We’ve been a bit quiet since last year on our blog here primarily because we have been processing large, ongoing audio archiving digital migration job for Mood Media Ltd

In essence audio archiving, digital migration, transfer or digitisation, whatever term you prefer, is conceptually simple, one analogue or digital format is moved to another, usually digital, format.  It is in the details of this process that things can get complex requiring experience, specialised tools and often custom-built solutions.

This job has many factors not just attaining the best analogue transfers but also addressing the organisation of such a large amount of 10.5″ reels, their digital management once migrated and the creation and management of metadata.

The archive, dating from the 1950′s up the early 90′s, even though it had been stored in less than ideal conditions, is in generally good condition. An interesting and often fantastic sounding collection of recordings and music are evident all recorded at 15ips in mono, stereo and some encoded with Dolby A noise reduction.
There are specific issues with some tapes that are not uncommon with older audio tape:

• Binder hydrolysis or sticky shed syndrome (SSS) has affected a significant proportion of the archive in particular Ampex branded tapes from the 1980′s onwards.
• Some glue used in spices from the 1980′s spreads over time and tends to stick layers of tape adjacent to the splice together. This can be a very frustrating problem which rarely damages the tape but affects the tape tension on certain sections so that head to tape contact is momentarily lost and a very obvious audio glitch noticed.

The Analogue side is important to get correct initially but the management of the data is critical with such a large number of reels and individual artists and tracks. Each batch of tapes would be catalogued in a .csv file. The digital audio transfers were split into individual tracks which then had to be renamed based on the data in the .csv file. This was handled by some php coding which matched the metadata supplied with the files, checking for inconsistencies then renaming the .wav files on one of our servers.

This type of customised workflow can be tricky to setup initially and find the balance between accuracy and speed but once done a smooth workflow is possible maintaining high quality, accuracy and value.

We have recently worked on probably the worst looking tapes but with some of the best sounding music recordings we’ve seen for a while! A batch of 10.5″ NAB studio masters had bad tape mould growth.

Andy Leighton, owner of Bolex Brothers and music publisher of the Rocky Horror Show, found a batch of studio masters on quarter inch tape that had been growing mould for some of them over 30 years. All of these recordings had been made at the renowned Sound and Recording Mobile studios better known as SARM, later creative home of Trevor Horn.

Among these tapes was the first ever recording made at SARM in 1972 by Richard o’Brien, writer of the Rocky Horror Show, in addition to rare tracks by artists such as Kimi and Ritz.

When the tape mould was finally cleaned from the tapes and some of them baked for binder hydrolysis the quality of the recordings was very high and testament to the high quality available from analogue recording and even though tape can be vulnerable to physical problems it is also robust. If these had been tape based digital recordings, in the same condition, I doubt we’d have been able to achieve the same results.

We were contacted recently by Jack Hawkins, the renowned arranger and band leader to consult on and digitize personal quarter inch open reel recordings of his band.

In case you don’t know, The Jack Hawkins band are probably best known for their performance of the track 30-60-90 made famous in a club sequence in the 1971 film Get Carter starring Michael Caine.

The capstan drive in the BR20 is belt driven by a wide belt. Both belts in our machines looked OK but we’ve replaced all roller bearings, belts and pinch rollers in both of our machines anyway as a matter of course. These parts are still available from Teac UK via Acoustic Services on 01-844-347600.

Below is a simple explanation of how to change the capstan belt.

1. Unplug machine from mains power and move to a strong stable base.
2. Remove cross head screws from the rear panel and lift plate off. Depending on the type of plug in your country you may not be able to remove it completely.
3. You’ll now be able to see the capstan motor and it’s control board attached to it.
4. Remove the 4 cross head screws and gently lift the analogue audio output board away from the machine as in the picture above.
5. We now need to remove the whole capstan motor assembly with the control board still attached. Remove the 4 cross head screws right at the front of the assembly, NOT the six nearest to you when looking at this image. 
6. Carefully unclip the 4 cable connectors from the motor control board. The other connector cannot be removed from the board and must be removed where it connects to the other board.
7. The whole assembly can now be lifted out from the machine. Be careful to not snag any cables and remember to unclip the black cable ties.
8. You’ll now be able to unclip the control board from the assembly by carefully compressing the black clips with some needle nose pliers.
   
