Recording Audio Tapes

[Joe K]

Hi everyone. I have several old 4 track dbx encoded multitrack tapes I want to record into Harrison 32c and I was curious as to the best way to do it. Is it better to do blocks of 4 or 5 songs and then divide it up (which would be less labor intensive) or individual songs. Also, is there an easy way to divide a multiple song group into individual songs? There must be someone else out there that is a hopeless nostalgic, like me that has done this before. TIA...

[Jostein]

Four tracks tape? Then I would mix every song one by one.


And for dividing into many songs, I would split that file into the songs and place them on each own track in a project. This post might give you the idea:

https://forum.harrisonconsoles.com/thread-9302.html

[Dingo]

If you are salvaging off old tape there is a good chance the oxide bindings may be unstable.
The longer you run the more the oxide sheds on the heads and this increases the friction so the head contact heats  up. This can lead to the tape sticking on the heads.
Best to do a track at a time, then clean the heads and tape guides with alcohol wipes.
If the shedding is really bad you will need to have the tapes baked to stabilise the oxide glues.
If you hear high pitched noise as the tape travels across the heads you may be in trouble.
If you do bake you will get one run only to salvage.
Will pop some links in about archiving magnetic later in the day.

[Joe K]

Thanks guys. These tapes are from 1987 to 1989, so yes taking care is very important to me. So far there doesn't seem to be any flaking or major oxidation. I always took care of them. Always in a case with plastic bag and in a cabinet with desicant bags as a dehumidifier.

[Dingo]

Much depends on the brand of tape, in 1989 I worked on the movie Dead Calm.
The 24 track Master tapes were supposedly stored in archival conditions. In 2000 we had to re lift the material.
What we found was shocking binding decay and oxide shedding. We had to send the tapes to Ampex for baking and only just made it through one run to get the material off.
Tape formulae changed in the early 80's due to US environmental laws and this most directly effected US manufacturers.
By comparison in 2000 I re lifted material from the 40's through to 90's that was on BASF / AGFA tape and had no issues at all.
It's as much the storage conditions as the stability of the materials you have.

[Joe K]

I almost find it hard to believe that there is something in audio tape that is damaging to the environment. Maybe people were throwing old tape into the ocean and sea turtles were getting it wrapped around their necks.