Open reel looper's trick

[Stuart Fox <freemanfox@earthlink.net>]

I would like to pass along an old analog tape loopers trick which I 
haven't seen used or mentioned in about 20 years.

To handle very long loops of tape, just spool it loose directly into 
a large paper shopping bag.  The tape must drop vertically in loose 
folds and is pulled out from the bottom through the top of the bag. 
The bag should be a foot or two below the tape deck in order to allow 
any tangles to fall out naturally by gravity.

I seems impossible, but it works like a charm.

Stuart
 

At 12:13 AM +0000 4/25/2000, J.G. Wong wrote:
>I use a telescoping aluminum arm that has a spare guide from the machine
>I am using.  For longer loops I use a microphone stand with a guide
>affixed to the top.
>Using a replacement guide is easier on the machine and tape and gives
>more consistent results.
>
>G. Wong
>
>I'm surprised no one has mentioned it, but one of the easiest ways to
>make a
>"looping fixture" on an open-reel machine is to simply build a wood face
>(probably plywood) around the machine, then use push - pins (y'know, the
>ones with the barrel-like upper parts) to extend the tape outwards from 
>the
>deck. Least that's how I did it when I was a boy.
>Douglas Baldwin, Alpha male Coyote, the Trickster
>dbaldwin@suffolk.lib.ny.us
 

Stuart Fox
Director-CalArts Guitar Program
sgfox @music.calarts.edu