re:Hello and RE: DOD FX-98

[Ken Fletcher <fletk@efn.org>]

On Mon, 17 Nov 1997, Bret Moreland wrote:

:::Welcome Ken.  Audio collagist, I like that phrase.  I never heard it 
:put 
:::so succinctly.  I do this also, but never realized how to describe it.

I was a paper collagist before getting into audio-play, so for me it was a
natural term.  It's also great because the term is so evocative and
versatile:  it "labels" you without limiting you!  And it's intriguing. 
It gets people's attention and piques their interest.  Of course, when
they actually HEAR your stuff they might wrinkle their noses and think of
OTHER terms! :)  (This has happened to me...with dear friends who were
somewhat at a loss to know how to react to my stuff...without hurting my
feelings, so now I try to gauge a potential listener/victim's
tolerance/appetite for "experimental" sounds before handing them a tape
or pressing the play button!) 

:::Sorry I can't give you advice about the single tape machine loop.  
:::
:::The 2 deck looping arrangement you describe I can describe. The tape 
:goes 

Thanks, Bret, for the great 2-deck-tape-loop instructions!  Now I regret
passing on a recent local classified ad that listed the same exact R2R
deck I have (Teac A1250), in new condition for $150.  I coulda been
long-looping quickly and cheaply already.  Ah, well, I should probably
save my money for one of these fancy digital machines. 

On single-deck looping, I have tried simply mounting a short loop of tape
through both reels and the play/record head, using (in this case) a bent
goose-neck desk-top mic stand to keep the tape from drooping.  It works as
a static infinite loop:  basically just a simple looped sample.  But the
tape quickly wears out, especially at the splice point.  And I've wondered
if this technique is harmful to the machine because of the very light load
on the transport system (one reel spins very fast, and I wasn't sure if
that was good for the machine over time).

(The point I had previously not understood about the two-deck system is
that there is no actual >tape< loop--the loop is achieved electronically
and via the two heads.  Now I get it!)

And actually, my SU-10 does simple (up to four simultaneous and
different-length) loops so well I don't even know why I'm thinking about
one-deck tape looping!  It's a real-time, dynamic looping environment that
I'm wanting to explore, with two tape decks or with JamMan, Echoplex,
FX-98, or whatever I can get ahold of.  My ART DXR, with its 2-sec delay
has given me a pretty good taste of that kind of looping:  now I want
more!!

Thanks again Bret!

-Ken Fletcher