This is taking the term "lo-fi" to an entirely new and haunting level. I'm so in love with this - looking forward to all the music you'll create using this
Most People:"Let's use a tape delay plug in so we can sound like Boards of Canada." Boards of Canada: "Let's use a cold war wire recorder so we can sound like Hainbach."
Just an FYI, it’s not nearly as cool but easier to obtain and no foam, but you can get in the neighborhood with Pulsar’s Echorec, a magnetic drum emulation plugin.
Honestly one of these would be perfect used for the OST of a post apocalyptic game set in the Soviet Union. Both eerie and haunting, yet sad and emotional. Like a lonely Russian man staring at the wastes of Moscow, afraid of what mutants might lurk in the buildings, whilst tearing up remembering his life before the end of the world, begging god for just one more moment with his friends and loved ones, for just one more moment in his old life, hoping he’ll never come across the remains of his wife and child as he searches for what little food remains in the broken city.
The broken city need not be anymore. Juno sends her regards, in not every shadow lay a dagger and all hearts weigh heavy with the knowledge immemorium. But the Euphrates ebs and flows among our banks, and with it a peace. As the Lunar moon rises so too shall a peaceful lullaby accompany us, from the Forest Swords, from the Sleeping, from Silhouttes to Ghosst(s) to the statues of even the oldest temples, and let the resonances be that of good omen, as I all but assure. The Lady, The Swan, The Cobra. For now, my steed carries my lance away proudly. Clear skies forever, on our little picnic and good forecasts from the north. Let us embrace those held before as shadows, the suns light shines free on us today. It is but a passing thought whispered as the emerald dream fades and reality comes to focus.
@@greatheightsu Oh yeah, listened to the whole album from first to last stage. The first stage was able to give me the horror, so the following stages weren't actually needed anymore.
No amount of DSP modelling could ever reproduce this effect accurately. There's a formidable new challenge for Pete Celi at Strymon. Great find, great demo. Thanks for sharing.
A friend of my father had a wire recorder, and he demoed it for us when we visited his house back in the 1950s. It's the first "home" recording device I ever saw or heard. I don't know where it was made. I was fascinated by his machine and thought it a marvel, but it never sounded this musical! Congratulations, Hainbach, on being featured on Ableton's channel!
This is stuff from the former DDR ... and the people you hear on the recordings have a saxon dialect. Of course they do. Why should it be otherwise? *sighs XD "De Ziehlä werd'n nüsch gemeldüt, nur wenn se audonom arbeid'n!"
@@5roundsrapid263 What do you mean? The DDR (eastern Germany) didn't import as much technology from the "motherland" Russia as people think. This former country was poor, but the manufacturers were pretty inventive to build functional and durable stuff with what little they had at hand. As we can see in this video, the devices still work.
Andreas Wehrmann I posted that before I saw the whole video. The thumbnail said “Soviet”, and the manual was in Russian. It says “Passport” in Russian, but misspelled.
@@ZunaZurugi Everyone in the DDR had to learn Russian as a second language next to German back then. Like how nowadays people learn English as a second language next to their native language. So the manual in Russian isn't that much of a surprise.
Fascinating video. I’d never heard a wire recorder before and it has a very evocative, eerie sound. The self-oscillation echoes remind me of Tristram Cary’s radiophonic soundtrack for the first Dalek story in Doctor Who (1963-4).
Back last year I heard an album on bandcamp that a Russian who recorded under the name Staruha Mha made about 20 years ago and I couldn't work out how he got such a weird, unearthly sound... until now. Thanks for exploring and explaining.
I baught the wires plug in a few nights ago and I absolutely love it. Watching this makes me realise how accurate the team at AudioThing and Hainbach got the sound
This so much reminds me of listening to old MW radio back in the 1970s late at night. Much like the intermission piece on Kraftwerk's Radioactivity. It's got a really warm quality to it.
I used to like to wait until late at night and then "turn the dial with my hand until I found the short wave band"..... but in this age of the internet most of the funky stuff isn't on SW no more.
