Loopy & Moo.

[ToddM@LaserMaster.Com]

Re:  Moo:
Why not Moo?  Moo is the cow sound.  Looping it becomes an OM like 
reverberance.

Re: VHS HiFi Head Switching Noise:
Odd.  Can anyone shed light on this occurrence?  I'm not hearing this on 
mine, even in
headphones but I might not be as audio anal as some.  

Loop Storage:
Just to give you an idea regarding how I store the loops is like this.  My 
profuse
apologies to DAT fans, but I don't have DAT yet (and likely won't for a 
while, I'd
much rather have an Echoplex!)...Here's how to store loops on VHS hi-fi 
videotapes.

o Take the RCA line-outs from the mixer of my four-track into the 
front-mounted
   RCA jacks on my VCR.   Use decent, shielded RCA cables, not "chez 
Plastic" brand
   for the best signal transfer.

   Note: Make sure your recording levels are not going to be going into 
the red.  
            remember that most VCRs have an analog preamp for this kind of 
thing
            and you might want to avoid creaming it or your tape WILL 
sound bad.

            A good way of monitoring the sound levels is to insert a 
stereo cassette
            deck with LED / flourescent metering AFTER the VCR to adjust 
levels on
            the 4-track recorder.

            Another way I do it is this way, which is a bit more 
complicated:
  
             4-track to Barcus-Berry Sonic Maximizer, BBE into VCR, after 
the
             VCR we have the aforementioned JVC cassette deck for level 
monitoring
             and from there into a Rotel integrated amplifier and from 
there into
             headphones or my monitor system.
             
             The BBE process some of you may be familiar with, but it adds 
some
             audio sweetening.

             If I really want to get into a complicated territory, I can 
add my 
             complete looping rig into the effects loop of the four track 
recorder
             for additional processing (Vortex / SGE / Studio Preamp, ad 
infinitum)..

o Start the VCR recording on a fresh, good quality (not cheapie tapes, the 
good stuff).
   Before recording, take the new tape and fast forward all the way to the 
end and rewind.
   Record for five minutes silence in order to get a good header on the 
tape (what are you
   crying about missing five minutes for?  The tape stores eight hours fer 
chrissakes...)

o Record loops.  Play back.  Enjoy.  Store them.  You could also create 
EXTREMELY long
   loops (like the end of "Walking on Air" by King Crimson in concert - 
Fripp would set
   his loopers to peter out long after he left the auditorium....but set 
maximum loopage
   for loops that last HOURS...)  Some video tapes are 8-9 hours in 
length, could create
   maxloop!  But for the most part.   

   NOTE:  the longer the tape, the riskier the long term storage of same.  
The 120 tapes
   which are 6 hours in length are probably safest.  You should use the 
standard methods
   of how tapes are to be stored, but I doubt you'll need to store them 
tails-out as it were.

Kim:
You finally did it.  I gotta get an echoplex.  I'm going bananas.  By next 
spring, by hook
or by crook.  Agk.