The Lofi Magic of VHS Audio

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  • Опубліковано 21 лис 2024

КОМЕНТАРІ • 944

  • @JCHaywire
    @JCHaywire Рік тому +590

    There was a guy in Manchester, Iowa who recorded everything. Every phone call, much of the four TV channels available in that area, and endless ephemera. Before computer audio compression, he would record on a C.Crane quarter-speed cassette recorder onto 120 minute tapes (that's 8 hours). He would then transfer these to a single track of stereo VHS tapes at a time in SLP mode, recording on the other stereo track on a second pass. He did this from late in the 1970's to his death in 2015, archiving these tapes on cataloged shelves in two houses he owned on a quiet side street. When he departed, nobody really knew what these tapes were or how to play them back, so they were piled into a huge construction dumpster and taken to the landfill. This is the same guy who designed the first Braille star map and had memorized the names of 3,000 stars visible to the naked eye in the night sky. Lots of flutter and a rather extreme low-pass filtering effect notwithstanding--the results were surprisingly audible. I was able to rescue somewhat less than a thousand of these cassettes, but the logistics of digitizing them was nearly too much for any normal person to undertake.

    • @maxx6095
      @maxx6095 Рік тому +38

      Thanks for saving some of his work ! Anywhere we can listen ?

    • @Operationalexcellence263
      @Operationalexcellence263 Рік тому +22

      I seem to recall this story. Thank you for returning this to memory.

    • @thevoidinclusive
      @thevoidinclusive Рік тому +18

      Wow. I’d love to read more about this and hear some tapes!

    • @skonenblades
      @skonenblades Рік тому +33

      That also reminds me of Marion Stokes project. There was a movie about it in 2019 in called Recorder. She recorded unbroken streams of all the channels on her television, 24 hours a day, for 35 years from 1977 to 2012. That ended up in 71,000 VHS and Betamax tapes. As I understand it, they're currently being digitized.

    • @Tfor2show
      @Tfor2show Рік тому +10

      Whoa! I grew up in Worthington and passed through Manchester all the time growing up! I'd be thrilled to help digitize some of the tapes if you still have them!

  • @kyaMega
    @kyaMega Рік тому +168

    In my college years, I ran a low-budget 4-track recording studio out of my parent's house. My dad happened to have a Sony Betamax HiFi VCR, and I mastered to that. It was very close to digital quality. Even all these years later I transferred some of that audio to my computer and it holds up. Amazing tech for it's day.

    • @terryenglish7132
      @terryenglish7132 Рік тому +6

      A sound man friend bought one for a similar reason when they first came out. It is interesting that because they were video, most high end audio enthusiasts never considered one instead of a Nagra etc.

    • @cjbani159
      @cjbani159 Рік тому +3

      I mastered to a VHS Hi-Fi deck for a time, but at SP, which I'm a little surprised David didn't address. It was cleaner and more colorless than my analog open reel deck ~

    • @mudsh4rk
      @mudsh4rk 4 місяці тому +1

      Yeah, a quality VHS (and especially S-VHS) VCR is pretty far from lo-fi. It's lower fidelity than a good 1/4" machine but it's pretty comparable to DAT - less accurate on paper, but not far off and subjectively nicer sounding IMO.
      If the audio is muffled or distorted or warbly there's something wrong - even a low end VCR has to be able to maintain video frame sync and will have a pretty stable transport.

  • @rasmusn.e.m1064
    @rasmusn.e.m1064 Рік тому +468

    As someone who isn't a tech geek, you do an amazing job at suggesting what you mean by your magic words with your camera work on the open VCR. What many languages use dozens of words to convey, you simply achieve by adding a subtle zoom or tilt of the camera.

    • @earljohnson8851
      @earljohnson8851 Рік тому +1

      i’m so happy you found it authentic 😅😅😅😮😅😅 10:26 hours in and

    • @AndySalinger33
      @AndySalinger33 Рік тому

      Ratioed much?

    • @rasmusn.e.m1064
      @rasmusn.e.m1064 Рік тому

      @@AndySalinger33 what do you mean?

    • @duff3lB4g
      @duff3lB4g Рік тому +1

      @@rasmusn.e.m1064 he's talking about the bot

    • @RockinEnabled
      @RockinEnabled Рік тому

      Well, the author DOES seem a tech geek. In a good way, of course :)

  • @SoundAuthor
    @SoundAuthor Рік тому +69

    Of all of the tape sounds, I think VHS might be the most nostalgia-inducing. I grew up tolerating that warbly audio. And now we're going out of our way to implement that characteristic.

    • @Mr.Engine993
      @Mr.Engine993 Місяць тому

      just like distortion on electric guitars! At first it was caused by a vacuum tube pre amp that went bad but then some musicians thought "hey that's kinda cool". Fast foward to today, this type of distortion is implemented on purpose in countless songs.

  • @gibsonfan159
    @gibsonfan159 Рік тому +18

    That "subtle chorus effect" of double tracking is what Randy Rhoads did for his solos. Really broadens the soundscape.

  • @marklechman2225
    @marklechman2225 Рік тому +19

    Back in the early 90s, I used to master all of my 4-track cassette recordings onto VHS HiFi. Worked great for the most part.

