[sdiy] Build a Tape Flanger?

[Theo]

Part of the techniques described seem a bit fishy to my,
especially the part about the subwoofer bas mic.
I am willing to believe they did tried this, but the reason why seems a bit
off.

But indeed the flanging story could be true.
However not every body has a tape deck with LFO modulated speed available.
So it seems quite reasonable to other pp modulated the speed with their
finger.
Wearing gloves seems a bit extreme.
You don't have to wear gloves to break the reel when fast winding to an
other reel either.

Perhaps there is more than one truth to the origin of the name "flanging".
As even a former US president will testify, more than one truth is quite
possible.
Cigar anyone?

Theo


From: Chris Randall <chris at smg.org>

> > > > I've always wondered:  Once one reel down is momentarily slowed,
> > > > how did they 'resynch' the decks so that the difference is
> > > > eliminated again?  Drag a finger on the other one?  Sounds
> > > > difficult.  Pardon my naivete...
> > > As I already told Scott in a private mail:
> > >
> > > The flanging usually was not done using the tape machines to playback
> > > two copies of the same tape, but using two machines as delay (record
the
> > > sound and listen from the separate playback head). Either the flanged
> > > machine is speeded up a littlebit or you flange alternating the one
and
> > > the other tape. So there is no big trick ...
>
> There's actually a rather lengthy explanation of this effect, and how it
was
> achieved, in George Martin's autobiographical book "All You Need Is Ears."
> He also goes in to something of a rant about the term "flanging" itself,
and
> how he remembers it being coined. According to Sir George, the term has
> nothing to do with the actual act of dragging one's finger on the "flange"
> of the reel, as according to him this isn't how the effect was achieved in
> any case. Rather, it is one of what he says are many nonsensical words
that
> John Lennon came up with to describe various things. (This doesn't seem
> completely out of the realm of possibility to me, in all honesty.)
>
> I have just moved, and am totally unable to find the book itself amid the
> 20-odd boxes of same, but there is a paraphrased version of his story of
the
> creation of "flanging" here:
>
> http://www.audiorevolution.com/music/revs/beatles/
>
> It is quite a bit less technical than Martin's explanation in his book,
and
> is somewhat off base on a couple of issues, ("This modulated signal was
then
> fed back into the first machine..." Okay, whatever with that.) but by and
> large it's the same story.
>
> Whether it's true or not, I daresay that (a) none of us here can find an
> example of the effect made prior to "Tomorrow Never Knows,"  and (b) this
> seems slightly more reasonable than the whole finger dragging episode. I
> mean, really. Did the tape op wear gloves for the mixdown? Think about it.
>
> -Chris Randall
>
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