Tag: reel to reel

Reel-to-reel transfer of Anthony Rye, Selborne’s nature poet

We have recently transferred a number of recordings of the poet, Anthony Rye, reading his work. The tapes were sent by his Grandson Gabriel who was kind enough to tell us a bit more about Anthony’s life and work. ‘Anthony Francis Rye is intimately associated with the Hampshire village of Selborne, a village made famous by… Continue reading Reel-to-reel transfer of Anthony Rye, Selborne’s nature poet

Phyllis Tate’s Nocturn for Four Voices 3″ 1/4 inch reel to reel tape transfer

We have recently transferred a previously unpublished 3” ¼ inch tape recording of British 20th century composer Phyllis Tate’s Nocturn for Four Voices. The tape is a 2-track stereo recording made at 7.5 inches per second (in/s) at the Purcell Room in London’s Southbank Centre in 1975, and was broadcast on 16 September 1976. When… Continue reading Phyllis Tate’s Nocturn for Four Voices 3″ 1/4 inch reel to reel tape transfer

Significant properties – technical challenges for digital preservation

A consistent focus of our blog is the technical and theoretical issues that emerge in the world of digital preservation. For example, we have explored the challenges archivists face when they have to appraise collections in order to select what materials are kept, and what are thrown away. Such complex questions take on specific dimensions… Continue reading Significant properties – technical challenges for digital preservation

Irene Brown’s reel to reel recordings of folk and Gaelic culture

We are currently migrating a collection of tapes made by Irene Brown who, in the late 1960s, was a school teacher living in Inverness. Irene was a member of the Inverness Folk Club and had a strong interest in singing, playing guitar and collecting the musical heritage of folk and Gaelic culture. The tapes, that… Continue reading Irene Brown’s reel to reel recordings of folk and Gaelic culture

Seeing tracks: viewing magnetic information as an aid for tape digitisation

We use a Sigma Hi-Chemical MV-95 magnetic viewer  in order to aid our digitisation work. By pressing the viewer against the tape we are able to read the magnetic information recorded on it. The reader helps us to visually identify the position of the recorded tracks on the tape, and enables accurate playback during digitisation. Magnetic readers… Continue reading Seeing tracks: viewing magnetic information as an aid for tape digitisation

reel to reel audio tape restoration and digitising of Manchester Oi! band State Victims

Often the tapes we receive to digitise are ‘forgotten’ recordings. Buried under a pile of stuff in a dark, cold room, their owners think they are lost forever. Then, one day, a reel of the mysterious tape emerges from the shadows generating feelings of excitement and anticipation. What is stored on tape? Is the material… Continue reading reel to reel audio tape restoration and digitising of Manchester Oi! band State Victims

End of year thank yous to our customers

What a year it has been in the life of Greatbear Analogue and Digital Media. As always the material customers have sent us to digitise has been fascinating and diverse, both in terms of the recordings themselves and the technical challenges presented in the transfer process. At the end of a busy year we want to… Continue reading End of year thank yous to our customers

Paul Roche recordings & preservation challenges with acetate reel-to-reel magnetic tape

We were recently sent a very interesting collection of recordings of the late poet, novelist and acclaimed translator Paul Roche. During his colourful and creative life Roche published two novels, O Pale Gallellean and Vessel of Dishonour, and several poetry collections, and brushed shoulders with some of the 20th century’s most captivating avant-garde artistic and… Continue reading Paul Roche recordings & preservation challenges with acetate reel-to-reel magnetic tape

Voice Letter – Analogue Reel-to-Reel Tape Transfer

What can the packaging of a tape object tell you? Even before a tape is played back prior to transfer the packaging can tell you a lot about how and where it has been stored, and what it was used for. Whether the boxes include sparse notation or are covered in stamps from countries across… Continue reading Voice Letter – Analogue Reel-to-Reel Tape Transfer