  • @sunriseshell
    @sunriseshell Рік тому +170

    I used to make just audio tapes on a Hi-Fi VCR. It was pretty good, better than cassette tapes and MUCH longer.
    Was a great way to have music playing for a long time without intervention.

    • @weaktearecords
      @weaktearecords Рік тому +5

      Same here, they were a lifesaver when you couldn't afford anything else and 2 hours of good quality was awesome!

    • @badbeardbill9956
      @badbeardbill9956 Рік тому +3

      I wonder if any consumer “portastudio” like thing used VCR tech, probably not but could be cool

    • @Christian6.1803
      @Christian6.1803 Рік тому +3

      Same. It was cheaper than 1/4 for my little cassette 4track mixdowns.

    • @therealpbristow
      @therealpbristow Рік тому +4

      @@badbeardbill9956 There was an 8-track system based around VHS tapes, yes! We used one for a few years to record music at Filk conventions in the UK. There were also some early digital audio recorders that used VHS tapes to record 14-bit or 16-bit stereo audio. A whole load of classical music CDs were originally recorded on that system, back in the late 1980s/early '90s, as the system was very portable and could be taken to, say, a particular church to record the organ there, etc.

    • @cebruthius
      @cebruthius Рік тому +5

      @@therealpbristow Techmoan has some videos on digital audio on VHS

  • @VintageModernRemixes
    @VintageModernRemixes Рік тому +8

    How perfect for you to choose the infamous black Scotch VHS box for this video. That is the quintessential VHS to me, on display in almost everyone's living room. The colorful sun is always eye catching. Great video.

  • @falkhammermuller9342
    @falkhammermuller9342 Рік тому +212

    I have never in my life done anything remotely with music publishing or just creation. Let alone the usage of a digital synth software, that allows for the creation of crazy sounds like these. And truth be told, I'm 42, I'm probably never going to be involved in this business. And yet, I enjoy these videos about the creation of these samples enormously. It's very satisfying to see this happen.

    • @themadsamplist
      @themadsamplist Рік тому +20

      You can do it just for fun. You don't have to be in the business. Age is not important.

    • @falkhammermuller9342
      @falkhammermuller9342 Рік тому +9

      @@themadsamplist well, I'm not the kind of guy who doesn't get life done because of age, am involved in too many projects of a completely different field. I don't think I'll ever venture in the music business, since my network and life sourounds a different aspects of life. But again, I really appreciate your content and my son plays in an Orchester, maybe he'll have something to do work synth work in the future, I'll recommend your software.

    • @JasonKutchma
      @JasonKutchma Рік тому +4

      I have a few friends who started at 40 and are now making a living from music. If you put in the time you can do anything my friend. Just decide to :)

    • @falkhammermuller9342
      @falkhammermuller9342 Рік тому +4

      @@JasonKutchma you didn't read my second response, right?

    • @showbread9366
      @showbread9366 Рік тому

      Wonderful story

  • @raulacevedo-esteves9493
    @raulacevedo-esteves9493 Рік тому +2

    You got me at 70's educational videos. That touches my childhood memories.

  • @philmarsh5593
    @philmarsh5593 Рік тому +44

    You and Cameron are 2 of very few YTers I watch regularly. Very cool that you got your (recording and playback) heads together on this one!

  • @lesfuller5984
    @lesfuller5984 Рік тому +34

    Congratulations to you and Cameron on an outstanding library! 👏🙌 Will try out the free version tomorrow, but this is a definite buy! In the first few minutes I thought, “Boards of Canada”, and I was sold!

    • @JSSMVCJR2.1
      @JSSMVCJR2.1 Рік тому

      All of this is very inspired by Boards of Canada, indeed.

  • @3Cr15w311
    @3Cr15w311 Рік тому +20

    I used a VHS HiFi machine as an audio recorder in addition to video in 1987 and it was so good, even on EP, that it sounded really close to a CD in quality.

  • @Luap-ls3ix
    @Luap-ls3ix Рік тому +10

    The top down view with the top off the VCR is a lovely subtle touch to this video that will mostly go unnoticed. I would binge VHS tapes as a kid (especially Disney). These videos you an Venus Theory made was a real blast from the past. Great work as always 👊🏼

  • @elishmeeli017
    @elishmeeli017 Рік тому +29

    I love every video you make and use Decent Sampler super often. Please keep this up

  • @thenowereman6730
    @thenowereman6730 Рік тому +5

    2:37 thanks David, now we know how they did the regular show intro theme !

  • @ackamack101
    @ackamack101 Рік тому +3

    I was in college in the early to mid 90s and I remember a music professor telling our class that we didn't know how good a VHS could be for recording audio. I was intrigued by the notion but never looked into doing any audio recording with VHS myself. This is the first time I have seen this process in action- almost 30 years later! I love the sounds you came up with by the end of this video. It sounds so 80s to me in the best of ways! It reminds me of a video company's logo that would appear at the beginning of a pre-recorded video. Thank you for making me retrieve a memory that I had long forgotten about.

