Current is run through the wire, generating a magnetic field at the gap. When monitoring from the sync or repro head during playback, the gap detects a moving magnetic field, generating a current in the wire. They point in random directions since they are unmagnetized.
The erase head does exactly as the name implies. Some cheaper tape machines use a permanent magnet instead to erase the incoming tape while recording. A current both the recorded audio and the AC bias is fed through its coil of wire.
Louder audio means more current is sent to the record head, resulting in a stronger magnetic field at the gap and more magnetization of the tape particles. That is until the magnetic field induced onto the tape is so high that the tape reaches saturation unable to become further magnetized. Tape with prior-recorded audio aligned magnetic particles , has magnetic flux.
We need a selection to control where in the signal flow to monitor back from. Usually, there are three points in the signal flow.
Choosing the input option monitors the audio at the input point- the signal before it reaches the record head, listening to the audio before it reaches the tape. Simple enough so far…. What is heard depends on the record status safe or armed and whether the tape machine is playing, stopped, or recording. If record is armed but playback is stopped, the audio heard is actually the same signal as if in input mode.
But if record is armed and the tape is playing, the audio heard is the playback audio picked up by the sync head. And if recording, record safe channels monitor playback audio via the sync head and record ready channels monitor at the input point. This is why there is a separate repro head — it allows one to monitor what has been recorded to tape instead of the audio entering the machine at the input point. This is especially helpful while laying down initial tracks.
Repro monitoring is designed exclusively for playback. The repro and record heads have different physical and electronic properties which affect the sound quality of the playback. The record head is optimized and designed for recording, not playback. It also has a limited response to lessen the crosstalk between channels when overdubbing. If in record ready and stopped, the signal is monitored at the input point.
This field impinges on the magnetized tape, and vice versa. This is at the heart of how a tape recorder works. Our illustration depicts three heads with different but related purposes suggested by their names: the Erase Head , the Record Head and the Playback Head.
For music or other sound to be properly reproduced on magnetic film, any signal already present on the film must be removed. A high amplitude, high frequency signal is sent via the wire to the erase head; the resulting magnetic field induced in the head jumbles up the magnetic particles in the tape below, in so doing erasing any sound that had been preserved within the way those particles were arranged on the tape.
To get a bit more technical, the orientation of the Magnetic Domains depicted as white arrows on the tape within the magnetic particles are randomized by the erase head. Magnetic domains are tiny areas inside the particles in which the atoms themselves tiny magnets are aligned in the same direction, in the same magnetic field.
These domains can be made by outside magnetic fields to change direction, aligning with that external field. Between the positive and negative poles of each magnet is a tiny gap where an electromagnetic field is created that fluctuates in response to the changing signal. As the tape passes by, these pulses align the tiny magnetic particles into patterns, leaving a record of the sound.
The physics behind magnetic tape give the medium an idiosyncratic sound, which is coveted for its unique saturation properties. The tape can only absorb so much magnetic energy, but instead of distorting like an amplifier when overloaded with signal, it compresses the sound in a soft, flattering way. This saturation effect, combined with all the analog circuitry on the inputs and outputs, gives tape an unmistakable sonic signature that can be subtly pleasing or intentionally exaggerated for an effect.
Magnetic recording has been obsolete since digital technology took over the industry, but tape is still used by many engineers who praise its unique tonal properties, the inherent workflow restrictions involved, and the stability of the storage medium.
Somewhat ironically, those first two positives have historically been seen as flaws, with manufacturers designing tape and equipment to produce the purest sound possible. Your purchases also help protect forests, including trees traditionally used to make instruments. In the video realm, video tape is used widely both in the broadcast industry and at home to store material for later viewing on VCRs. In the computer realm, magnetic recording is used on floppy disks , hard disks and magnetic tape as the main method for data storage.
The Tape " ". You can record anything you want instantly and the tape will remember what you recorded for playback at any time.
You can erase the tape and record something else on it any time you like. The original format was not tape at all, but actually was a thin steel wire. The wire recorder was invented in by Valdemar Poulsen. German engineers perfected the first tape recorders using oxide tapes in the s.
Tapes originally appeared in a reel-to-reel format. See this page for a picture of an early reel-to-reel recorder. Reel-to-reel tapes were common until the compact cassette or "cassette tape" took hold of the market. The cassette was patented in and eventually beat out 8-track tapes and reel-to-reel to become the dominant tape format in the audio industry.
The Tape Recorder " ". Tape Types and Bias " ". Type 0 - This is the original ferric-oxide tape. It is very rarely seen these days. Type 1 - This is standard ferric-oxide tape, also referred to as "normal bias.
The ferric-oxide particles are mixed with chromium dioxide. Type 4 - This is "metal" tape. Metallic particles rather than metal-oxide particles are used in the tape. Cite This! Try Our Sudoku Puzzles!
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