Reviews
Tape Op Magazine
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Tape Recorder to Instrument Amplifier
Interface
By Larry Crane (Tape Op Magazine Nov/Dec 2000)
It's amazing how one little box could change what I do so
much. Simply put, this is an impedance matcher for going from
the output of tape/board/line-level type single to the input
of guitar amps, stomp boxes and the like. Boy this opened
up a lot. Now drum busses are feeding distortion pedals and
coming back into the mix. Crappy delay pedals don't distort
out when I try to feed them off the mixer. Everybody's vocals
end up going through the Fender and it seems. Jeff Saltzman,
our trusty freelancer here, has even been using it at the
receiving end of long cable runs (with a mic pre at the top)
to feed bass amps. That just a simple box with a transformer
and potentiometer could unlock so much makes me aware of how
strange it is that no one else is making something like this.
Tape Recorder to Instrument Amp Interface
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by Bob Hodas (Mix Magazine, Jan, 1996)
Reamp is a new product that is so simple in concept and so
practical in application that I can't believe no one manufactured
it before now. It's also so inexpensive that anyone with a
tape recorder will be able to afford one or two. Essentially,
REAMP is a properly impedance-matched interface between the
tape recorder and the instrument amplifier. What does this
mean? REAMP allows the user to play something already recorded
on tape back through an instrument amplifier. The creative
possibilities abound, but before we discuss applications,
let's look at the box itself.
REAMP is about the size and shape of the popular Countryman
direct box. Because it is passive, there are no batteries
to change, and it is RF-protected. On the input side is a
ground lift switch and a female XLR +4dBu connector in which
to plug your tape track output. On the output side is a volume
trim pot (yes it goes up to 11) and a 1/4 inch jack for connection
to an amp.
As you can imagine, there are many applications for a box
of this type. It means that you don't have to make a commitment
to a sound before you record your guitar tracks. Just record
direct and figure it out later. How many times have the other
musicians sat around while the engineer and producer tried
to figure out the best tone for the track? The energy of the
performance is one of the most important things you want to
capture on tape. Now you can spend time doing creative experiments
with different amps and mic technique without burning out
the players. You might also record a direct guitar during
tracking just to have more flexibility with tone and imaging
during mixdown.
If isolation/leakage during tracking is a problem in the
studio, or if high volume in a late night session in a home
studio is unacceptable, then REAMP is the solution. Record
the instrument direct and then re-record it with REAMP at
a more convenient time or play it back "live" during
mixdown.
You don't have to limit the REAMP to guitars, as any instrument
recorded on tape could be played back in the studio during
mixdown or re-recorded back to tape for that live feel. This
not only applies to synthesized tracks emulating real instruments,
but even to drums, organs, electric pianos or any sound where
you might want a different ambience. Why should a recording
studio go unused during a mix session, when it could be used
as a live chamber?
On a recent Aerosmith tour, the band recorded a concert for
a new live album. The remote truck engineer was unable to
achieve the proper tone from the bass player's live rig and
recorded a direct bass track as a safety. Later, they REAMP'd
the direct track through the bass player's studio rig and
were able to retain all of the energy and punch of the live
performance using the original tracks. REAMP has been successfully
used by many other well known groups, engineers and producers
such as the Rolling Stones, Steve Vai, Chris Isaak, Van Halen,
Blind Melon, Roseanne Cash, Craig Street, Alan Sides, Jack
Joseph Puig, Bryan Carlstrom, Jay Baumgardner, Tom Laune,
The Neville Brothers, Andy Johns and Matt Wallace.
REAMP was originally conceived by engineer John Cuniberti
for sessions with guitar wizard Joe Satriani. It definitely
has a place in the engineer's toolkit along with outboard
preamps and direct boxes. I know that I can make better projects
with this item.
Based in the San Francisco area, Bob Hodas is an acoustical
consultant and recording engineer whose credits include Windham
Hill Records, the Doobie Brothers, the Village People and
Mickey Hart.
Tape Recorder to Instrument Amp Interface
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by Craig Anderton (EQ Magazine, Nov, 1998)
One of the cool things about software plug-ins is you can
record a track dry, and postpone adding effects until it's
mixdown time. Not sure which distortion you want to use on
guitars? Just record it straight and use a distortion plug-in
(like Steinbergs's Red Valve It or Line 6's Amp Farm) after
the fact to create the type of sound you want.
In a way, the REAMP is kind of like an "analog hardware
plug-in", as it also allows you to postpone processing
until late in the recording process. Here's how.
CONTROLS
The REAMP (designed by recording engineer John Cuniberti while
working on a project with Joe Satriani) is a small (5"X3"X2"),
well-constructed box that could probably survive being run
over by a truck or dropped from several stories up. You feed
a tape or hard-disk track into the +4, balanced, XLR input,
and out comes a guitar-level/impedance signal at a 1/4-inch
phone output jack, suitable for feeding into a guitar amp.
Other controls include an output trim control and a ground
lift switch (that, incidentally, doesn't just lift the ground
pin, but the shield as well). The box is entirely passive
(no power required), and consists primarily of a high-quality
transformer (frequency response, 20 Hz-20 kHz, +/- 1 db) with
some high-frequency filtering to minimize RFI and other interference.
APPLICATIONS
Suppose you have a session with a guitarist, and can't afford
the time to tinker with a variety of amp a d distortion sounds.
A typical REAMP use would be to record the guitar's direct
out to a separate track, in addition to (or maybe even instead
of) a "dirty" track created by using a guitar preamp
(or miking a standard guitar amp). On mixdown you can then
feed the direct track into the REAMP, and experiment with
feeding a variety of guitar amps to get just the sound you
want.
Of course,, this technique isn't limited to guitar. Musicians
are discovering the creative possibilities of running synthesizers,
drum machines, and even vocals through amplifiers; REAMP saves
you from having to commit to a sound during recording, as
you can take a track at any time and "reamp" it.
Sure, you could kluge together an attenuator to feed an arnp
for a lot less, but the REAMP does the job in a high-quality
fashion.
Another use is to interface tape tracks with "stomp
boxes" designed to accept guitar-level signals only.
Feed the track into the box via the REAMP, then send the stomp
box out to a console mic pre. Yet another application is to
avoid leakage problems when recording a band. If the guitar
amp leaks into the drums, send the guitar into a SansAmp-style
box hooked into the headphone mix while recording so the guitarist
can monitor using a dirty signal, but recording the direct
signal only. After the drums have been recorder, "reamp"
the guitar signal through an amp and record the ainplified
sound, sans leakage. And of course, you can crank the trim
control up all the way to overload the guitar amp and obtain
a heavily overdriven sound ... you get the idea.
Of course,, the concept isn't perfect; many guitar players
would rather play through the amp that will create the fmal
sound, as they like the interaction obtained by playing through
an arnp in real titne. However, that doesn't mean you can't
have the guitarist play through a favorite amp, but also slip
a direct out into a spare track in case you want to REAMP
the track later with a different amp.
Overall, this is a clever little box; either you "get"
what it does, or you don't. If I this sounds like the kind
of device that belongs in your bag of tricks, rest assured
that it does what it sets out to do very well.
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