  • @Turrican
    @Turrican Рік тому +21

    I worked in a big insurance call centre in the UK in the 1990s and all of our calls (literlly thousands of hours per week) were all recorded on VHS tapes, they could hold sometime like 12 hours of calls per cassette so they were quite an efficient and effective way of storing / retrieving audio. I forget who supplied the infrastructure now it might have been a US company called Cable and Wireless. Just a random memory this video brought up ! 😃

    • @DavidHilowitzMusic
      @DavidHilowitzMusic  Рік тому +5

      that is so cool! i love nonstandard uses for technology

    • @JCHaywire
      @JCHaywire Рік тому +3

      As per my comment above--apparently this was a widely used method of low-fidelity ephemeral audio storage.

    • @pharaohsmagician8329
      @pharaohsmagician8329 7 місяців тому

      Cool! I work in alot of Call Centers now, mostly in Sales. I'm pretty good at my job but I want to get better. Are there any pro tips for Call Center work that you can pass along especially those secret knowledge from the past??

  • @stubarnes1965
    @stubarnes1965 Рік тому +14

    Budget VHS decks very seldom had hifi stereo heads. If a system is marked 4 head, the second pair is used primarily to produce cleaner pause and forward scan. Hifi VHS tended to be on the higher end decks so more usually had 6 heads, 4 for video and a pair for audio. The audio had a very wide and flat 20-20000 Hz frequency response. On a good quality of deck it was pretty much the best audio quality recording medium available outside of a studio at that time.

    • @MVVblog
      @MVVblog Рік тому +1

      It's true, Hi-Fi VHS recorders were top of the line and had 6 heads. Those produced later in the '90s and early 2000s were just a pale shadow of the true VCRs from the previous decade. However, even a piece of junk like this Quazar has had its moment of glory today.

  • @clarkeflippo9004
    @clarkeflippo9004 Рік тому +3

    Fascinating and masterfully produced. As an audio/video producer and child of the 80s, this was Reading Rainbow level comforting.

  • @johnpooperton
    @johnpooperton Рік тому +8

    Took me back to 1999 where I was searching for high grade tapes so I could record the metal channels on Music Choice overnight and then hook my cassette tape recorder up the next day and go through and transfer the songs I liked.

  • @LongPeter
    @LongPeter Рік тому +47

    I recall Techmoan saying that a HiFi stereo VHS tapes on long play used to be THE way to prepare a 6-8 hour playlist for a party, without having to micromanage it the whole time.

    • @nobodynoone2500
      @nobodynoone2500 Рік тому +7

      Can confirm. Although more often used to record 8 hours of live dj sets in the 90s, than the other way around.

    • @themanfromvolantis
      @themanfromvolantis Рік тому +1

      I'm an audio micromanager. Sounds more impressive on a CV than im a DJ lol

    • @KewAnneOn
      @KewAnneOn Рік тому +2

      I've done this before for a couple of house parties. Worked a treat 👍🏻

  • @FlyingShotsman
    @FlyingShotsman Рік тому +3

    My father is a huge fan of Jazz and Big Band music. There was a local station when I was growing up that ran a one-hour show on Saturday afternoons playing lots of music that he liked. He used to record the show to his late-60s reel-to-reel deck, then transfer songs -- minus ads and DJ blather -- to cassette for playback in his car. When his reel-to-reel deck finally died, he began using the VCR instead. It had the advantage that he could program it to record at the appointed hour, freeing him (and the rest of the family!) to do other things on Saturday afternoons. It worked like a charm, and he claimed that the quality was as good or better than the reel-to-reel deck. I hadn't thought about that in years...

  • @WritingOnGames
    @WritingOnGames Рік тому

    The sample library is so good! Could play about with it all day, really inspiring stuff. Thanks for making it!

  • @TheRedStarman
    @TheRedStarman Рік тому +3

    I knew what to expect simply because I've read and reread the Wikipedia pages on pretty much every popular format of tape media, but I am still blown away by how clear it sounded. I wonder how much of our nostalgia for these lo-fi sounds actually came from the perhaps more rudimentary quality or the wear and tear of the built-in speakers we had in our TVs and audio devices. I grew up watching TV, VHS movies, and playing video games on a small Panasonic TV from the early 90s, and this was in the early 00s. 10-15 years of being the daily driver surely took its toll on all of those components. I'll miss you, little black Panasonic.

  • @sndsrc
    @sndsrc Рік тому

    This is the most educational ad i've seen in recent memory, respectfully. Some lovely comments as well. Thank you

  • @rumplebigdin
    @rumplebigdin Рік тому +10

    FYI (if it hasn’t been said) there’s a song on “the fish that saved Pittsburgh” that was sampled as the main horn on Lords of the Underground’s “funky child”.

  • @hormelinc
    @hormelinc Рік тому +2

    I still have in my possession a bunch of VHS "PCM" tapes. They use the video portion to record 44.056khz 14 bit/16 bit digital audio. It used a Sony PCM-F1 adapter (and later a Sony PCM-501ES I acquired). Using the HiFi tracks encountered the head switching noise, and especially the companding circuits to add dynamic range to the HiFi audio (it really needed it!). But I did use a very old BetaHiFi recorder to capture MTV and NBC Friday Night Videos in Stereo back in 1983. I still have those tapes also!

