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| From | Ryan Williams <ryan@headphonetreats.com> |
| Subject | Re: 2' Tape |
| Date | Wed, 05 Jan 2005 07:30:14 -0500 |
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Marty Rudnick wrote:
> It would seem that most 2" reels of tape (other than blank rolls) are
> pretty much irreplaceable. My sense of it is that baking tapes is an
> exact science, and if you ruin the souffle, you're screwed.
I wouldn't say it's an "exact" science. Everyone seems to have their own
method and recipe. Mainly, you just need a very evenly controlled low
heat, which is why most people use convection ovens. It's not the kind
of thing you want to attempt in your conventional home oven (though I've
seen it done in a pinch fairly successfully with a LOT of attention).
I've baked maybe 12 or so reels over the years. The studio I worked at
had a large archive going back to the late 40's. Every tape played fine
out of the box except for the Ampex formulations from the early 80's,
which all developed the dreaded sticky-shed. Nasty stuff. Baking did the
trick, but you had to make sure you did it for long enough or you'd end
up really caking up your machine heads. You usually have to re-do any
edit splices as well, which is a time-consuming pain.
Ryan
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