@@edgeeffect Oh God yes - it was Radio Luxembourg for me. Then sometimes if I got bored or the signal was so poor and wandering, I'd do the same. Some of those weird SW broadcasts were amazing.
@@edgeeffectthere’s still some fascinating stuff on SW, MW, and LW! And with all the free SDRs available online you can dial along the spectrum from many more locations than just your home :)
That's probably the coolest thing I've seen all week. It's the thing I didn't know I needed, until now. The sound is so haunting! My god, so cool. It reminds me of those number station recordings.
Such a beautiful machine. That Valve in the middle of the front panel is beautiful also. Sound design really allows us to find new ways to appreciate old technology. Thanks for this great video. RUclips needs more clever creativity like this.
Quite unusual, as wire recording in other parts of the world was already well on the wane by the mid 1950s, and almost unheard of by the early 1960s. Tape was where it was at, except in exceptionally harsh environments such as satellite data recording. Regards.
The sound is very gritty and awesome, right after this video I actually looked to see If I can snag one on ebay just for fun...you definitely took the nicest one ^_^ what a beautiful piece of equipment! thanks so much for sharing this piece of history with us!
I so want a wire player! Ages ago, while visiting my great-aunt and great-uncle, in the same box as a wooden stereo viewer and hundreds of sepia 3-D postcards, in a closet I found spools of thin, fragile wire - I unfortunately tangled one up hopelessly, but left the rest alone… today I know they were wire recordings, probably belonging in a recording museum, but I have no idea what became of that box. The treasures we overlook…! You are so lucky (and talented, and inspired) to do what you do, and I LOVE you revitalizing these Jurassic technologies as contemporary art! THANK you for sharing not only the results, but the discovery and the process with us as well, I love these journeys so much!
Also, ages ago, you replied to a comment of mine with some very helpful links to videos of you demonstrating a number of Ciat-Lonbarde synths together! I did follow the links, and enjoyed the demos muchly, but then I somehow lost track of the original comment thread, never found it again, and thus didn’t thank you for the links… which now nags at me frequently, lol. So, very belatedly but sincerely, thank you for those links! ❤️
I ran across this recently and became somewhat obsessed with the sound of wire recorders, and followed the mention of Halim El-Dabh. He turned out to be someone i had never heard of, despite being interested in tape/ music concrete stuff for years. So far I've only managed to get one of his albums, but wow, it's impressive! Anyone interested in this sort of stuff, needs to check him out if you havent already!
The wire would be good in a fire because it won't melt, however heating up anything magnetic ruins any magnetic properties it has, so would still most likely only offer a small benefit over tape in some circumstances
Warning! The little philips radio at 2:12 has a mains referenced chassis! The shafts of the switch/potentiometer can be live with mains, depending on how the mains plug is in the socket. It needs isolated knobs for safety.
Amazing. I've been fascinated by wire recorders since I've learned that Martin Stig Andersen, sound designer for game Limbo used one. I think it has to be the ultimate fancy toy for a sound designer, I can't think of any device with cool-factor as high as this one.
Sounds a lot like Boards Of Canada's stuff. Their music is usually based on the nostalgia of the 60s and 70s and it always has that scratchy, dreamlike sound of long past memories.
This is exactly the content I come for. Some weirdly amazing yet obsolete piece of technology I have never heard of, being turned into weirdly amazing art that I don't understand (I mean this in the best way possible).
I knew about wire recorders and was terribly fascinated by them and the concept... I did not know they were made so recently as the 70s, and have been dreaming of how it would sound to bring them into modern day music, so this is a very personally satisfying video to my curiosity, and I’d really wish someone would put them into a modern indie production, or pedal.
You should check out soviet delay units, those are very unique sounding and noisy. My personal favorite are рх-1000(has a great preamp and modulation) and лм-1229(its feedback character depends on eq settings, not as noisy as рх)
That was my first thought when i learned about wire recorders! I want to make a tape delay 😁 I had the idea to take some audio, put it through to the recording head, and play back with a play head on a linear motor. Also include a power starve for the player head motors to adjust speed in real time! Imagine how crazy that would be! You have the already amazing sound of the wire, all the imperfections, and also the delay, then alter the input speed and / or output speed, while adjusting your delay time.. oooo yes lol
Very cool use of wire recording! You can actually get some higher quality from these machines too although there are often issues after several uses if the wire doesnt spool properly.