  • @LearsGhost
    @LearsGhost Рік тому +4

    In the days before stand alone digital recorders this is what we would use to capture rehearsals. Just ran the tape out of the Mackie mixer into it, and set it to EP mode. We even recorded a few bands live records this way using SP mode instead.

  • @Benertainment
    @Benertainment Рік тому

    Super coool! Sharing this with The Unsigned Review Live, hosted by Pierrot the Acid Clown. We would LOVE LOVE LOVE your participation in the group. This video was super awesome!

  • @Muzikman127
    @Muzikman127 Рік тому +5

    I'm so excited to watch this! I have always been entranced by the unmistakable but seemingly irreplicable chorussy warbling of vhs audio! Obsessed ever since I was a kid and you would hear chewed up strings and warbling pianos on well-worn videos played on tired classroom players haha

  • @thisguy2973
    @thisguy2973 Рік тому +1

    As a separate comment, when growing up in the 80s/90s, it used to really make us upset hearing that dissonance of the audio warble and it felt like it ruined the movie experience. For some strange reason, it always reminds me of the 80s and how much I loved life back then. It’s a warm, nostalgic feeling. Thank you!

  • @davidsotomayor8713
    @davidsotomayor8713 Рік тому +24

    For audio you want to find a VHS player that specifically says "VHS Hi-Fi" on it. They are capable of quite high quality recording and can record 4 tracks diagonally across the tape instead of using the standard audio track like is found on a typical video VHS. The tapes degraded too quickly to have ever made them really practical in the pro market, and their inputs/outputs were usually far from ideal but you can still do some neat stuff with them.

    • @badbeardbill9956
      @badbeardbill9956 Рік тому

      I wonder if a cracked multiplex audio head assembly could have done multitracking on professional tape, and how it would sound. Probably too crazy to ever be used outside of experiment, but could be interesting if it actually has decent quality… not VHS technology but using a similar idea as the quadruplex video head

    • @DarkGloComics
      @DarkGloComics Рік тому

      Essentially a four track recorder. I appreciate the work they did, but how could anyone think that four tracks exist, and somehow, VHS couldn’t do this simple task? 🤷🏽‍♂️
      I used cheap VHS tapes to multitrack record using ADAT machines all the time when I couldn’t afford ADAT tapes. (LA 97-99)

    • @urbanrunoff
      @urbanrunoff Рік тому +1

      yes. i bought a top of the line Hifi VHS in the mid 90's to duplicate my demo tapes (film/video editing)i was never happy with the video quality but the audio was great :D

  • @ryan.noakes
    @ryan.noakes Рік тому +2

    Well this was fun!
    Also: Love that you're using Reaper in this video. That's a DAW that doesn't get as much love as it deserves.

  • @MySitcomCentral
    @MySitcomCentral Рік тому +453

    if lofi was a person, i'd be deep in love

    • @therealwhite
      @therealwhite Рік тому +1

      Now I'm going to have to Google Fi

    • @JSSMVCJR2.1
      @JSSMVCJR2.1 Рік тому

      I just got the idea of you and Lo-Fi having a Family.

    • @hennydarmse
      @hennydarmse Рік тому

      The equivalent is probably an older person!

    • @JSSMVCJR2.1
      @JSSMVCJR2.1 Рік тому

      @@hennydarmse But not old enough. That would be an Eldely Citizen, and that's not *A E S T H E T I C*

    • @CLOYO
      @CLOYO Рік тому

      @@therealwhite Hello this is Patrick.
      Fi means Fidelity.
      Google Patrick out.

  • @HughBurgessSinger
    @HughBurgessSinger Рік тому +2

    When I saw the VHS I immediately could smell the plastic and that hot feel those tapes used to give off after playing. Thanks for the nostalgia!

  • @Digital_Spliff
    @Digital_Spliff Рік тому +4

    This could not have come at a more perfect time. I'm working on producing content shot on VHS, and these samples are absolutely perfect for the score. I purchased it before this video was even released. It's awesome!

  • @CeresOutpost
    @CeresOutpost Рік тому +2

    In the late 80's my friends and I would DJ our high school and private events. We would often grab brand new music that we couldn't buy yet from MTV via VHS recording, then play them back at dances and such. We weren't thinking much about fidelity, because tape was the air we breathed back then. The sound was always great for pumping through high end amps and loudspeakers. Little did we know how edgy we were. :P Excellent video - I love experiments like this!

  • @jondellar
    @jondellar Рік тому +4

    Oh wow, my two favourite UA-cam musicians collaborating! That’s great news.
    And thank you for the video; the sound you realised does indeed sound warm and easy on the ear.

  • @samuelcasale
    @samuelcasale Рік тому +1

    Your videos are just so perfect, David. Great storytelling, visuals, ideas. You're an amazing content creator. Please keep going.

  • @caradabikeazul
    @caradabikeazul Рік тому +3

    Some years ago I got a vhs player with lots of tapes, and it impressed me the quality of the sound. Not only the audio quality was great but the mixing was also superior to modern stuff.

    • @ryanjacobson2508
      @ryanjacobson2508 Рік тому +1

      Audio mixing on 80's/early 90's home video was very well done. At some point standards started slipping (I would assume due to budget cuts/tighter deadlines for the home video divisions of the studios).

