Helpful Information & Links for Cassette Tape Recorders

cassette-tape-recorder.md

Tascam Portastudio 414

Some notes for working on and with the Tascam 414 Portastudio 4 Track Recorder deck.

The gap between Erase and Write is 0:00:245 in length at normal speed, 0:00:301 at slow speed.

Generic 5 Second Cassette Loop

This is a generic clear tape loop from WarbleLoopLab. The tape has a particular constant warble, to the point a clear sine tone cannot be read out enough to get an exact key difference. The BPM difference is also impacted by the extreme warble, where it will skip ahead or completely stop on occasion.

Tape Speed In	Tape Speed Out	BPM In	BPM Out	Key In	Key Out	Duration
Normal 🕛	Fast 🕔	120	163.30	C3	~F#3	0:03:532
Normal 🕛	Normal 🕛	120	118.02	C3	~C3	0:04:709
Normal 🕛	Slow 🕖	120	95.41	C3	~G#2	0:06:024

Below are the iZotope RX views of the loop and the Melodyne view of the loop, to see how unstable it is:

Yellow Cassette Loop

Generic clear yellow Cassette Loop from MoonbeanMusic.

Tape Speed In	Tape Speed Out	BPM In	BPM Out	Duration
Normal 🕛	Fast 🕔	120		0:03:527
Normal 🕛	Normal 🕛	120		0:04:158
Normal 🕛	Slow 🕖	120		0:05:025

Sony HF 60 High Bias Type 1

An old tape I used in high school Spanish class, not a tape loop but stable enough to get a key.

Sorted by Tape Speed Out:

Tape Speed In	Tape Speed Out	BPM In	BPM Out	Key In	Key Out	Multiplier
Slow 🕛	Slow 🕛	120	85.63	C3	F#2, +15ct	70.9416%
Normal 🕛	Slow 🕛	120	99.52	C3	A2, -25ct	82.9333%
Fast 🕔	Slow 🕛	120	120.16	C3	C3, -2ct	~100%
Slow 🕛	Normal 🕖	120	103.13	C3	A2, +37ct	85.9416%
Normal 🕛	Normal 🕛	120	119.92	C3	C3, -2ct	~100%
Fast 🕔	Normal 🕖	120	144.68	C3	D#3, +24ct	120.5666%
Slow 🕛	Fast 🕔	120	120.03	C3	C3, +1ct	~100%
Normal 🕛	Fast 🕔	120	146.08	C3	D#3, -39ct	121.7333%
Fast 🕔	Fast 🕔	120	168.22	C3	F#3, +13ct	140.1833%

Sorted by Tape Speed In:

Tape Speed In	Tape Speed Out	BPM In	BPM Out	Key In	Key Out	Multiplier
Slow 🕛	Slow 🕛	120	85.63	C3	F#2, +15ct	70.9416%
Slow 🕛	Normal 🕖	120	103.13	C3	A2, +37ct	85.9416%
Slow 🕛	Fast 🕔	120	120.03	C3	C3, +1ct	~100%
Normal 🕛	Slow 🕛	120	99.52	C3	A2, -25ct	82.9333%
Normal 🕛	Normal 🕛	120	119.92	C3	C3, -2ct	~100%
Normal 🕛	Fast 🕔	120	146.08	C3	D#3, -39ct	121.7333%
Fast 🕔	Slow 🕛	120	120.16	C3	C3, -2ct	~100%
Fast 🕔	Normal 🕖	120	144.68	C3	D#3, +24ct	120.5666%
Fast 🕔	Fast 🕔	120	168.22	C3	F#3, +13ct	140.1833%

Spectrm Sweep

Sweeping the full specturm gives really interesting results after 5k

Sweep - Raw

Sweep - Tape

melodyne-view.jpg

sweep-raw.png

sweep-tape.png

izotope-rx-view.jpg