![Kumamoto Masters Japan 2024 | Gregoria Mariska Tunjung (INA) [5] vs. Akane Yamaguchi (JPN) [2] | F](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/EIjZybhsWqA/mqdefault.jpg)
Check out the plugin I made of it: www.audiothing.net/effects/wires/
This is taking the term "lo-fi" to an entirely new and haunting level.
I'm so in love with this - looking forward to all the music you'll create using this
Super lo-fi
Usually don’t care about this stuff but it sounds amazing. Authentically haunting.
check out sovietwave music genre
“Synthesiser sounds like broken memories” - quote of the day !
I love the way you’re express yourself in English
That "Chernobyl" vibe when you played with the Juno at 1:39 omg
"The ghost of the past caught in a metal cage." Well said, it is a truly wonderful find. Thank you for the exploration of this device! Liked!
We should add some delay.
Most people: "Sure. Which plug-in shall we use?"
Hainbach: "I'll fire up the cold war wire recorder."
Hahah, well put. 🙃
Most People:"Let's use a tape delay plug in so we can sound like Boards of Canada."
Boards of Canada: "Let's use a cold war wire recorder so we can sound like Hainbach."
I found this video, and then I find you here :)
Just an FYI, it’s not nearly as cool but easier to obtain and no foam, but you can get in the neighborhood with Pulsar’s Echorec, a magnetic drum emulation plugin.
Hainbach: hold my bier
Honestly one of these would be perfect used for the OST of a post apocalyptic game set in the Soviet Union. Both eerie and haunting, yet sad and emotional. Like a lonely Russian man staring at the wastes of Moscow, afraid of what mutants might lurk in the buildings, whilst tearing up remembering his life before the end of the world, begging god for just one more moment with his friends and loved ones, for just one more moment in his old life, hoping he’ll never come across the remains of his wife and child as he searches for what little food remains in the broken city.
The broken city need not be anymore. Juno sends her regards, in not every shadow lay a dagger and all hearts weigh heavy with the knowledge immemorium. But the Euphrates ebs and flows among our banks, and with it a peace. As the Lunar moon rises so too shall a peaceful lullaby accompany us, from the Forest Swords, from the Sleeping, from Silhouttes to Ghosst(s) to the statues of even the oldest temples, and let the resonances be that of good omen, as I all but assure. The Lady, The Swan, The Cobra. For now, my steed carries my lance away proudly. Clear skies forever, on our little picnic and good forecasts from the north. Let us embrace those held before as shadows, the suns light shines free on us today. It is but a passing thought whispered as the emerald dream fades and reality comes to focus.
Makes everything sound like Boards of Canada.
I got Aphex Twin vibes from this.
@@KommentarSpaltenKrieger I got Caretaker vibes. ruclips.net/video/wJWksPWDKOc/видео.html
@@greatheightsu Oh yeah, listened to the whole album from first to last stage. The first stage was able to give me the horror, so the following stages weren't actually needed anymore.
BOC sounds more subtle. This machine sounds extremely distorted in comparison.
@@martijn_nl BOC uses the same technique, but with normal tape recorders
No amount of DSP modelling could ever reproduce this effect accurately. There's a formidable new challenge for Pete Celi at Strymon. Great find, great demo. Thanks for sharing.
I've never, ever, EVER heard of a wire recorder, and it sounds so beautiful!
You should check out Techmoan, and Technology connections. You're in for a treat!
Echorec is the same tech i believe:-) oldschool wire/drum. very cool video thank you!!
Watch Techmoan!
Oh wait someone already said that.
I don’t know it “beautiful” is the right word...lol!... but it definitely sounds interesting and intriguing.
@@plexus Beautiful is in the ear of the beholder.