  • @nobrayn
    @nobrayn Рік тому

    Tappin' my Moonlambo T-120 VHS kicks to this.. Thanks for sharing your (and linking to VenusTheory's) process!

  • @LR-jo7ci
    @LR-jo7ci Рік тому +3

    I have t picked up an instrument in a decade, and I’ve never tried working with synths, but damn I think I might look into it as a hobby. I’m already in a different creative field so I don’t have a lot of money to put into this hobby as my craft also requires a lot of funds, but synths as well as creating arrangements really grows on me as a hobby I’d love to pick up little by little over time. I’m glad I found your channel ❤

    • @kaitlyn__L
      @kaitlyn__L Рік тому +2

      There’s free software instruments and free DAWs you can use to get started at no additional cost with your existing computer :) I hope you take a look into it! Music is an important part of human expression

    • @LR-jo7ci
      @LR-jo7ci Рік тому

      @@kaitlyn__L thanks ! I’ll look into it

  • @joesanpatricio794
    @joesanpatricio794 Рік тому

    I love that you share the process of creating these samples and then make them available for people to use.
    The VCR sound is very nostalgic for me 💛

  • @andrewbogner
    @andrewbogner Рік тому +4

    in 1997 I used a Sony Hifi stereo VHS recorder/player to mix down all my songs for a CD I was working on. when I brought it to the mastering engineer, he was very skeptical at first, but soon realized how good the sound quality was.

    • @beetooex
      @beetooex Рік тому

      I was looking for this comment. All the guides for bedroom studio type recording used to say this was the best way to master. Was your initial recording/mixing done on a 4 track cassette portastudio? Did you bounce tracks temporarily to the VHS when you ran out of channels?

    • @andrewbogner
      @andrewbogner Рік тому +1

      @@beetooex Hi beetooex, I used a fostex model 80 8 track reel to reel tape recorder w/ a mackie 1402 vlz mixer. all my final mixes went to my sony hifi vhs recorder/player. I never bounced out tracks to the vhs, just mastered to it.

  • @mikezimean2
    @mikezimean2 Рік тому

    Great job! I bought the library immediately once I noticed the link in the description after watching the first couple of minutes of this video. It's still downloading as I'm posting this comment, but I'm 100% positive it's going to be awesome

  • @brainjellyTV
    @brainjellyTV Рік тому +6

    I used to mix my 4 track demos into VHS tapes, they sounded great! Hi-fi and four heads went a long way

    • @mikethebloodthirsty
      @mikethebloodthirsty Рік тому +2

      I wish I'd have known about that... I did record music on s VHS and remember thinking how good it sounded, but never thought to master on to one. Back in the day you had to find out for yourself almost.

    • @brainjellyTV
      @brainjellyTV Рік тому

      @@mikethebloodthirsty and btw it was analog

  • @mistral-unizion-music
    @mistral-unizion-music Рік тому +2

    Got it just because it is such a cool idea and you guys worked hard for this so I need to support your work! Sounds pretty cool indeed! 🙂

  • @RhettShull
    @RhettShull Рік тому +4

    This video is incredible, like you I've been pretty deep in the tape world recently. Thanks David!

  • @zhexum
    @zhexum Рік тому

    I just downloaded decent sampler for iOS for the first time and got the free version of this library. Sounds are great! Congrats on being awesome!

  • @tannernelson
    @tannernelson Рік тому +12

    I love writing lofi, never considered using vcr. I have to try it some time.

    • @DavidHilowitzMusic
      @DavidHilowitzMusic  Рік тому +8

      It's really fun! Make sure that you get one that does not have "Hi-Fi Stereo" because that...sounds too good. :)

    • @billypilgrim1
      @billypilgrim1 Рік тому

      @@DavidHilowitzMusic You mean the tapes or the actual VHS recorder?

  • @brrrrett
    @brrrrett Рік тому

    Smiled when I saw this video pop up in my feed. Thank you for the thoughtful content.

  • @SPOD_ZONE
    @SPOD_ZONE Рік тому +20

    Lots of people have mastered to Super VHS over the years. Sounds great.

  • @VibeXplorer
    @VibeXplorer 10 місяців тому

    Fantastic idea and execution! Super outside-the-box thinking. Love it!

  • @sjgrall
    @sjgrall Рік тому +6

    I definitely used my VCR as a child to record audio. Hi-Fi VCRs had really good audio quality, similar fidelity to CD at SP speed, despite being analog.

    • @althejazzman
      @althejazzman Рік тому

      It wasn't just analog though. VHS Hi-Fi Stereo was FM encoded underneath the video signal, so it wasn't bound by the frequency restrictions of tape head gaps like linear audio tape. It was more like an FM Stereo radio broadcast.