Jack Hollingshead’s lost Apple recordings on reel-to-reel tape

Digital technologies have helped to salvage all manner of ‘lost’ or ‘forgotten’ recordings. Whole record labels, from the recently featured Bristol Archive Records to institutional collections like Smithsonian Folkways, are based on the principle of making ‘hard to access’ recordings available in digital form. Occasionally we get such rare recordings in the Greatbear studio, and… Continue reading Jack Hollingshead’s lost Apple recordings on reel-to-reel tape

Bristol Archive Records – ¼ inch studio master tapes, ½ inch 8 track multi-track tapes, audio cassettes, DAT recordings and Betamax digital audio recordings

Bristol Archive Records is more than a record label. It releases music, books and through its website, documents the history of Bristol’s punk and reggae scenes from 1977 onwards. You can get lost for hours trawling through the scans of rare zines and photographs, profiles of record labels, bands, discographies and gig lists. Its a… Continue reading Bristol Archive Records – ¼ inch studio master tapes, ½ inch 8 track multi-track tapes, audio cassettes, DAT recordings and Betamax digital audio recordings

7″ 8 track reel to reel tapes recorded on a Fostex A8

We were recently sent a collection of 7″ 8-track reel-to-reel tapes. All the 8-track tapes were recorded using Dolby C noise reduction on a Fostex A8 machine. They hadn’t been stored in optimum conditions and as many were recorded on AMPEX tape, we did need “bake” them prior to transfer, to treat binder hydrolysis. The… Continue reading 7″ 8 track reel to reel tapes recorded on a Fostex A8

Magnetic Reel to Reel Tape and New Transfer Machines – Pictures from the Greatbear Studio

The Greatbear studio always has a wealth of interesting material in it, that somehow have survived the test of time. From racks stacked full of obsolete audio and video tape machines, to the infinite varieties of reel-to-reel tape that were produced by companies such as Scotch, E.M.I. and Irish Recording Tape. As objects in themselves… Continue reading Magnetic Reel to Reel Tape and New Transfer Machines – Pictures from the Greatbear Studio

Sony V62 EIAJ reel to reel video tape transfer for Barrie Hesketh

We have recently been sent a Sony V62 high density video tape by Barrie Hesketh. Barrie has had an active career in theatre and in 1966 he set up the Mull Little Theatre on the Isle of Mull off the West Coast of Scotland with his late wife Marianne Hesketh. Specialising in what Barrie calls… Continue reading Sony V62 EIAJ reel to reel video tape transfer for Barrie Hesketh

4 track 1/4 inch reel to reel tape recorded in mono – The Couriers Folk Club, Leicester

We were recently sent a ¼ inch tape by Ed Bates that included recordings from the Couriers Folk Club in Leicester,  which ran from Autumn 1964 – June 1974. The tape features performances from The Couriers (Jack Harris and Rex Brisland), George and Thadeus Kaye, Bill Pickering, Mark Newman and Mick Odam. Jack Harris, who… Continue reading 4 track 1/4 inch reel to reel tape recorded in mono – The Couriers Folk Club, Leicester

‘Mysterious little reddish-brown ribbon’: BASF Magnetic Recording Tape

‘It seems we are living in an age in which practically every dream comes true. At no time in the past have so many scientific discoveries and inventions changed our way of life and the face of the world. Yes, we live in the age of science! Maybe we are forgetting to be awed, or… Continue reading ‘Mysterious little reddish-brown ribbon’: BASF Magnetic Recording Tape

From digital files back to analogue tape

The bread and butter work of Greatbear Analogue and Digital Media is to migrate analogue and digital magnetic tape to digital files, but recently we were asked by a customer to transfer a digital file to ¼ analogue tape. The customer was concerned about the longevity of electronic digital formats, and wanted to transfer his… Continue reading From digital files back to analogue tape

