how can you get that cool analog tape effect in the digital domain?

[mojovoodoo]

i have been seriously racking my brains trying to figure out how to get that cool backwards gate effect on a digital multi-track recorder.is this impossible,or do they now have some effect that lets you manipulate the sound wave,backwards or forward?it's that cool effect where you turn the tape backwards and record a heavy gated reverb on the vocal track.so that when you turn the tape back over again,it has that cool reversed ,yet ahead of the voice effect.i can only think of obscure examples,like black sabbath on sabotoge,led zeppelin(not so obscure)not exactly the same effect,but kind of on wholelotta love.i know all you studio geniuses know what i am talking about ,but since the medium has changed,have we lost some very real,tricky analog effects?

[Tom Hicks]

I remember reading years ago how the engineer did that effect for Zep.If I recall rightly,he took the 100% wet output of the delay (probably an echoplex back then) from the 100% dry original vocal and brought it back as a separate track timed ahead of the vocal by the amount of time it would normally be behind the vocal,so that the "delay" is now the original.Brilliant effect!
Now,of course,software makes this childsplay.Just make sure the effect comes back not through the normal effects return but as a separate track and then use the software's offset feature to drag the returned effect to the desired spot on the timeline.
Tom

[mojovoodoo]

ok,but the other effect i mean,when you literally turn the tape over,it's that creepy backwards reverb that anticipates each vocal,like a large hall reverb that does the lingering effect before each effect,but backwards?ok i know i sound really redundant,apologies.but is this manipulation afforded through computers as well?i can only think of this type of time manipulation through the tape.it's hard to picture digitally,but it probably can be done.you got a name of a specific program,or sound card,that i can look into?

[regebro]

You'd probably need to transfer the recording to a computer, unless your multi-track has a reverse effect.

Some digital multi-effects have reverse reverbs. If your multi-track can move tracks backwards and forwards you could record that reverse-reverb to a separate track, and than move that track a couple of beats ahead.

[Razor]

Or use a sampler. I have an old ASR-X that loves to flip stuff upside-out.
Also maybe simply record the sound out to any tape deck (four track...), flip the tape and record it back into the digital multitrack. The sound quality will obviously suffer some but that might work for the application, a little tape compression might make the sound jump. Unless you can move tracks around in your multitrack, you may have to take a couple of passes at getting it in the right place. Usually trial and error will take care of that.
Good Luck!..........Charles

[Shreadzilla]

Here is the way I do that,
reverse a sound, such as a vocal and then add reverb to it,[use soundforge-wavelab-cooledit,whatever] and then reverse it back again,it makes the sound come before the actual source sound.. Like that song by smashing pumpkins Silverf*ck, the middle part where he goes "bang bang your dead..."
Experiment with different reverbs-delays-modulation,etc.
there is alot of wierd stuff you can come up with.