Enchanting Instruments 100 - U-he SATIN Tape Emulator - Tape Delay/Tape Flanging

The SATIN tape emulator, in addition to its basic functionality as an open reel, also includes more unconventional features like tape delay and tape flanging. However, these functions were traditionally achieved by modifying or experimenting with open reel machines. I would like to explore these features from a historical perspective.

Tape Delay

The recognition of delay devices began in the 1950s. In the early days, modified open reel machines were used for delay effects, as heard in recordings like Elvis Presley’s "Blue Moon of Kentucky" (1953-1955). Later, dedicated machines such as tape and drum-type delay units were introduced. One famous example of a tape delay machine is the Roland RE-201 (1974). By the late 1970s, analog and digital delays using semiconductor technology emerged, leading to the decline of large tape delay units with moving parts.

One structural feature of tape delay is the presence of multiple playback heads. The following photo shows the internals of the Roland RE-201, which includes a demagnetizing head, a recording head, and three playback heads. The tape is stored in a loop, resembling seaweed, with no end. The input sound is recorded onto the tape by the recording head and then replayed in repetition by the three playback heads. By changing the tape speed, the delay time can be controlled. Additionally, feedback is achieved by sending the signal from the playback heads back to the recording head. Even after the tape makes a full loop, the sound previously recorded is erased by the demagnetizing head before reaching the recording head, preventing old recordings from being heard.

Roland RE201, Public domain (Quoted from Wikipedia.)

In SATIN, there are modes with two or four playback heads, and you can switch between them. While the tape-delay sound itself is valuable, as it is also achievable with other delay plugins, SATIN offers a distinctive feature. It allows for delay times that depend on the tape speed, which is a significant advantage. This means you can continuously change the tape speed while using the delay. Of course, it can also sync to your DAW's tempo.Furthermore, SATIN enables the adjustment of playback head positions, a feature that wasn't possible with real hardware. You can slide the heads seamlessly between 0 to 8 inches. Additionally, each head can be modulated using an LFO (sine wave), allowing for a chorus-like effect.

I’ve created a unique delay sound with SATIN. It’s a trick using the freedom of head positioning and the variable tape speed. Of course, it can also be used in a more conventional way.

Tape Flanging

Many people may not be familiar with the tape flanging technique. This is an audio technique that uses open reel tape machines, and it began to be used in the 1960s. The technique involves using two open reel machines: one plays normally, while the other is temporarily altered by slightly changing its speed and mixing the two signals. When the heads and tape are at the same location, speed, and volume, only the sound is amplified. However, when there’s a slight variation in speed, the sounds can cancel each other out or amplify in different ways, resulting in a complex phenomenon. This is likely a lost technique that is rarely heard in modern music. It’s typical of u-he to focus on such elements, and it’s clear that this feature wasn’t implemented out of demand or necessity.

The name might make it easy to confuse with a flanger, but tape flanging is not an effect you leave on continuously. Instead, it is an effect that you manually operate, like an instrument, at specific moments. To demonstrate what kind of effect it creates, I’ve made a sample for you to listen to. First, you’ll hear the drums without any effect, and then, in the fill-in section, I’ve applied tape flanging.

I’ve created a video using an oscilloscope to explain this, with a sine wave (200Hz, -12dB) as the input. Tape flanging uses two open reel machines, and for this example, let's refer to the original sound playback side as Tape 1, and the side where the speed is altered as Tape 2. The setting is configured with the Range ms set to 20ms, which is linked to the slider. The length of the slider corresponds to the delay time (Range ms), and although there’s nothing visually displayed, the Tape 1 head is fixed at the center, representing the current time (0ms). In the video, the Tape 2 head starts 10ms ahead of time with volume at 0, then gradually fades in as it moves. It passes through the current time of 0ms, which is where the Tape 1 head is, and continues to fade out as it reaches 10ms in the past, where the volume is 0 again. At the 0ms point where the Tape 1 head is located, the amplitude is doubled to -6dB. This occurs because the -12dB sine wave from Tape 1 and Tape 2 perfectly overlap at that point.

The tape flanging in SATIN is not exactly intuitive, so most people will likely not understand how it works immediately. Additionally, if you are not familiar with the principles and effects of tape flanging, you may not even know what it’s capable of. It’s a feature that really reflects u-he’s characteristic focus on more niche, intricate functionality.

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