Real time transfers – digitising tape media

In theory the work we do at Greatbear is very simple: we migrate information from analogue or digital magnetic tape to electronic digital files. Once transferred, digital files can be easily edited, tagged, accessed, shared or added to a database. Due to the ubiquitous nature of digital media today, if you want to use your… Continue reading Real time transfers – digitising tape media

Digitising & Restoring Personal Archives – 1/4 inch reel to reel audio tape

In today’s digital society most people have an archive. On personal computers, tablets and mobile devices we store, create and share vast amounts of information. We use archives to tell others about our lives, and the things that are important to us. Gone are the days when archives were dusty, dark places where experts went… Continue reading Digitising & Restoring Personal Archives – 1/4 inch reel to reel audio tape

Sony V60H half inch reel to reel video archive baked and digitised

We’ve recently had an interesting archive of poorly stored and initially unplayable half inch, EIAJ, black and white video reels dating from the late 1970s and early 1980s. This format was commonly used in education and in industry and was much cheaper than the U-matic and one inch formats. We usually see Scotch and Sony… Continue reading Sony V60H half inch reel to reel video archive baked and digitised

Repair Teac A3440 4 track Multitrack Reel to Reel

The Teac A3440 is a classic reel to reel tape recorder from the late 1970s, early ’80s significant in that you could use it to make 4 track multitrack recordings at 15 inches per second, the professional tape recording speed. At the time there was precious little else around at the price to do this… Continue reading Repair Teac A3440 4 track Multitrack Reel to Reel

Quarter inch reel to reel tape audio archiving

We’ve been a bit quiet since last year on our blog here primarily because we have been processing a large, ongoing audio archiving digital migration job for Mood Media Ltd In essence audio archiving, digital migration, transfer or digitisation, whatever term you prefer, is conceptually simple: one analogue or digital format is moved to another,… Continue reading Quarter inch reel to reel tape audio archiving

Tape mould cleaned and removed. Rare lost masters recovered and preserved for Druidcrest Ltd

We have recently worked on probably the worst looking tapes but with some of the best sounding music recordings we’ve seen for a while! A batch of 10.5″ NAB studio masters had bad tape mould growth. Andy Leighton, owner of Bolex Brothers and music publisher of the Rocky Horror Show, found a batch of studio… Continue reading Tape mould cleaned and removed. Rare lost masters recovered and preserved for Druidcrest Ltd

Quarter inch reel to reel tape transfer of Jack Hawkins band archive

We were contacted recently by Jack Hawkins, the renowned arranger and band leader to consult on and digitise personal quarter inch open reel recordings of his band. In case you don’t know, The Jack Hawkins band are probably best known for their performance of the track 30-60-90 made famous in a club sequence in the… Continue reading Quarter inch reel to reel tape transfer of Jack Hawkins band archive

Replace Tascam BR 20 Capstan Belt

We have two of these excellent machines in addition to our Sony APR 5003s and Studer A80s. The Tascam BR-20 was Tascam’s last and top of the range 1/4 inch reel to reel tape machine and available in two track stereo and stereo with centre timecode option. The capstan drive in the BR20 is belt… Continue reading Replace Tascam BR 20 Capstan Belt

Tascam BR 20 reel to reel new in box (not for sale)

This is something you don’t see everyday! An almost unused and boxed 1/4″ 2 track reel to reel tape machine, a Tascam BR20 one of their highest quality machines sometimes installed with a Timecode head for broadcast and editing applications. This machine somehow turned up at an IT Recycling centre in Essex but is now… Continue reading Tascam BR 20 reel to reel new in box (not for sale)

JVC PV-4800E 1/2 inch EIAJ colour portable video recorder

A recent addition to our video arsenal is this rare 1976 vintage 1/2″ colour reel to reel machine. This has needed some work to get it functioning well such as new belts, hardened grease cleaned off the mechanism, etc but is now able to transfer colour recordings made in this format of reel to reel… Continue reading JVC PV-4800E 1/2 inch EIAJ colour portable video recorder

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