  • @stephenkennedy2884
    @stephenkennedy2884 Рік тому +1

    I always love your videos. Well done, and great work!
    Here's a little tip. If you are interested in delving further into lofi I think what you want for the best tape sound is the oldest most reused tape possible. (think old video store rental tapes!) I used to do linear tape-based editing back in my hay-day in the audio film and video industry. My experience was that the most signal degradation comes from the way the ferrimagnetic material is lifted/read and replaced on the mylar/plastic tape bedding. (the place all the good stuff sticks to ;D)
    What this meant was that every time the play-head "read" the audio/video the ferrimagnetic structure was never exactly the same the next time. This is why over time VHS and tape cassettes would "wear out" and develop more and more imperfections. To clarify: It's never the same because the ferrimagnetic structure that is lifted and read is never laid back down the same exact way. There are subtle shifts and changes to its elegant structure.
    If you wanted to get lofi in the most authentic way possible, purchase a tape cassette player that features the A/B auto rotate function. This really just reversed direction of the tape so that the play-head could play the other half of the tape (recordings on tape only used one half the width of the reel) If you recorded all your samples on a short tape reel (you can even cut and splice your tape to shorten it) and did it on the opposite side as well, then just plug your recorder into a wall outlet and let it run on repeat for a few weeks ^^ It will spit out gold the longer you let it run.
    Lastly, for unique alterations try passing a magnet at various distances from your recordings. ...there is a reason you couldn't get tape-based media near magnets! The results are sometimes surprising ^_^

  • @Hermiel
    @Hermiel Рік тому +3

    In the late nineties my friends were using the digital audio track on S-VHS tapes as a mixdown format for their basement EM productions. This was not becuase they thought it sounded cool and retro but because it was their only affordable digital option. I was still using cassetes or maybe DAT.
    Of course it's not the same as the analog audio track on VHS but this video reminded me of that anecdote .

  • @elusivefrog
    @elusivefrog Рік тому +1

    this is absolutely my favorite sample pack you’ve compiled. the sounds are all incredible!

  • @lordmikethegreat
    @lordmikethegreat Рік тому +3

    "The Fish that Saved Pittsburgh" is my friend's favorite movie of all time! I know you touched on the capabilities of VHS HiFi, but it is important to note that the HiFI VHS has incredible sound quality... it's comparable to CD, and many people say it's even better since it is still analog. There is also no tape noise. I used to use HiFi VHS to master my recordings, and some people still do as it's as good as any reel-to-reel recording out there.

    • @alicev1500
      @alicev1500 Рік тому

      Is it still easy to get blank tapes? Or do you overwrite other tapes?

    • @Youtube.Commen-tater
      @Youtube.Commen-tater Рік тому

      @@alicev1500 I'd say it's pretty easy to find them at thrift stores and various other second hand shops, they were mass produced for like thirty years

  • @andygee8716
    @andygee8716 Рік тому +1

    Back in the early 90s I purchased a Panasonic NV-FS90, 6 head stereo S-VHS Recorder with separate left and right audio level meters and audio level gain controls. It cost me around £1200 back then as it was one of the best, most feature laden models on the market. It was also an edit machine with frame by frame search with near perfect motion and stillness and a separate music track could be recorded on the machine to accompany home videos or presentations.
    I too used the machine as an audio recorder, as it could obtain better results than most dedicated cassette decks, ( Nakamich being the obvious exception), and didn't require any type of noise reduction, (Dolby B, C, S or dbx), as its recordings were virtually noiseless.
    I archived around 10 180 minute cassette's worth of music and used them for parties or family/friend get togethers.
    Sound quality was terrific but couldn't stand up against my pair of Nakamichi RX-505's, (they were exceptional and sadly missed), however, it was far more than acceptable and it never chewed a tape! I used that machine up until around 2012, (how many other machines have lived this long that have had so much use?) It survived 3 kids and their tapes, plus a jam sandwich posted through its cassette slot by my daughter, awaiting collection by the unseen postman. Cleaning and maintenance is vital to this calibre of a/v products, especially if you have kids using them, too.
    I retired it back to it's original box, sealed it and there it resides, STILL IN WORKING CONDITION, in the attic.

  • @egc-e5p
    @egc-e5p Рік тому +13

    the file is unavailable :(

  • @kaitlyn__L
    @kaitlyn__L Рік тому

    Your explanation of helical scan, saying “almost as if the tape speed was higher” was really good for the uninitiated

  • @nickbirkby2521
    @nickbirkby2521 Рік тому +6

    The vcrs labelled HIFI from the early- mid 90s record really well. Try and find one with manual record gain control. I recorded some Lps and it was almost impossible to distinguish between the source and the recording. They used to call it poor man's DAT. :)

  • @GhostTracksLtd
    @GhostTracksLtd Місяць тому

    dude i just gotta tell you that youre my favorite youtube channel atm. your content is top shelf and am just feel grateful to have stumbled across your stuff. keep it up!

  • @ingreynelg
    @ingreynelg Рік тому +13

    You are both a scientist and a musician. Really admire your brilliant mind. You create really interesting content.

  • @corporaterobotslave400
    @corporaterobotslave400 Рік тому +1

    Thanks for this! I have an old Casio mini keyboard I found @ a thrift store a couple decades ago and I adore the tones on it but it has freaky white noise during silence; now I can sample them and retain some lofi magic using this method. Love sounding like no one else.

  • @rwmorey71
    @rwmorey71 Рік тому +6

    Alesis made an 8 track "digital" recorder that used VHS tapes as the media.

    • @delta-9969
      @delta-9969 9 місяців тому

      ADAT was digital.

