Notes from the Tape Room

A reel of quarter-inch tape holds about thirty minutes at the speed we use. That’s the whole budget for a session. You can’t scroll back through takes, so you play as if every take is the keeper.

Hiss is a texture, not a fault

Every pass through the machine adds a little noise. After four overdubs it sounds like weather. We used to fight it. Now we tune to it: we pick keys that sit comfortably on top of the hiss and let the quiet passages blur.

What the tape remembers

The machine is older than either of us. Its heads are worn into the shape of other people’s music, and you can hear that.