Re: [ARSCLIST] Re print-thru - tails out

[Randal Baier <rbaier@xxxxxxxxx>]

I'm glad Richard mentioned both directions in is post here.

In the radio recording or studio tech work I've done we never used two-sided tape, so "tails out" was a basic studio practice of letting a tape run out at its regular play speed, or wind, and store it that way with the tail leader hanging out. Although it was basic practice to record, ship and receive everything with "tails out," I was taught to label all the tapes explicitly. So, obviously, setting up for a broadcast involved rewinding to set up for playback. Tape longevity and reducing the buildup of print-thru over time were the two major reasons for this practice. 

I still do that on all my digital recordings, although it works best on .mp3s.

Randal Baier



----- Original Message -----
From: "Richard L. Hess" <arclists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Thursday, April 2, 2009 4:42:54 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Re print-thru - tails out

A tape which is recorded in one direction has a "head" (start of 
tape) and a "tail" (end of tape). Leaving the tape "tails out" means 
that essentially the end of the tape is at the outside of the reel, 
but, more importantly, it means generally that the tape has been 
stored after playing without rewinding, which is a smoother pack.

On a tape recorded in both directions, obviously each end is a head 
and a tail. Generally, it is left with a slow (play) wind after 
playing the second side, so, even though it has a play wind (not a 
fast wind) it is ready to play when started.

I'm working on putting together some more information about this on 
my blog as there are some important issues that have just been 
discussed on this subject.

Cheers,

Richard

At 04:09 PM 2009-04-02, you wrote:
>Ok - learning curve here for me - what does tails out mean?
>
>Thanks
>
>Melodie
>
>Melodie Morgan Frances
>Head of Cataloging
>Graduate Theological Union
>mfrances@xxxxxxx
>510-649-2521
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
>[mailto:ARSCLIST@xxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Aaron Levinson
>Sent: Thursday, April 02, 2009 8:28 AM
>To: ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Re print-thru
>
>Actually my experience has been that you should never run and store the
>tape in any shuttle mode as the tape is wound much tighter and this
>increases print through. The suggestion for storage has been tails out
>played in real time. The real time speed does not pack the wind as
>tightly.
>
>AA
>
>
>
>
>Doug Pomeroy wrote:
> > Yes, running the tape from end to end at high speed will reduce
> > print-thru somewhat, according to 3M.  Not exactly a cure, but
> > every little bit helps.
> >
> > Doug
> >
> >> This is called "print through" where the signal on one layer of a=20
> >> tape impresses itself onto adjacent layers of the tape. In rare=20
> >> instances, you can hear things repeat more than once.
> >>
> >> The time difference between the original and the image is once around
> >> the reel.
> >>
> >> Sometimes this can be cured by winding the tape through and
>letting=20
> >> it sit for a few days.
> >

Richard L. Hess                   email: richard@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Aurora, Ontario, Canada       (905) 713 6733     1-877-TAPE-FIX
Detailed contact information: http://www.richardhess.com/tape/contact.htm
Quality tape transfers -- even from hard-to-play tapes.