  • @RemitheDreamfox
    @RemitheDreamfox Рік тому

    I bought this when it came out and it is just lovely to mess around with

  • @readtedium
    @readtedium Рік тому +7

    I’m really surprised that ADAT wasn’t mentioned in this clip at all. It was a really popular format in the ’90s and a number of gigantic hits were recorded with it. It essentially was VHS audio used for mastering.

    • @0bsolet
      @0bsolet Рік тому

      I worked with one. It was 6 tracks if I remember...

    • @thecritic2084
      @thecritic2084 Рік тому +1

      The guy is a composer and records music and I think he's really trying to focus here on using the analogue audio tracks as a sort of lofi signal processor to give it that "warm analogue sound" or whatever.... I'd be surprised if he weren't aware of the ADAT standard, which leverages the entire S-VHS tape on a completely different head mechanism. Even more than that, this issue was really solved in 1982 with the Sony PCM-F1, an A/D-D/A that can encode digital audio (Linear PCM) onto a video tape recorder's video tracks. It also led to the emergence of the ADAT optical I/O standard.... Some modern professional interfaces still use the ADAT lightpipe I/O, though it has largely been replaced by Dante.

    • @delta-9969
      @delta-9969 9 місяців тому

      ADAT is digital. It was the total opposite of "warm" and "analog." Technically CD quality but the converters at that time were horrible and were notorious for a flat and lifeless sound that you'll hear on a lot of CDs from that era. Of course it wouldn't surprise me if hipsters develop a sudden "nostalgia" for it and start laboriously bouncing everything down to an ADAT machine lol

  • @ChipsNCellos
    @ChipsNCellos Рік тому +1

    Reminds me a bit of Final Fantasy music. Creative work here, well done!

  • @michaelkonomos
    @michaelkonomos Рік тому +2

    Good timing. I’ve been hunting for VHS HIFI machines at the local Goodwill after watching a UA-cam video on this. Found one and it ate the tapes. Oh well. The hunt continues.

    • @njm1971nyc
      @njm1971nyc Рік тому +2

      Most old VCRs will eat your tapes, but it's usually a very simple repair. 99% of the time it's because the tape is being pulled out by the capstan /pinch roller (as it should be) but not collected on the right hand take-up spool in the cassette. So the tape pools inside the VCR, and it shuts down. Most consumer VCRs have a swinging idler wheel that swings left for rewind, right for FF/Play. The grease on the swinging arm turns to tar, and it no longer swings 🫤 Older designs use a rubber tire on the swinging idler, which can become shiny and non-grippy. You can roughen it up with fine sandpaper. Usually a dab of grease and/or a piece of sandpaper will fully cure this problem.
      You're welcome. 👍😉

    • @michaelkonomos
      @michaelkonomos Рік тому +1

      @@njm1971nyc thank you!

    • @purpleghost4083
      @purpleghost4083 Рік тому +1

      @@michaelkonomos The channel 12voltvids does repair videos on audio & video equipment including VCRs. Good and useful reference vids even if you don't need to fix the type of equipment in a particular video.

  • @jarekstorm6331
    @jarekstorm6331 Рік тому +2

    Top of the line Hi-Fi stereo VCRs in the late 80s/early 90s had excellent audio quality. We used them for making master tapes of our garage band demos.

    • @ryanjacobson2508
      @ryanjacobson2508 Рік тому

      We were reaching a point of great A/V tech in the early 90's, then the advent of the internet meant ISPs (and eventually, streaming services) throttling bandwidth to save data costs while consumers increasingly tolerated crummy A/V due to digital file compression. Yes HD video looks great, don't get me wrong, but things could still be better. What made the early 90's great was that we seemed to be making the most of what was available at the time. You just can't say that about the all digital/internet era.

  • @IlNeige
    @IlNeige Рік тому +5

    Those test samples are gorgeous!

  • @alexanderstudiosMW
    @alexanderstudiosMW 11 місяців тому

    Immediately bought this pack as I was watching. Already knew I was going to be in analog heaven!

  • @ora2j251
    @ora2j251 Рік тому +9

    To this day, i still make some mixtapes and record my mixes on HiFi VHS. They sound absolutely amazing and can easily hold 3 hours of audio.

  • @tomhekker
    @tomhekker Рік тому +1

    Hi-Fi VHS is one of the highest quality analog tape formats you could get at the time as a normal consumer without a padded bank account.
    I recorded hours of music on Hi-Fi VHS because of that back in the day.

  • @___aZa___
    @___aZa___ Рік тому +4

    I just love your channel.
    anything you pick up is so damn interesting!
    And all your inside on the technical devices is just wonderful

  • @DeanofMachines
    @DeanofMachines Рік тому

    Hi David! Just want to say I genuinely enjoy the experiments you do. Cheers!

  • @MooglePower
    @MooglePower Рік тому +2

    Very cool to see the process of how you create the samples here. I just bought the library and am already using it in a track.

  • @johannahill4466
    @johannahill4466 Рік тому +4

    that was... so neat. i literally never thought to use a VCR like this. anyone know the name of the Korean(?) movie or show that was sampled at the beginning of the video? aslas googling "boy flies on a whale" and plugging in different decades yeilds nothing. thanks for a truly stellar video!

