Stupid newbie questions

J

jviss

New member
I was going to post this in the newbie forum, but it's very specific to analog.

I just got my first tape deck. I bought some used, old tapes - one is a 10" reel 3M tape from the '50's, in the box, with classical music on it - maybe recorded off the air.

The question is, what are the recording formats used on 1/4" tape? I think a standard stereo format is L/R on tracks 1 and 3, with 2/4 used in the opposite direction (Is it L=1 and 3, R=2 and 4?).

One tape seems to have the same thing coming off all four heads.

Another seems to have the same thing on heads 1 and 2, nothing (not even backwards) on 3 and 4; the box is marked "half track."

Thanks,

jv
 
What tape deck are you using? If it was home recorded it would be depend on what tape deck they used to record on. If it's a 4 track "stereo" deck it would be recorded 2 tracks side by side and then 2 tracks side by side going in the other direction. If it's a 4 track quad deck they could have used any two tracks because they all record in the same direction. If you played back a stereo recording from a 4 track stereo deck on a quad deck I think it would be on tracks 1 & 2.

Hope I'm not making it more confusing.

I just reread your post. Because you said L1, R3 I assume you're using a TEAC quad deck. 2340 or 3340. If it's marked "half track" it means they used a tape deck that records the full 1/4" tape in two tracks. So you'd have half on 1 and 2 and the other half on 3 and 4.
 
jviss said:
It's a Teac A-3440. No tapes came with it.
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The tape marked "half track" sounds like somebody erased the other two tracks, which would have been the R stereo channel.

The tape with the same thing on all four could have been recorded on a mono tape deck. Which would record the whole tape with one track.

I'm pretty sure on consumer stereo decks that only play back and record 2 tracks at a time, the tracks are side by side and then the same in reverse. But I could be wrong.

I think the 3440 records 1-4 right in a row. You'd have 1 and 4 on the outside edges.

I don't think there is a rule to it because there are so many differently designed decks.
 
Thanks, and more...

Thanks, Steve, for your interest.

A correction - the tape marked "half track" does, indeed, have something on the "other side." So, it has program material across the tape. Channels 1 and 2 seem to be the same, i.e., mono, with channel 1 consistently about 1 Vu lower than 2. Channels 3 and 4 are backwards music. When the tape is flipped over, same story.

I surmise that "half track" meant a recorder that recorded a single mono track on half the tape, so it could be flipped over and recorded in the other direction.

This tape is from 19 March, 1955, an off-the-air recording of the Boston Philharmonic, broadcast by WGHB-FM in Boston (89.7 MHz).

It's on "Scotch Extra Play Magnetic Tape 190A," No. 190A-36H-100G, "plastic 1/4" x 3600 Ft." on a standard 10", 6-hole, three screw NAB-hub reel. The box is nice, as it has printed promotional material on the inside cover, a cardboard flat with a hub that lifts out, and splicing instructions printed on the inside of the box below that. If anyone collects this stuff let me know; I can take some pics if there's interest (and a place to post the pics).
 
jviss said:
I surmise that "half track" meant a recorder that recorded a single mono track on half the tape, so it could be flipped over and recorded in the other direction.
Click to expand...

True, it could have meant that as well.

If you were to get a half track studio mastering tape deck it would play/record two tracks in the same direction using the whole tape. This is standard with mixing down in studios.
 
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