by Mike Cleaver » Sun Mar 31, 2013 1:40 pm
The "tape on the capstan" was a trick commonly used back then when all of today's computer tricks were just figments of the imagination.
It was done to slightly increase tape speed, increase turntable speed, etc.
By increasing the turntable speeds slightly, it meant you could cram an extra record into an hour, giving credence to the "more music" mantra of top 40 stations.
Variable speed controls (on turntables and tape machines) weren't common until later and of course, with computers and their related software, it's a simple matter to modify anything and mangle it completely out of shape and even make total no talents sound as if they're the best singers in the world.
Which begs the question, is this really progress when it allows poseurs to pretend they have talent?
I had lunch with a musician and recording engineer yesterday who's considerably younger than me who believes in the mantra of finding really talented musicians and vocalists and putting them into the studio together to perform live and recording those takes with very little technical augmentation, just as it was done in "the olden days."
Listening to some of his material after we had lunch demonstrates the additional magic of real people playing real instruments and singing together without a bunch of "behind the curtain" computer hocus pocus.
Mike Cleaver Broadcast Services
Engineering, News, Voice work and Consulting
Vancouver, BC, Canada
54 years experience at some of Canada's Premier Broadcasting Stations