posts

haven’t felt like writing about what I’ve been working on, so here’s a blanket update.

right now about half of my sound either comes from samples from tape, or recorded onto and played back from tape (standard and microcassette). tape is great for compression, artifacts, and the frequency response it produces, but shows limitation when trying to juggle them in a collaborative [1] or live setting. unplugging, swapping, and adjusting on the fly, can be cumbersome and potentially error prone since all of my machines are old/refurbished.

after an inspiring jam session with my new friend, james, I came away with several ideas for new sounds.

welp, I reckon this effect is gettin dang near done [1].

you may have noticed effects are being added, with strict instruction to enjoy them [1], but no way to get them or view demos of their sound.

a while back I started working on an idea, emulating Michael Brauer’s modified AWA G7201 Limiting Amplifier. the specs are available online and Brauer’s modifications are well known. i’d heard rave reviews for the kazrog mhb green so I knew it could be done well digitally.

so far I’ve been focused on making sure the profiles match the plotted spec. even though my measurements were all within my self-imposed spec tolerance, the behavior of the profiles interacting, specifically the wow/flutter values when toggled, was wrong.

researching tape modes and plotting frequency curves was fun. the information, values, and how to accurately plot them wasn’t too difficult; that information is all over the internet. getting the next part right is what will either make or break the sound of this pedal.

well, that was a super satisfying deep dive. I was fully prepared to dial in the sound of each tape mode through trial and error, but turns out some smart and ambitious people already did the work of analyzing and documenting the frequency responses of each machine.

I fucking love tapes. listening to tapes, recording onto tapes, re-recording tapes over and over to wear them out, splicing tapes to make loops, buying used tape lots to find memories nearly lost in a dusty basement or storage unit.