A friend of my father had a wire recorder, and he demoed it for us when we visited his house back in the 1950s. It's the first "home" recording device I ever saw or heard. I don't know where it was made. I was fascinated by his machine and thought it a marvel, but it never sounded this musical!
Congratulations, Hainbach, on being featured on Ableton's channel!
This is stuff from the former DDR ... and the people you hear on the recordings have a saxon dialect. Of course they do. Why should it be otherwise? *sighs XD
"De Ziehlä werd'n nüsch gemeldüt, nur wenn se audonom arbeid'n!"
I wondered why it had German writing, and not Russian.
@@5roundsrapid263
What do you mean? The DDR (eastern Germany) didn't import as much technology from the "motherland" Russia as people think. This former country was poor, but the manufacturers were pretty inventive to build functional and durable stuff with what little they had at hand.
As we can see in this video, the devices still work.
Andreas Wehrmann I posted that before I saw the whole video. The thumbnail said “Soviet”, and the manual was in Russian. It says “Passport” in Russian, but misspelled.
Im pretty sure the device has a custom DDR Case but the manual is just in russian.
@@ZunaZurugi Everyone in the DDR had to learn Russian as a second language next to German back then.
Like how nowadays people learn English as a second language next to their native language.
So the manual in Russian isn't that much of a surprise.
I’d love to see somebody model this thing for a VST
. . . 😃
@@Hainbach oh good, I thought I'd have to buy one too
it just happened :)
The tune played at 8:27 sounds like something a Number Station would broadcast, I love it
Yes, like the "Lincolnshire Poacher" station
Feedback from analog echoes is the most wonderful sound
2:52 the translations are accurate, but he wasn't asking "do you read?". All he said was "1293 - Hier ist 1290 - kommen"
2019: people using plugins for Lo-Fi
2020: Soviet Wire Recorder
2021: I am using a Plugin of a Soviet Wire Recorder for Lo-Fi
Fascinating video. I’d never heard a wire recorder before and it has a very evocative, eerie sound. The self-oscillation echoes remind me of Tristram Cary’s radiophonic soundtrack for the first Dalek story in Doctor Who (1963-4).
This is the kind of thing it reminded me of... ruclips.net/video/QPuRiJIlYOA/видео.html
Your voice was instantly taken back in time on that recorder! What an interesting sound.
Back last year I heard an album on bandcamp that a Russian who recorded under the name Staruha Mha made about 20 years ago and I couldn't work out how he got such a weird, unearthly sound... until now.
Thanks for exploring and explaining.
Not about exact this kind of sound, but you might have some interest if search for "Стук бамбука в XI часов" and "Der Golem" on RUclips
I baught the wires plug in a few nights ago and I absolutely love it.
Watching this makes me realise how accurate the team at AudioThing and Hainbach got the sound
This so much reminds me of listening to old MW radio back in the 1970s late at night. Much like the intermission piece on Kraftwerk's Radioactivity. It's got a really warm quality to it.
I used to like to wait until late at night and then "turn the dial with my hand until I found the short wave band"..... but in this age of the internet most of the funky stuff isn't on SW no more.
@@edgeeffect Oh God yes - it was Radio Luxembourg for me. Then sometimes if I got bored or the signal was so poor and wandering, I'd do the same. Some of those weird SW broadcasts were amazing.
@@edgeeffectthere’s still some fascinating stuff on SW, MW, and LW! And with all the free SDRs available online you can dial along the spectrum from many more locations than just your home :)
That really is hauntingly beautiful
That's probably the coolest thing I've seen all week. It's the thing I didn't know I needed, until now. The sound is so haunting! My god, so cool. It reminds me of those number station recordings.
Such a beautiful machine. That Valve in the middle of the front panel is beautiful also. Sound design really allows us to find new ways to appreciate old technology. Thanks for this great video. RUclips needs more clever creativity like this.
It sounds like the quality of that song they play daily over loudspeakers in Pyongyang
Yes, first thing I thought
Quite unusual, as wire recording in other parts of the world was already well on the wane by the mid 1950s, and almost unheard of by the early 1960s. Tape was where it was at, except in exceptionally harsh environments such as satellite data recording. Regards.
