Conference napalm::commusic_v1

73.0. "tape-bow violin" by PIPA::JANZEN () Mon Mar 18 1985 16:29

This has nothing to do with computers, but:

I sort of built a tape-bow violin, like Laurie Anderson's.  I bought
a quadraphonic 1/4" tape head at Delta Electronics in amesbury.  I guessed
about how to tie the four heads together in phase (it may be wrong), soldered
it onto an audio coax (also soldering the cable shield to the head casing)
and plugged it directly into the phono input of my hi fi. 

Then I recorded a spoken phrase on 1/4" tape (at 7.5ips, I meant to use
3 3/4 ips, which  admits a longer phrase), and cut it out of the tape with
a razor blade, and taped the recorded message onto one of my violin bows,
being careful to put the head of the tape at the nut of the bow, so that
a down-bow would play the tape forwards.

I turned on the hi-fi, and drew the the bow across the head (held in my
hand, I have yet to mount it) and it worked moderately well.  I could
hear my recorded message, play it at different speeds (speed is hard to
control) and backwards and forwards.  When I mount it I will add a tape
guide to keep the tape over the play heads.

Ideally, the tape head and the recorded tape should both be full track
single channel, but I couldn't find that head, and don't have such a
recorder anyway.

Thomas

Another idea for your Bow Tape:

Find or buy a cheap old reel to reel. $25 max.
Unsolder the wires going to the head (some experimentation may be necessary
    to determine playback from record)
Either trace the wires back to the circuit board and solder your signal
    wires there, or just splice 'em.
You may have to defeat any existing switches in the tape path, such as those
    on a tensioner arm.
Put the deck into PLAY. You now get some eq for your signal closer to what
    was originally intended.

This may work better for you than wiring the head in series and using the
phono preamps eq.

-seymour-

re; -1
I thought about that, but first I have to find a full-track machine.
It's difficult to keep the channels recorded on the tape over the gaps on the
head.  Both tape heads and phono carts are inductive loads and have similar
eq, except for the RIAA std.
Thomas