Issue #6: Lo-Fi Secrets
Production tips & tricks + a new release and free sample pack
There is a new Hel release to share (and also a free sample pack!), but that will be found at the end. This issue is mainly dedicated to sharing production methods for making lo-fi music.
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Method 1: Bouncing To Tape
This is the most common basic trick. Grab a standard cassette deck, record your material to the tape, then record the tape back into your project. The effect is pretty subtle (you'll soften some high frequencies and add some hiss), but you can introduce some distortion by increasing the recording input level.
clean example:
distorted tape bounce example:
Using other types of tape players can add some interesting character. Cassette multitrack recorders can introduce some lo-fi textures just by default, but if you find one with multiple playback speeds and a pitch control knob you can introduce some extra weirdness. Record your sound into the machine on fast speed, then rewind, switch to slow speed and play it back. The occasional bump or nudge of the speed control knob can add some bonus tape warbles.
Another possibility is using a tape transcription machine (I have a couple of Panasonic RR-830s). This is basically the same method as above, but you need a machine with playback speed control. Record your sound onto a tape (you might need a secondary tape recorder for this, as line input functionality doesn't seem very common in these machines), and play the tape back on the transcription machine while messing with the speed control.
Method 2: Handheld Tape Bounce
This is sort of a variation of the above method, but will achieve quick & easy lo-fi results. For this technique you'll need a handheld tape player with a built-in microphone. I have two models of these: a standard cassette recorder (Sony TCM-150), and a microcassette version (Memorex MB2186A). The technique here is to play the sound you want to process through your speakers, and hold the tape recorder's mic up to the speaker and press record.
You may need to adjust the speaker loudness, or distance to the speaker, and you can even move the tape player around a bit while recording to add some variation. Once that's done, rewind the tape and record it back into your project.
clean example:
handheld tape bounce example:
Try these extra tips:
Occasionally shaking your tape player during the playback phase can create a subtle warble effect.
Some players have a small window where you can activate playback functions without engaging the switch (for example: the tape starts pausing slightly before the pause button gets locked into place). The trick is to release the button after the function kicks in, but before the button is triggered & locked. With some careful experimentation you can add some more extreme variation.
Use dying batteries.
⛧ Intentional Degradation ⛧
This is not something I have much experience with, but there are dark & hidden ways to intentionally degrade tape or impede playback. These methods assume your material is already recorded to tape and should also be regarded with extreme caution as they can lead to equipment damage.
Tape crush:
Unspool (some) of the tape and manually crush/crinkle it, then painstakingly wind it back up. Definitely effective, but also quite annoying to deal with.
Elemental warp:
I’ve heard submerging the cassette in water or exposing it to heat can create tape warping effects, but these had no noticeable effect to me. I even ran one though a laundry cycle while writing this and it seemed to play perfectly fine once dry.
Chemical dissolve:
I’d never personally bother going to these lengths, but household chemicals such as rubbing alcohol, acetone, and hydrogen peroxide can degrade and damage tape to varying degrees. Not really worth trying considering all the alternatives listed here. Use caution if you try this!
Magnetic erasure:
Pass a magnet over the tape to effectively partially erase it (which will introduce dropouts). You'll need something stronger than a common fridge magnet, and it's not something I've ever tried.
Obstruct playback:
Place masking tape over the playback head in your tape player. This weakens the head’s ability to read the tape. This works (but don’t cover the entire head!), although accessing the head can be tricky depending on the type of player.
Scavenge & resurrect:
Search thrift stores or ebay for the oldest tapes in the worst condition you can find and record over that. You can place masking tape over the two notches on the top side of the tape to disable write protection on commercial releases.
END OF SPECIAL CURSED SECTION :)Method 3: FM Radio Transmission
Back in the MP3 player days before cars had aux inputs or bluetooth connectivity, there were these cheap, terrible little FM transmitters (like this as seen in above pic) that would plug into your MP3 player and transmit over a very small distance so that you could then tune into your MP3 player using your car's radio.
Ideally for this you need separate recording and playback devices, a radio with a nice big tuning knob, and the FM transmitter. First, tune your radio to the frequency shown on the transmitter. Plug in the transmitter in your playback device's output, and be ready to record what your radio is picking up. Start playing your sound, and while doing so, adjust the radio tuning knob (or even the antenna) to introduce varying amounts of static. Or you can just find a slightly off "sweet spot" frequency that adds some lo-fi spice.
clean example:
radio transmission example:
Method 4: Digital Manipulation
As you can probably imagine, there are also many software instruments and effects for these purposes. Not going to give audio examples for these, but here's a few I use:
TAL-DAC
This effect emulates the sound of early samplers, and the bitrate reduction, jitter, saturation, and hiss can be pushed to extreme levels. Very cool effect and it's included with (and also integrated into) the TAL-Sampler, which is an excellent way to use the “tape oscillators” in the sample pack found below.
Chow Tape Model
This is a free tape modeling effect, and it's possibly the most comprehensive and flexible out there. It will take some time to get used to all the parameters (not so quick and easy to use out of the box), but it's absolutely worth diving into.
Arturia Tape MELLO-FI
This is a solid VST from Arturia. It's quick and easy to use, has nice drive and filter additions, but it's a bit too expensive for what it does and has less features and range than the Chow Tape Model.
Free lo-fi sample pack!
Here’s a free sample pack of lo-fi sounds recorded with a handheld tape recorder (+ a couple digitally processed kicks). There’s some percussion hits and also a bunch of “tape oscillators” that you can throw into a sampler and play chromatically.
▷ Download here! ◁
New release: “Lo-Fi Secrets” by UTA Trax
And finally, out now is a new release from UTA Trax! 4 tracks of lo-fi house music using some of the methods and samples provided in the above sections.
Download it via Bandcamp, or stream it on Spotify, Apple Music, etc.
Thanks for reading!
Compiled by KJ
Reach out at hello@helaudio.org
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