The sound is very gritty and awesome, right after this video I actually looked to see If I can snag one on ebay just for fun...you definitely took the nicest one ^_^ what a beautiful piece of equipment! thanks so much for sharing this piece of history with us!
I so want a wire player! Ages ago, while visiting my great-aunt and great-uncle, in the same box as a wooden stereo viewer and hundreds of sepia 3-D postcards, in a closet I found spools of thin, fragile wire - I unfortunately tangled one up hopelessly, but left the rest alone… today I know they were wire recordings, probably belonging in a recording museum, but I have no idea what became of that box. The treasures we overlook…!
You are so lucky (and talented, and inspired) to do what you do, and I LOVE you revitalizing these Jurassic technologies as contemporary art! THANK you for sharing not only the results, but the discovery and the process with us as well, I love these journeys so much!
Also, ages ago, you replied to a comment of mine with some very helpful links to videos of you demonstrating a number of Ciat-Lonbarde synths together! I did follow the links, and enjoyed the demos muchly, but then I somehow lost track of the original comment thread, never found it again, and thus didn’t thank you for the links… which now nags at me frequently, lol. So, very belatedly but sincerely, thank you for those links! ❤️
Your channel might be about music not clandestine surveillance, but those recordings are possibly the most fascinating part. Amazing.
I love the rich noise and distortion effect, it's awesome!
This is peak Hainbach.
:-)
What about the wax recorders? lol
This as a plug in is so great. Something new and fresh in a world of delays that just fall into the same 3 categories....
Love your "vintage gear" videos, thank you so much for sharing.
Taking tape echo to a whole new level! The wire recorder makes any instument into a time machine!
that synth recording sounded awesome!
That page flip technique is on fleek!
I ran across this recently and became somewhat obsessed with the sound of wire recorders, and followed the mention of Halim El-Dabh.
He turned out to be someone i had never heard of, despite being interested in tape/ music concrete stuff for years. So far I've only managed to get one of his albums, but wow, it's impressive!
Anyone interested in this sort of stuff, needs to check him out if you havent already!
The wire would be good in a fire because it won't melt, however heating up anything magnetic ruins any magnetic properties it has, so would still most likely only offer a small benefit over tape in some circumstances
This was absolutely beautiful, maybe it could be the base and the beginning idea for the next HAINBACH plugin? oh man that would be just great!!
Awesome idea actually 😂
I would definitely love a wire recorder plugin! I don't have the studio space/money for the physical unit but I love the sound
Make a plugin!
@ lol
Thank you very much for this. Very inspiring. I’m a film sound designer from Brazil and discovered your channel a few weeks ago.
Am I the only one wondering how mesmerizing it is to see Hainbach turning the pages (0:53) ?
Warning! The little philips radio at 2:12 has a mains referenced chassis! The shafts of the switch/potentiometer can be live with mains, depending on how the mains plug is in the socket.
It needs isolated knobs for safety.
It's like a real tape delay but has a nice unique timbre. I like it.
Wasn’t too convinced by how useful this would be til you showed it as an echo: Great-sounding!
It sounds like your Destruction Loops project, except without the long wait, and the sharp implements! :-D
When Hainbach says "Musique Concrète" it's so soft to my french ears
I'd love to hear an electric guitar thru this!
Sounds great with vst through guitar. Though the demo version is fully functional.
Amazing. I've been fascinated by wire recorders since I've learned that Martin Stig Andersen, sound designer for game Limbo used one. I think it has to be the ultimate fancy toy for a sound designer, I can't think of any device with cool-factor as high as this one.
Getting the microphone and book blows my mind
dude the sound of that device is awesome!
Very beautiful and evocative sounds, put me in mind of the 60s/70s 'Out of the Unknown' sci-fi series.
Praise indeed. :)
I love the forbidden number stationy feels this thing has
Thank you for talking about Halim El-Dabh on your channel. More people need to know about "Expressions of Zaar".
Agreed!
