analog tape how many uses ?

[musurgio]

Can I use old tapes that have been recorded from 1 to 3 times ?
Any problems I should be aware of ?
Dimitrios

[ScotFraser]

<< Can I use old tapes that have been recorded from 1 to 3 times ?
Any problems I should be aware of ? >>

The possible problem is not that it has been run over the heads 1 to 3 times
but the fact that it's old. You may run into shedding problems. If the tape
isn't really old, there's nothing wrong with re-recording on well stored erased
tape that hasn't been played to death with month after month of overdub
sessions.




Scott Fraser

[Adam Calaitzis]

Today I recorded a band on a roll of GP9 2" on its 6th time through (over
about 8 months), the tape has now paid for itself and will be shelved, but
it still sounded fine today.


Adam Calaitzis
Toyland Recording Studio
www.toyland.com.au




"ScotFraser" > wrote in message
...
> << Can I use old tapes that have been recorded from 1 to 3 times ?
> Any problems I should be aware of ? >>
>
> The possible problem is not that it has been run over the heads 1 to 3
times
> but the fact that it's old. You may run into shedding problems. If the
tape
> isn't really old, there's nothing wrong with re-recording on well stored
erased
> tape that hasn't been played to death with month after month of overdub
> sessions.
>
>
>
>
> Scott Fraser

[Justin Ulysses Morse]

The bigger problem is that you may eventually want to listen to the
first three things you recorded on that piece of tape.

But in general, it doesn't matter how many times a tape has been
recorded on. It matters how many hundreds of times it's passed through
the tape path on a tape deck, and how well aligned that path was, and
how many times it's been fast-wound, etc. You could mix down to the
same piece of 1/4" tape many times. You could track to 2" tape and
dump it to ProTools many times. But if you track to 2", do a few
hundred punch-ins, and then spend 4 months mixing it, the tape will
have been wound and unwound thousands of times and it'll start to sound
tattered because it IS tattered.

ulysses


In article >, ScotFraser
> wrote:

> << Can I use old tapes that have been recorded from 1 to 3 times ?
> Any problems I should be aware of ? >>
>
> The possible problem is not that it has been run over the heads 1 to 3 times
> but the fact that it's old. You may run into shedding problems. If the tape
> isn't really old, there's nothing wrong with re-recording on well stored
> erased
> tape that hasn't been played to death with month after month of overdub
> sessions.
>
>
>
>
> Scott Fraser