Conference napalm::commusic_v1

    I notice a dropout on one channel during the opening of "Just For
    Kicks". (S1, T1, C1) Dave Bottom.
    
    Where'd dat kum from?
    
    Edd

    Side 1, Tape 1, Cut 1?
    
    I'll listen again, I think I do recall noting something to that
    effect.
    
    How about a startup "slur" at the beginning of Moeller's Toccatta
    (sic; Toccata is the "preferred" spelling).  Can't tell if it's
    in the piece or a copying gremlin, mine or Brad's.  Side 2, Tape 1,
    Cut 1.

    Overall the quality's pretty good for a third or fourth generation
    tape:  submitter's master, submitted tape, Brad's master, personal
    copy.
    
    I assume we're all treating Brad's master with kid gloves?  No playback
    in el cheapo scratchaphonic tape eaters?
    
    len.
    
     

    The tabs WERE NOT punched out... they are now!! (A particularly
    nasty circumstance, since the RECORD button on my new deck is
    located in the same position as the EJECT button on my old!!!)
    
    However, the dropout is definitely NOT a case of "punch-in" erasure.
    Only one chanell gets affected....
    
    Edd who_cleaned_and_demaged_before_every_copy

    Already there's slurs on my music... and this isn't even the 'reviews'
    topic. 
    
    Seriously, 'Toccatta' begins clean. Must've happened during duping.
    
    Looking forward to hearing it.
    
    karl moeller sws tucson

    re .3 - hey Edd, give me a break - I read "demaged" too fast (another
    "g", as in "demagged", would have helped) and I thought you were
    bragging about "cleaning and damaging" your machine or the tape!
    
    len.
    

Re: .1
    
    I noticed that, too.  Seems that the dropout was on Mr. Dave's tape
    (set finger/point_at=BOTTOM).  I tried to boost once, but it caused a
    lot of yuck, so I left well enough alone.   I didn't think it affected
    his performance much, though.  8-)
    
Re: .2
    
    A slur on Tocatta????  I don't remember a slur of any sort.  Oh, well,
    I knew someone would find a nit (no flames intended).  Wonder if it's
    on the master?  Whoever has the master, post and let us know.  Tocatta
    is 1st song, 2nd side ...
    
8^)

    Ok I'll take the hit....never did like TDK tape...now you know why.
    I checked it though before I sent it and thought it was Ok. Well
    maybe better next time.....if I ever record again.....;_)
    
    dave

    Dave - are you saying the dropout's on your submission?
    
    I think this has happened to me too, and I almost always use Maxell,
    and TDK only when I can't get Maxell.  It's really obnoxious when
    the tape has sequencer or patch data on it!  I think ALL tape is
    susceptible to this, no brand is immune.  Of course, the more tape
    you consume and the more critically you listen to it, the more likely
    this is to be a "problem".
    
    I wouldn't feel so bad about it - dropouts like that are hard to
    hear unless you monitor through headphones or listen to only one
    channel at a time - that's the only way I could hear the dropout
    in Just for Kicks.

    len.
    

    I hope they didn't break when they hit -30!  ;^)
    
    Never occurred to me to LOOK!  (No VU meters on my car's deck either).
    
    len.
    

    Does anyone have any comments on the overall "sound" of the tape
    itself?  Too noisy?  Too distorted?  Not enough gain?  Etc.?
    
    I'd really like to hear your overall opinions.  (And, no, I'm NOT
    fishing for a complement.  8-)

8^)

    REAL CLEAN, except for MY stuff (profuse smiley faces)
    
    The TDK SA90 I was copying to had some bad dropouts near the end
    of side two ('I like sex, I _____ your parents')
    
    seriously. good job. VERY close to my originals.
    
    karl moeller
    
    ps don't tumble over each other to post those listening reviews
    !

    Considering the number of generations, the tape quality is EXCELLENT.
    Even if you're not fishing, you get a compliment from me for superb
    engineering in the face of a major challenge.
    
    My review is in the works.  I've been making notes on my copy of
    the "liner notes" as I think of things.  Maybe next week.

    len.
    

    Listen Brad, I don't wanna burst your bubble or anything, but I
    heard distinct "pops" between a couple of the submissions.
    
    This is unacceptable!!!! ;^)
    
    Seriously, the quality of the tape was great. It even held up
    fairly well on the Xth generation tapes I made.
    
    I'll be sending you all my tapes for mastering. Hope you don't mind.
    
    Edd

    I too will second (or is it third, or fourth...) the praise on tape 
    quality - my copy is very good for a third or fourth generation.
    Though its a bit noisy, I've gotten used to tape noise.  Seems my
    brain automatically "filters" out the noise on its own (do I have
    to pay royalties to Dolby for this "feature"?;^) ).  Look Brad!  
    I've invented a new "face":  ?;^)
    
    You can be proud of your work Brad.  But it also seems that you
    have been trying to get us to forget the fact that you also create
    your own music.  Where are your submissions?  Cold feet, eh. :-)
    
    Todd.
    