Incredible! The condition is perfect, and it sounds very interesting too. I would probably describe it as melancholy and haunting .
Lord this thing just SOUNDS cool just processing the audio, awesome find!
Sounds a lot like Boards Of Canada's stuff. Their music is usually based on the nostalgia of the 60s and 70s and it always has that scratchy, dreamlike sound of long past memories.
Techmoan Huang over here
Ahahahahahahhahahahahahaha
AAaaargh! C'mon Hainbach! I'm trying to get my hands on one of those for months, now they will be even more rare than hen's teeth....
I love that you have made your own Binson Echorec of sorts. Very well done!
Very "Dazzle Ships" Hainbach, I love it!
Man juno thru that recorder sounds AMAZING
A very lovely test report in a new outa space beside Roland 501 and Binsen echoes :-)
Magic. The sound of distant short-wave broadcasts from behind the iron curtain.
This is exactly the content I come for. Some weirdly amazing yet obsolete piece of technology I have never heard of, being turned into weirdly amazing art that I don't understand (I mean this in the best way possible).
that thing is so badass!! truly a unique sound
Gorgeous sound. Thanks for sharing.
I knew about wire recorders and was terribly fascinated by them and the concept...
I did not know they were made so recently as the 70s, and have been dreaming of how it would sound to bring them into modern day music, so this is a very personally satisfying video to my curiosity, and I’d really wish someone would put them into a modern indie production, or pedal.
Too cool. Never new such a thing existed. Just bought the plug-in 😅
Every time you plug and unplug and the entire totem of equipment wiggles I hold my breath until it's clear it won't topple.
The synths recorded onto the wire really reminded me of Lo-Fi Dungeon Synth band Trollmann Av Ildtoppberg.
Never heard of them before and now I’m very happy I have, thank you
I was drawing checked my RUclips for five seconds and saw the recommendations.
The art can wait the art is calling.
Lol, same for me 😂
I absolutely love the sound!!!
You should check out soviet delay units, those are very unique sounding and noisy. My personal favorite are рх-1000(has a great preamp and modulation) and лм-1229(its feedback character depends on eq settings, not as noisy as рх)
very nice tape recordings too!
That was my first thought when i learned about wire recorders! I want to make a tape delay 😁
I had the idea to take some audio, put it through to the recording head, and play back with a play head on a linear motor. Also include a power starve for the player head motors to adjust speed in real time! Imagine how crazy that would be!
You have the already amazing sound of the wire, all the imperfections, and also the delay, then alter the input speed and / or output speed, while adjusting your delay time.. oooo yes lol
Really, really interesting history and application!
What a beautiful sounding technology !
Now I want one as well
This was so so cool. Amazing history and even better reuse
Absolutely fantastic. Thank you Hainbach!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Very cool use of wire recording!
You can actually get some higher quality from these machines too although there are often issues after several uses if the wire doesnt spool properly.
Wow great find, amazing technology .
So friggin' awesome. Thank you for sharing.
Oh good, another piece of antiquated tech that I need to try!
That is my eternal state of mind 😋
The PR-K inputs are for a thermocouple connection, probably to trigger the autorecording based on a temperature signal.
You always come up with some of the most interesting devices and test equipment Hainbach! Great video as usual!! Many thanks!🙏
So jealous! I love the sound of these, and recreating the tone is so time consuming. Must go and listen to The Lincolnshire Poacher now...
This sounds so retro and experimental too ☕
Also you could hide 4h of recording as ordinary wire for technical use or something.
Always a bunch of cool references in your videos. Excelent content👏👏👏👏
Thanks for exposing us to a piece of history that night have been lost. I subbed, very interesting and in-depth channel!
Welcome! There is a lot more like this on my channel, and I plan to do more.
Wow. This is absolutely amazing.
now this is some proper distortion.
as always, thank you for the knowledge. now to dig one up....
This should be a plug-in someday,
You are the coolest hainbach
Just picked mine up. Audiothings "reels" is friggen amazing too
Holy SHIT that adds such a haunting soundscape!!
The self oscillating makes me think of space 2000 series.