Can you pretty please make a step by step tutorial on how to make one of these with a portable tape player! I know you're smart enough to figure out the engineering! You're the smartest guy i can ask this favor! I'm also sure plenty of your viewers will appreciate the help and inspiration from the video!
Portable 1/4" players would work just the same (here the cheapest way would be to just ge another old 1/4" and put a long loop between the two). However, for 1/8 " tape players (cassette) i found the tape itself a bit to fragile to make anything that lasted over a couple of minutes. Still, I have seen other people succeed: e.g. Amulets ruclips.net/user/amuletsmusicvideos
Very interesting idea, i like the the idea of playing keyboard with one hand and doing this with the other, adding an extra layer of expression and manipulation
Are the top far left & rights posts that allow the tape to travel on them stationary and/or/are the original reel holders still functioning/connected? Thank you....this idea is awesome on several levels.
the main aluminum gear was broken on this machine (a few years had bad material here), so although it might be possible to restore it, for now I put bearings on the end posts and the regular reel axis don’t move. I’ll post a better video showing the latest incarnation. static posts worked fine but bearings (regular skateboard type) allowed for slightly more tape tension
Thank you Jacob ! What crept into the thought was effecting the mobile head with a rack mount processor type thing on the chain before it hits the tape. I'm looking at 2 Akai 202D-SS decks with one being basically this mod. Bought a second one ( parts, ?) cause the 1st one got damaged in shipping. This approach to sound exploration definitely opens up some doors. Thank you once again!!!
A logistical question just occurred to me in reference to this ; is the tip of the 1/4 inch jack making contact with the back part of the Barkley's box it's going into? No grounding out issue? Thank you.
I love it! only the flexible format of being able to move the "delay" tapehead freely is so nice! Do you amplify the signal from the tin can tapehead through your normal mixer/mixing desk? I created a cassette with an extra tapehead (from one of those car cassette adapters) but the signal has to be boosted so intense that the noise ratio is pretty bad, and there's a big groundhum I still have to tackle. keep it up!
First I just put it through my small Mackie desk (mic. lots of gain). Then I got hold of a personal stereo with other problems and used the tape-head preamp from that one. Both worked fine.
@@jacobsteel thanks! I think my mixer just has a lot of noise when I crank the mic gain haha. Maybe time to sacrifice a malfunctioning walkman for the amplification.
@@TALA-lu5ck - Could very well be. I used shielded cable all the way in the early tests. Later, with the box, I noticed even very slight oxide on the RCA connector could add noise (but contact spray fixed it), understandable at that gain.
also, the wiring to tape heads are occasionally made from flat cable (that may break). Does you wire-connected play head measure up OK in the other end of the connector cable? (the cable should not add more than ≈1-2 Ohms, max). My spare tape heads measure around 130 Ohms when measured directly with an Ohm-meter.
I used the box to get the neodymium magnets (that hold the box to the steel plate) as far away from the tape as possible! Otherwise just some thin cables from the heads.
One erasing, one recording, one fixed playback, one moveable playback. (regular playback was impossible as the major cast aluminum-gear was broken beyond repair, so now it only plays loops).
oh, I tried that. Wasn't really necessary. Signal/noise ratio was fine with 4-5 cm to the magnets (below that however, it dropped quickly). What IS hard is to get smooth tape passage; to get consistent mechanical tension over the tapeheads. But then again, this wasn't designed with perfect echo in mind, rather to get some sort of organic repetitions... a long sound on sound. :)
@@jacobsteel Can you pretty please make a step by step tutorial on how to make one of these with a portable tape player! I know you're smart enough to figure out the engineering! You're the smartest guy i can ask this favor! I'm also sure plenty of your viewers will appreciate the help and inspiration from the video!
That azimuth’s on point 👌
Can you pretty please make a step by step tutorial on how to make one of these with a portable tape player! I know you're smart enough to figure out the engineering! You're the smartest guy i can ask this favor! I'm also sure plenty of your viewers will appreciate the help and inspiration from the video!
Portable 1/4" players would work just the same (here the cheapest way would be to just ge another old 1/4" and put a long loop between the two).
However, for 1/8 " tape players (cassette) i found the tape itself a bit to fragile to make anything that lasted over a couple of minutes.
Still, I have seen other people succeed: e.g. Amulets
ruclips.net/user/amuletsmusicvideos
@@jacobsteel
So that's a no!? lol You're not gonna do the video!?
