Nothing conjures up the vintage sound more than analogue tape. While the days of huge reel-to-reel multitracks have become the preserve of a few choice studios, ‘real’ tape delays are enjoying a renaissance, both hardware and software forms.
The popularity of sounds from vintage machines, like the tape-based Mellotron, continue to be exploited in a number of production circles. This beast of a machine was an early form of sampler, before sampling went digital. Playing a note on the Mellotron’s keyboard would activate a tape-rolling mechanism, where the recording of a chosen instrument would be replayed, in real-time, by tape! But even in contemporary live settings, there have been attempts by artists such as Nine Inch Nails to use cheap and cheery cassette-based 4-tracks, to