9. Now remove the six cross head screws holding the capstan motor assembly together. This is the only way to remove and refit the capstan belt. There’s not enough room to do it any other way!
10. Now you can remove the old belt and capstan shaft. It’s a good idea to clean the capstan with IPA where the old belt has run and reapply a little grease to the bearing end of the capstan.
11. Fit your new belt and reassembly is the reverse of dissasembly! Be careful though to not drop the screws into regions you can’t get them out of – luckily there aren’t that many on this machine but a long magnetic screwdriver is very useful.. just don’t get it anywhere near the headblock and heads!
    

This is something you don’t see everyday! An almost unused and boxed 1/4″ 2 track reel to reel tape machine, a Tascam BR20 one of their highest quality machines sometimes installed with a Timecode head for broadcast and editing applications.

This machine somehow turned up at an IT Recycling centre in Essex but is now in much safer hands transferring tapes, in particular a very large archive of library music on 10.5″ NAB reels owned by Mood Media Ltd.

As you can see this machine is in it’s original box, with packaging and first look at the heads show almost no head wear but some nasty oxide that took a while to clean off.

This machine needed little work to bring it back to spec, a new capstan belt, pinch roller, tape tension and speed setting and a full calibration.
The capstan belt change is the subject of another blog post here..

A recent addition to our video arsenal is this rare 1976 vintage 1/2″ colour reel to reel machine.

This has needed some work to get it functioning well such as new belts, hardened grease cleaned off the mechanism, etc but is now able to transfer colour recordings made in this format of reel to reel video.

A more detailed article on the repair of this will appear soon as will information about our other reel to reel video machines, the Hitachi / Shibaden EIAJ machine, the Sony CV-2100 skip field VTR and the enormous Ampex VPR-2B 1″ video machine… and we’ve got two of these!

Thanks to Rich at www.labguysworld.com for the JVC service manuals.

I recently bought an old Teac X7 4 track 1/4″ reel to reel. Seemed like a good deal and I took a chance. With large heavy items I always ask politely if they can ensure it’s packed with lots of bubble wrap in preferably two boxes. I even offer to send the packagin myself if they haven’t budgeted for that or can’t be bothered to wrap that well!

This is what I received after a few days of waiting. The seller seemed excited, saying he’d specially bought a box that cost over £10…

Reel to Reel packaging bottom

The whole of the bottom of the box had cracked and fallen away. If it hadn’t of been for the nice Parcelforce people who lined it with a bit of cardboard I wouldn’t have got anything.

There was a Teac X7 in it but it didn’t look pretty and is a perfect example of how heavy items can destroy themselves and the packaging if not packed correctly.

Reel to Reel packaging destroyed

Studer A80 RC reel spinning

Over the last few years we’ve gradually built up our equipment inventory so we can now offer a wide range of audio and video transfers.

We’re very happy to offer all track formats and speeds of 1/4 inch reel to reel tape transfer.

15 inches per second (ips) and 7.5 ips speeds are normally transferred on, our pride and joy, one of two Studer A80′s. We also have a Tascam BR20 and several Revox A77′s for backup. The slower speeds and 4 track stereo formats are catered for by Teac and Sony machines.

30 ips, 15, 7.5 and 3.75 can also be transferred on our Sony APR 5003.

We take pride in making sure these machines are calibrated and cleaned before each transfer.

Quite often we receive tape in poor condition this is very often a result of splicing tape ‘drying out’ as it’s a bit like sellotape and the splices breaking as the tape is played.

We are able to splice and repair tape before transfer.

Prices are competitive but not published here as we’ve found each job is different and needs certain attentions that need to be quoted for on an individual basis. We are happy though to offer a assess / listen service as many customers don’t know what’s on their tapes and either don’t have a machine or their old machine is broken.

Recent work has included many valuable family history 5 inch reels. Remember tape is fragile, very susceptible to magnetic fields and doesn’t last forever. It’s worth transferring it or getting it transferred now to keep your memories safe.