@@jacobsteel
Regardless, Thank you for the info!
Got some Barkley's tin cans and a couple tape recorders... This gives me IDEAS
Very interesting idea, i like the the idea of playing keyboard with one hand and doing this with the other, adding an extra layer of expression and manipulation
Very cool! I’m definitely going to build one of my own
Are the top far left & rights posts that allow the tape to travel on them stationary and/or/are the original reel holders still functioning/connected? Thank you....this idea is awesome on several levels.
the main aluminum gear was broken on this machine (a few years had bad material here), so although it might be possible to restore it, for now I put bearings on the end posts and the regular reel axis don’t move.
I’ll post a better video showing the latest incarnation. static posts worked fine but bearings (regular skateboard type) allowed for slightly more tape tension
Thank you Jacob ! What crept into the thought was effecting the mobile head with a rack mount processor type thing on the chain before it hits the tape. I'm looking at 2 Akai 202D-SS decks with one being basically this mod. Bought a second one ( parts, ?) cause the 1st one got damaged in shipping. This approach to sound exploration definitely opens up some doors. Thank you once again!!!
………….. I’m about to be making baby these things to go in that echoplex gifted to me.
God sent a stepdad 🕊
Edited to say: THANK YOU!!!
This is genius.
thank you very much! 🙏🌟🙏
Great idea!!
i ve got asme reel 2 reel. ill try that
A logistical question just occurred to me in reference to this ; is the tip of the 1/4 inch jack making contact with the back part of the Barkley's box it's going into? No grounding out issue? Thank you.
had a grounding issue, solved it with an isolated RCA if I remember correctly
ahhhh so cool
I love it! only the flexible format of being able to move the "delay" tapehead freely is so nice! Do you amplify the signal from the tin can tapehead through your normal mixer/mixing desk? I created a cassette with an extra tapehead (from one of those car cassette adapters) but the signal has to be boosted so intense that the noise ratio is pretty bad, and there's a big groundhum I still have to tackle.
keep it up!
First I just put it through my small Mackie desk (mic. lots of gain).
Then I got hold of a personal stereo with other problems and used the tape-head preamp from that one.
Both worked fine.
@@jacobsteel thanks! I think my mixer just has a lot of noise when I crank the mic gain haha. Maybe time to sacrifice a malfunctioning walkman for the amplification.
@@TALA-lu5ck - Could very well be. I used shielded cable all the way in the early tests.
Later, with the box, I noticed even very slight oxide on the RCA connector could add noise (but contact spray fixed it), understandable at that gain.
also, the wiring to tape heads are occasionally made from flat cable (that may break).
Does you wire-connected play head measure up OK in the other end of the connector cable? (the cable should not add more than ≈1-2 Ohms, max).
My spare tape heads measure around 130 Ohms when measured directly with an Ohm-meter.
Nice! How did you make this? Whats in that tinbox?
I used the box to get the neodymium magnets (that hold the box to the steel plate) as far away from the tape as possible!
Otherwise just some thin cables from the heads.
…you put magnets on a tape deck!?
oh yes! too close and silence but far enough it worked like a charm… distance squared.. 🙏
interessant 😁✌
but it already had 3 heads
One erasing, one recording, one fixed playback, one moveable playback.
(regular playback was impossible as the major cast aluminum-gear was broken beyond repair, so now it only plays loops).
oh okay, but cool machine tho!
@@lolcaat thank you! :)
Why not make the metal plate longer so you can place the tin box on top. Magnet is moved away from tape.
oh, I tried that. Wasn't really necessary. Signal/noise ratio was fine with 4-5 cm to the magnets (below that however, it dropped quickly).
What IS hard is to get smooth tape passage; to get consistent mechanical tension over the tapeheads.
But then again, this wasn't designed with perfect echo in mind, rather to get some sort of organic repetitions... a long sound on sound. :)
Can i buy one from you!?
oh, I only have the one I made. sorry.
@@jacobsteel
Figures!!! I'll trade you 2 flux capacitors!
@@jacobsteel
Can you pretty please make a step by step tutorial on how to make one of these with a portable tape player! I know you're smart enough to figure out the engineering! You're the smartest guy i can ask this favor! I'm also sure plenty of your viewers will appreciate the help and inspiration from the video!
Sick