just some general questions

[Reprobate]

I'm still new to a lot of things, so I was wanting to ask some questions...

-Good place to order bulk cds/cassettes for recording?
-I've read about people using contact mics. What's the benefit?
-I've read on "clean loops." What exactly does that mean?
-I've noticed that people always mention the specific type of cassette: "c30, c60, c90, etc.," is there any reason for this, other than wanting to let people know of the time that the cassette fits?

Thanks ahead of time for any answers that I may get!

[Zeno Marx]

-I've noticed that people always mention the specific type of cassette: "c30, c60, c90, etc.," is there any reason for this, other than wanting to let people know of the time that the cassette fits?

I wish more labels included it in the description.  Would appreciate knowing the bias as well (type I, type II, type IV).

[FreakAnimalFinland]

Ordering bulk CDr / tape depends where you're located and how many you need. Best is to aim for quality, not cheapest. Last time I ordered bulk tapes, I went for highest price what company would offer. And you can clearly even see it. Probably meaningless for a lot of people, but simply thickness of magnetic tape varies greatly. Cheaper the tapes - thinner the tape, appears to be rule. During time it stretches and is potentially damaged etc. Tapes I recently got, even if being chrome C-30 and C-45's, they look almost like C-45 and C-60 since magnetic tape appears to be thicker and making the reels look contain much more tape than they actually do. And occasionally - as opposite, you get noise tapes where you think it can't be more than C-10 since there's barely tape inside the shell, yet playing time appears to be 20 mins..

Tapeline in UK is probably easiest European tape deliverer at this moment? They are ready to offer anything from cheap bulk to nicest chrome, cobalt or special tapes. Ain't worth saving in wrong place.
Friend of mine ordered bulk CDR's from... Malaysia or whatever. They were dirt cheap, but c. 1/3 worked after burning and even they started skipping in few weeks. If you're going to charge people money, then it's best not to save 0,1-0,5 per unit to sell them garbage, but go for best quality since price difference ain't that much it would affect intended retail value.


Contact mic captures sound from direct contact with object. Not from air. It's good for things like metal junk recordings, where you need to capture sound of metal - not all the surrounding sounds. Sometimes also easier to control unwanted feedback etc.  Traditionally for example cheap piezzo contact mics have very narrow and distinctive sound. It can be good, but can be also limiting if you aim for something else.

Clean loops? Not sure what it means as I don't see context where its used. But I would assume for example smooth well running loops, where there is no clicks/pops/glitches in "seam" part of loop?

I would think saying length of tape is good if it's something out-of-ordinary. Meaning 10usd tape, you assume you get the album. Not the C-5 tape single.  I don't think anything from c-30 to c-60 is utterly crucial to mention, but I think short tapes would. First of all, perhaps not even make them unless there's proper reason. 

[Reprobate]

Do you put together all the freak animal releases yourself, or do you have them professionally duplicated, imprinted and packaged?

[FreakAnimalFinland]

Tapes I dub 1:1 from CDr master to give good sound (as opposed to high speed dubbing).
CD is professionally pressed, yet I like to get covers printed locally and assemble them myself. Often also to avoid any problems with dubious content or artwork.
I no longer make CDR releases since I don't see any point in them.

[tisbor]

Tapes I dub 1:1 from CDr master to give good sound (as opposed to high speed dubbing).

I also found this to be better and safer for the good quality of dubbing, if more time consuming of course.
Of course it's fine to ignore sound quality of the tape if that's part of your aesthetic.
Tapeline.co.uk is the simplest and best service in Europe. Depending on what you order it's not exactly cheap but as Mikko said, they have good quality stuff + everything you need to assemble a tape release (also vinyl cases, label stickers etc). I suggest to avoid their dubbing service though, as it's a bit hit-or-miss.

[Reprobate]

Kind of confused by terms and whatnot, but you're basically saying that you have a master tape and then make copies from that? And I'm guessing by "1:1" you mean doing it one at a time?

[Zeno Marx]

Kind of confused by terms and whatnot, but you're basically saying that you have a master tape and then make copies from that? And I'm guessing by "1:1" you mean doing it one at a time?

Correct.  1:1 is making a copy direct from the master, real time.  A 40-minute master takes 40 minutes to dub a copy.  Tape to tape or CDR to tape.  Doesn't matter.

[GEWALTMONOPOL]

Quite the contrary for me. I got tired of replacing tape decks every 6-12 months after I'd worn them out. I have no idea exactly how Tapeline dub their tapes but, bar one Morose tape that was clearly fucked, I've had no complaints. I'll be bold enough to suggest that the sound quality is better since I left the dubbing to Tapeline.

[FreakAnimalFinland]

Many of the high speed dubbing machines will do like 16x speed. Quality will be less. It will be flatter, thinner, possibility of flutter and other unwanted qualities in sound. From some Tapeline stuff you notice it clearly.
But of course, they are far from worst. They are good, decent music dubber.
A lot of bad decks will give you worse results. Especially if no maintainance happens. Quiet, uneven levels of poor sound. Very common with home dubbing with bad decks.


I think easy way to dub tapes is:
Good CD player connected to bunch of same brand or close enough quality tape decks. Either by signal divider or just chain the decks one to another and make sure to adjust levels (and check signal stays perfect and balanced). I can make 6 copies from one CDr master at once. So to make 100 tapes is just 16 rounds of dubbing. Ain't that bad.

If label can move tapes by selling, you can make simple calculations. Like 50 tapes sold at 6,- will have 300 euro at hand. It financed blank tapes, prints and probably half of the budget of first deck. Make few more releases and you have tower of decks at use. I guess even 2-3 double decks with simultaneously recording function will be enough for most.

I believe RRR used set up of 10 Teac decks. I use TDK rstr575's and Tascam rack mounted 202mkIII's. Clean up the recording heads enough often to keep sound good.

As soon as you save money or save time, high speed, low grade tapes, etc. to me it basically loses all the point. Why make good noise and then duplicate it poorly? Why make to-be-legendary release and make it to format that rots and decays in few years? It hardly costs more and it hardly asks much effort. With very little effort, with total DIY methods, you can get best results.

[GEWALTMONOPOL]

I used two Denon DN-720. Not Nakamichi but hardly shit either. Worked alright. I still consider the quality from Tapeline to sound beter.

I freely admit to being no techie and can't be bothered servicing tape decks and other bits. In the DIY fetishized genre we find ourselves in some will probably turn their noses up at that but that's who I am. When something technical needs fixing or servicing I'd rather pay someone else to do the job. So when tape decks kept getting the hiccups every 6 months I realised that either option of replacing or sending them away for servicing was unrealistic. Tapeline was a very convenient and IMO better alternative.

All based on my personal experience and so far it's worked for me.

[Reprobate]

Thanks for some of the feedback, guys.

Here's another one: What exactly is the importance of a multi-effects processor?

[Zeno Marx]

I've had terrible luck with Sony decks.  They sound fine, but every single one of them (4?) developed a tick, click, or flutter.  $300 single-well deck wasn't anymore durable than the $150 model.  Had good luck with JVC, Denon, and one other that I cannot remember at the moment.  I dubbed 600+ C-60s with an old JVC single-well, and I also used it as my own personal deck for playback.  That thing was/is a tank.  A couple of azimuth adjustments through the front window, too.  Very convenient.  Doesn't look or feel any differently than any other deck, though.  I only ran Maxell XLII and XLII-S for dubbing though.  Use a high-quality blank like that, and I'm convinced you have to demagnetize less often, replace heads less often, and have overall better deck longevity and fidelity.