SH Spotlight How do I fix a damaged analog master tape without digital step? Jethro Tull, Nat King Cole, etc.

Thanks for sharing this story Steve! I would be super scared of making the cut myself. Then I imagine you with a four second piece of tape on your hands, 60 inches if it was 15 IPS, and imagining that tape wanting to curl and bend around like a snake. Steve Hoffman - The Tape Charmer

 

thank you, mr hoffman, for this insightful glimpse behind the curtain

now, if i may ask: how do you mend a broken heart?

 

+1

 

Now this here is a little different in that multitrack tape is being edited - as opposed to the 2-track-mixmasters in Steve Hoffman's example - but anybody who wants to watch how analog tape is being cut and spliced together to combine two different takes of one song into one "master take", I can highly recommend watching Steve Albini do it during a recording session:



@Steve Hoffman, I would think the technique you use is roughly the same? Find the right spots in the tape by slowly moving it across the playback head, mark it, then cut and splice back together? Or is it different? Thanks for these insights.

 

Thanks so much for this thread! Still one of my favorite albums of all time and the Live tour was just phenomenal Performance wise and sound quality.

 

Thanks for doing these, really interesting

 

Fascinating. Would say that attitude was typical of artists and labels at that time? Treating them like holy grails seems like a somewhat recent thing.

 

As a software engineer who relies heavily on Ctrl-Z, the thought of cutting a 50-year-old tape makes me feel nauseous

 

I care greatly. Reading anything like this is pure gold to me. Being able to read the occasional post you make about anything related to recording/mastering/cutting is truly great, and having the ability to ask follow-up questions, if need be, is almost over-the-top fantastic. Thanks again for taking the time.

 

Thanks for this post Steve. It's this kind of information that consistently brings me back to the discussion board.

 

This is absolutely alarming to read !
You would hope that master tapes and original mix tapes would be properly looked after but I've read so many stories over the years of session tapes being rescued from skips and dumpsters.

 

This post is one of the reasons I return almost daily to this forum.
Steve, you should start a series titled “Adventures In Audio Mastering/Remastering”.

 

Steve, these posts are really intriguing and informative.
Almost like an interactive Tape Op article!!

 

I hear it too, oh no, gotta throw it out now!

 

NorCal CanJam! (Headfest )

 

Thanks for sharing! Preservation of both art and craft on display.

 

Super interesting stuff. Thanks for sharing it

 

Ian Anderson thinking ??? Where is Aqualung? Mailed that.

 

I love digital editing, with the combined abilities to see, hear and repair defects, though physical tape damage is obvious too, but so impossible to fix, substitute sources aside...

Whatever sounds best and cannot be heard!?!

 

Not me. I love this stuff. I meant the “thank you”.

 

Mr. Hoffman, didn't you have any issue with "Locomotive Breath" as well?

 

Audio nerd campfire stories.