The aural results of these small mechanical variations range from subtle random phasing to flanging and chorus-type effects, and it is these tiny imperfections that can bring the sort of life to effected material that straight digital delays simply cannot recreate (unless they are modelled on vintage delay algorithms, more of which later). But before you write off tape delay as being unpredictable and old fashioned, you should know that it is precisely this organic, ‘musical’ effect on sounds that makes tape delay so revered even today. For instance, by increasing the distance between the record and playback heads, the delay time would increase accordingly.īecause of the essentially mechanical nature of the processing, there is always a certain amount of “wow” and “flutter” (read incidental, uncontrolled modulation of the sound) as the tape loop goes around. On the front of the machine the tape runs through several recording and playback heads (or ‘taps’)., and the delay times are created and adjusted by physically moving the heads forward or backward. Inside the large casing there’s an intricately coiled tape loop that can run uninterrupted through the machine (i.e. The principle behind a tape delay is pretty simple.

Tape delay: Prominent during the late ’50s through the ’60s.

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