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After being exposed to the compositional techniques of using long tape delays and tape loops, I set out to build a system that could enable me to create tape delay compositions of my own. Constant compositional inspiration can be found whenever I use this delay system. An example of a piece I recorded using this cassette tape delay is named Holding Pattern and can be found here.
I came across a two tape cassette deck that my high school was about to throw away before I decided to salvage it to use for my own intent. I modified the tape deck into a functioning cassette delay system.
To operate the tape delay, input signal is recorded onto the right tape deck. the recorded signal is then carried along the tape to the left tape deck where the signal is reproduced several seconds later. Signal from the second tape deck can then be routed back into the recording tape deck to achieve repeated delays.
Audio is recorded on the right deck then the tape travels to the left deck where the signal is played back
Many challenges needed to be overcome throughout the modification of the original cassette deck. The first task that needed to be completed was to enable independent operation of the two tape decks. There was certain internal circuitry and switching which prevented one deck to record while the other deck was in playback mode.
Mechanical switches that needed to be bypassed in order to enable independent operation.
The second task was to modify two cassettes so one reel of cassette tape would be connecting the two decks. The tape traverses along the top of the cassette deck with aid from two rollers mounted above each deck. The roller are salvaged from another empty cassette. The chassis of the tape deck also needed to be modified as seen in the picture.
Modified cassette with an opening at the top right to let the tape through (grey cassette). Another cassette is also salvaged to provide the tape with a roller (clear cassette).
Lastly, I needed to add a dedicated output jack which would give the output of the second tape deck. The standard output for the tape deck is in input monitoring in recording mode. Therefore, the audio from the playback deck (the audio that I need) does not come out of the standard outputs. To overcome this obstacle, I looked at the schematics and found the points where the signal is directly coming off of the playback deck. I then soldered two wires connecting the output pin to output jacks to use as the 'playback' output.
Direct output from tape head.
1/4 inch output jacks.
Mounted jacks on the chassis of the tape deck. The two left most jacks are the outputs from the playback deck. The middle switch connects the left input to the right input so one cable can record on both channels. The right-most switch switches from normal operation to tape delay operation.
A cool engraving from April 1989 when the tape deck was added to the high school AV department. I am glad I was able to bring new life to an old electronic from my high school's past.
The last challenge is syncing the speed of the two decks. The recording tape deck should be ever so slightly faster than the playback deck to ensure the tape is not under tension. Overall I am thrilled with how this project turned out as you can achieve a wide variety of unique sounds.
My future goals for this project is mount the speed trimpots on the enclosure for easy access. Secondly, I would like to build a simple audio mixer be mounted in the enclosure. This way, all the signal routing can be done without interfacing with a mixing board.
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