. I see Jason Kingsland once in a while!

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Of cool! Kingsland is THE MAN!

[@anthonyroberts9232]

Wow you got the 16-track analog multi track recorder my friend from Puru has the Ampex version in Florida.

[@Alvsyn]

Hey, I'm actually learning about the process of recording on tape, so I'd love some more educational things about that if you could. Thanks for your intro!

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

I will be doing more videos using the tape in the future. Keep an eye on my channel.

[@markchapman7326]

I own 2 reel deck (AKAI GX635D and Otari MX5050) . Nice setup and thks for this video sir.

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Thank you!!

[@ninjatranqui4591]

the "balumbata" is actually a Balafon, it's sound is part Unesco's world heritage. These instruments are from Mali and Burkina Faso

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Ah... I was thinking I might not have it right. Thanks!

[@salmorreale7900]

Creative. Thank you for posting.

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Thanks!

[@partridgefamilybus2021]

Good stuff. That Predator song is dynamite!

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Thanks so much! I've been on some sessions lately but a couple of days ago I got back on that song. Will have more about the song as I work on it.

[@PrestonHazard]

I love your tape stuff. How long do you think new old stock 456 1” would last? I have a bunch of it that I got new in back off of Reverb. It was all amazing condition, and my masters are perfect. The tape isn’t that old (mid to late 90’s) but i’m worried about its longevity. What’s my best bet to keep it in good shape?

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

456 is one of the worst for 'shedding' if it's not stored right. it'll last a long time but needs to be in a dry space and not hot.

[@megwatts1903]

That song with Bone Crusher kind of sounds like Yes in the ghetto.

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Ha ha! So true.

[@capitolemiproducer]

Dude I got year old tapes and i always bake. And yes a motor from a dehydrator is magnetized. Say no more.

[@joaoantoniovione484]

can you elaborate on the session log/producer declaration stuff?

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

The Session Logs come in 2 forms: 1 - Certain record labels would want me to document what happened on each session to keep track of progress and costs. 2 - Most of these Session Logs were ones I created for myself so I could go back and see how many hours I was spending on different types of tasks (recording vocals, setting up drums, mixing, etc) so I could have a realistic view of how long it took me to do certain things. My father told me that when you're estimating a task you'll typically underestimate by 50% the time required if you're doing it before you do the task but you'll overestimate by 50% the time required if you're looking back on the task you already did. This is because before you do a task your ego will say to you "That's easy! I'll knock that out quick!" whereas when looking back on a task you'll tend to exaggerate the effort and time - "That took forever!" . So I logged my time with clients and on my own music for years to make sure I was charging enough for my studio time and work. The Producer Declarations are forms that major Labels send me (Universal was the first one that sent me one) for each song I work on that I have to sign in order to get paid - even get a deposit. The forms state that I am not using any uncleared samples and that I take full legal responsibility for any legal issues stemming from the recordings.

[@dodegkr]

listen carefully to Duran duran wild boys at the beginning you can hear the smpte for a split second circa 8 seconds in

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

oh damn! Probably bleed from having a track right next to the SMPTE track.

[@Meteotrance]

Wow your last song remember me a lot of Frank Zappa most crazy album act, he do a lot of weird amazing album like that, you should defintly made something from those blast from the past ^^ !!!

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Thanks. I'm working on a new album and plan on finishing that one for the project.

[@pentatonicpaddy]

just found your channel its great !!!

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Thanks!!!

[@punkvader4272]

8:58 Come On dont stop the music,maybe snare sound is bad, but me likey.

[@soysos.tuffsound]

Maaaaaan you and I are from parallel universes! I've probably been working in the rap game as an engineer in the same eras and have a stack of old rhyme books and single sheets of lyrics clients left in the booth too, they were packed away somewhere on the last move.

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

You should look for them.

[@curtpalme6425]

BTW, DO NOT use your oven or convection oven to bake tapes! They run too hot, and can damage your tapes, or the plastic hub the tape sits on. Food dehydrator only, at 130-135 degrees,

[@Jefuslives]

I wonder if silica gel packs would also work.

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

I've heard of them being used as a sort of prep for baking and getting rid of mildew or mold on tapes, but they're not powerful enough for pulling moisture out of the middle of the reel.

[@AcousticWisdom]

That was awesome!

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Thanks man!

[@john4157]

Cool video!!

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Thanks so much!

[@christopherrippel2463]

Ha metal dust. Never thought of it that way!

[@nugznmugz]

Gotta bake em yea? Also, awesome vid man

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Yes. I had to go back and bake some of them a 2nd time.

[@mill3370]

Are you planning on dehydrating some food? Perhaps dried mango?

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

I thought about it. But someone else would have to do it, I'm terrible with the whole food thing.

[@MySynthDungeon]

I'm Diggin!!Cheers!!;-)!!

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Thanks!

[@faroutsessions3612]

10:40 hahahahaha yeah man, i know that feeling

[@suasponte6230]

Why is it obvious that you wouldn't need a food dehydrator?

[@pauladams896]

Do it right! Bake at least 12 hours and cool for another 12! 8 hours is not enough.

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

That's what IK'm finding out.

[@mbvideoselection]

30 ips?

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Yes

[@LenovoLenovo-g2f]

Happened same things, getting old like you.

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

We all get old eventually.

[@LenovoLenovo-g2f]

@@FreakingOutWithBillyHume Only music still perfect and forever.

[@MBRMrblueroads]

200 👍👍 subbed

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Thanks!

[@JorgeMorales73]

Pirate ships

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Always!

[@assistantto007]

Can't remember? I blame pre millennial weed.

[@topa1798]

i smell weed 😅

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

oops!

[@s.t.e.r.e.o.]

This is one of the coolest videos I’ve seen on youtube. Seriously watery eyed. Love the journey and reminiscing and you taking the time to bring this to us. Thank you.