    • @Andyyy982
      @Andyyy982 Рік тому

      I was also wondering. I speak Korean so I can confirm that it's not Korean. I'm fairly sure it's Japanese as I also know a smidge of Mandarin and it's almost certainly not chinese.

  • @Brokeninc
    @Brokeninc Рік тому +2

    As a person that was born in the 1980 this video was very interesting and depressing to watch. It was Interesting because of how the old tech is being shown how to be use in a modern set up, depressing because well it's alien tech to many younger people now and that means I'm old.

  • @jamesdavis5096
    @jamesdavis5096 Рік тому +17

    It’s a well-known fact that a lot of audio engineers use VHS to master audio. They did make hi-fi VCRs. They make a great mastering track

    • @dougllewellyn4620
      @dougllewellyn4620 Рік тому +1

      I used a hi-fi VHS recorder as a backup master 2 track recorder in the 80s. I would mix down to 1/4" half track at 15 ips, and to the VHS deck. Worked like a champ!

    • @solarbabies9682
      @solarbabies9682 Рік тому

      Beta was more common

    • @dougllewellyn4620
      @dougllewellyn4620 Рік тому

      @@solarbabies9682 Beta was the better format, but VHS was way more common

    • @carlwinslow5905
      @carlwinslow5905 Рік тому

      Thats ADAT. It's not analog. I'd just 0s and 1s on tape. Like a hard drive

    • @dougllewellyn4620
      @dougllewellyn4620 Рік тому

      @@carlwinslow5905 ADAT used the same principle and hardware, but VHS/hi-fi wasn't digital.

  • @DanielHolter
    @DanielHolter Рік тому +1

    Dual mono FTW, I love this vibe so much. Great work and inspiring as always!

  • @SamvaranSharma
    @SamvaranSharma Рік тому +4

    It would be great to run an impulse input through the VCR in order to get a filter for the "quasar lo fi" sound that could then be applied to any sample. Similar to what they detailed in this NPR piece about recreating the sound inside the Hagia Sophia: ua-cam.com/video/aELeEpgiQos/v-deo.html

  • @dubmusik304
    @dubmusik304 Рік тому

    I definitely plan on using a VCR in this way, but I picked up the library because of the work you both put into this. Thank you!

  • @glenesis
    @glenesis Рік тому +2

    Hi Dave. We used to mixdown to good VHS and S-VHS decks to get *great* quality mixes, much better than cassette. I had to feed black video to my deck to get it to record. The thought of using a crappy video deck at low-speed as an effect never occurred to me, though I do use my cassette 4-track deck for that kind of thing. Your results sound just like old VHS soundtrack! Congrats, it's awesome!

  • @toddfoolery6380
    @toddfoolery6380 3 місяці тому

    I'm not too savvy in the music world. But I LOVE what's going on here. Gave me very warm bubbly vibes, with a tinge of exploratory excitement.

  • @etherealbolweevil6268
    @etherealbolweevil6268 Рік тому +1

    I one worked with a technical acoustics consultant team who used NICAM audio VHS recorders for 'field' audio recording as it was the most affordable and highest quality way of audio recording available at the time. Most of the affordability coming from the low cost of the tape.

  • @psychotikpaisano
    @psychotikpaisano Рік тому

    I'm 31 and VHS played my childhood cartoons, but didn't find out until today what 4 heads meant on receivers, thanks!

  • @davidbindert
    @davidbindert Рік тому +2

    Back in the mid ‘90’s my college radio station used VHS tapes to record programming and play back to cover dead air overnight.

  • @ItsBhavyaPatel
    @ItsBhavyaPatel Рік тому +1

    This channel is amazing. Pure wonder and discovery.

  • @hoisin75
    @hoisin75 Рік тому +1

    This is great. My guitar player buddy at school in the 1980s home recoreded audio on his video (what us brits called VCRs). Struck me as an outlier at the time. Souneded better than my cassette recordings.

  • @BooneDavey
    @BooneDavey Рік тому

    1st video I've seen of yours & you earned my sub. Not only do I love what samples you made, and how you made them, but I love your approach to the style you made the video. ✅

  • @averythomas64
    @averythomas64 Рік тому

    Been working on VCRs for years and learned something. Thank you❤

  • @JamieMPhoto
    @JamieMPhoto Рік тому +1

    I remember watching an interview with Henry Rollins during the Rollins Band's heyday in the early/mid 1990s, and they apparently used VHS as their primary recording media. I remember finding it striking even then.

  • @BadDiode
    @BadDiode Рік тому

    One of your best! Loved the overhead shots of the naked VHS and how informative it was, historical perspective and all.

  • @Audio_Freak
    @Audio_Freak Рік тому

    Two of my favorite artists/producers/etc collaborating on a tape sampler is one i'm gonna need to check out!!!

  • @avedic
    @avedic Рік тому +1

    Ooooh....just 30 seconds in, and I'm hooked.
    Fascinating subject....with excellent production value?
    Yep, I just subscribed. :D
    I love finding new video essayists who are great at covering some niche thing I'm into!

  • @mcgreevs24
    @mcgreevs24 Рік тому

    This was an absolute delight to stumble onto. Cheers!

  • @RRRRRRP
    @RRRRRRP Рік тому +1

    Really enjoy the results you produced with this process, very nostalgic 💭