    

    Len, No I'm not aying that the dropout was on my submission, but
    I think Brad did....oh well it's definately not on the master tape,
    I listened. However, dropout is the reason I generally avoid TDK
    tape it seems to be worse than Maxell in that respect, but a case
    of ten for $14.95 was too hard to pass up and I was using it for
    second generation mixdowns and stuff like that to send out to friends
    so I figured I could get away with it.....but you guys are too sharp
    for me. :-)
    
    dave

    Well, for all the bitching we do about cassettes as a medium, I
    for one am pretty impressed by what you can get out of a tape 1/8"
    wide moving at 1 7/8 ips, shared by 4 tracks (that's a track width
    of less than 1/16"!).  I mean, I expect a certain level of performance
    out of a 1st generation 1/2" 15 ips tape; for it to be even reasonable
    to compare that to a 5th generation cassette copy says a lot about
    how far magnetic recording technology has come in the last two decades.
    (It also says a lot about Brad's engineering!)
    
    len.
    

Re: .15 (where's your stuff?)
    
    I've been so busy making master tapes that I haven't had time to get
    anything together.  Believe it or not, I really don't have much of my
    own stuff on tape - it's all in my head.

    BTW - I liked your new face { ?;^) } - should we call you curly-locks? 
    
Re: .16 (and Dave's dropout in general)
    
    I relistened to Mr. Bottom's submission, JUST to make sure that it was
    not ME that was in error and - er, well ... 
    
    Looks like I screwed up.  Brain damage - reboot.  Apology queued.
    
Re: Compliments
    
    Egad.  Set blush=true.  I guess I did alright, in spite of Mr. Cote's
    comments about pops (but then, I'm always popping off).  And, just for
    the record, Len, the 144 is a 3.75 ips machine.  But it's STILL
    incredible that we can do what we can.
    
8^) 

    The 'slur' at the beginning of Tape1 Side B Cut 1, 'Toccatta', is
    due to the fact that it begins SO CLOSE to the leader that if your
    tape leader is any longer, that it clips off the first bar and a
    half of the piece... thus starting in midmeasure... so duplicators
    be aware..
    
    karl moeller (Guesting in mr03)

    a small observation. I noticed a marked difference in the levels
    between say my stuff (quite loud), and say Mr. Arnold's stuff (very
    quiet). Some of this is due to the difference in the style of the
    music itsef, but some of this must have been on the original master
    tape. It's just that the softer songs have a much higher S/N ratio
    than the louder material.
    
    dave
          

    Hmm maybe this doesn't belong here, but I didn't want to corrupt
    the review note :-)
    
    Brad, I don't use my whammy much as I'm not real comfortable with
    it and in some ways, effects etc. I'm a bit of a minimalist, so
    now you know why I waited most of the song to use it. I agree that
    it would have been appropriate to use more of it in "Just for Kicks".
    
    Todd fav groups are: Deep Purple, Little Feat, The Nighthawks,
    STRAWBS!, Older Yes, Dave Gilmore's solo stuff (the floyd is a little
    too obnoxious in the vocals/words for me after Dark side), Pete
    Townshend's solo albums (especially Chinese eyes), Missippi Fred
    McDowell (love them delta blues), Anything with Duane Allman on
    slide, anything with Joe Walsh on slide, Jeff Beck, Santanna, ZZ
    Top, and of course Blind Lemon Shitlins :-) :-).
    
    Hmm, it's hard to write a song with feeling about acid rain..... 
    
    Thanks to all for the reviews, I'm mostly flattered, and for those
    who weren't as flattering, thanks also. It's harder to get over
    the good reviews than the less than good ones.
    
    What this tape did for me: (Perhaps this should have it's own topic)
    
    It gave me a chance to compare myself in several ways to others
    in the professional world who are working on the side in music,
    nobody's goals are quite the same, but that's ok too. After the
    comparison, I feel good about my work, I got a better perspective
    on where I'm at. I also got the chance to hear some styles of music
    that I otherwise would have remained insluated from, Karl Moeller,
    Edd Cote's, even Todd Rhodes songs, which are beginning to grow
    on me, have stimulated some thought and I now have more projects
    in mind than I can easily handle in the near future. I listen to
    the production work on Dave D's stuff and realize that there's life
    after four track :-). Hmm, it's easy to get the hardware hots listening
    to his stuff. I guess I've rambled enough...Thanks to all.
    
    dave

    
    David
    
    Try Red Rain on the Peter Gabrial Album "SO"
    
    					Paul
    

    Paul thanks, I'm not much for the Gabe but I'll see if I can come
    up with a copy....
    
    re: .21 That's Blind Melon Chitlins, dummy me. :-)
    

    Oh boy, PG is one of my favorites!  Geez Dave, we're not that far
    removed from each other after all.  My first group of interest ever
    was Deep Purple.  Ian Paice was a big influence to me.  Also like
    some Little Feat and Older ZZTop (bluejean blues, etc.).  I'm also
    a Joe Walsh fan (The smoker you drink(!!!), But Seriously folks),
    and of course a Jeff Beck fan.  I also like the older Yes, older
    (and very old) Pink Floyd, and what I've heard of the Strawbs.
    
    I will have to start a new note.
    
    Todd.
    

    
    re .-1 You're probably right. I think the issue is now subjective
    understanding of lyrics. I always thought it was about the old acid
    stuff. But now you come to mention it and after listening again,
    I haven't got a clue what it's about. BTW Red Rain is also the name
    of a Race Horse.
                                                              
    				Paul.
    	P.S. All us Midi people should listen to this album, it's an
    education. Especially the Piano in the middle eight on Don't Give
    Up.
    
    					

    You mean Kate Bush is MIDI?
    

    
    It's just  a question of pushing the right buttons.
    
    				Paul.