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Neil Young and Rick Rubin on "Recording to Tape"

1 by zorg
I don't know if Neil and Rick are cracking up, or if it's me, but can somebody fact check these claims for me.
  • You have to immediately mix recordings on magnetic tape because the sound changes overnight. (yet at the same time they are also interested in tracking down decades old masters???)
  • They hear a massive difference in quality between their tape recording and digital recording, yet their analog to digital workflow preserves the quality of the analog
I would just chalk it up to Neil being idiosyncratic and grumpy, but Rick seems very much on board. Relevant topic starts at ~6:00.


EDIT: You know what, forget it, I watched a little more and Neil is just bonkers and Rubin is a well paid Yes-Man. He wants to start an AM radio station so that we can listen to "vinyl quality music" for free. Good grief.

Re: Neil Young and Rick Rubin on "Recording to Tape"

4 by penningtron
Steve used to say if you can hear changes that drastically on tape then either the machine or tape is broken.

I guess technically anything with molecules is always changing on a micro level. I've seen similar claims about cymbals never sounding the same in a "never step in the same river twice" sort of way. Both may be true over a long time or after tons of use, but day to day, take to take? Nah.

Rick Rubin is deep into the pseudo scientific podcast bro world. Wouldn't shock me if he sunbathed his asshole.
Music

Re: Neil Young and Rick Rubin on "Recording to Tape"

5 by Nate Dort
Tape print-through is a real thing, and typically occurs within a few hours. The magnetic particles on the adjacent layer of tape when its wound on the reel will influence each other. That's typically why you want to store tape "tails out," so that if you do hear a "shadow" of the adjacent layer, it comes after the original sound (like a delay effect), not before, which is more jarring.

Neil sounds like a lunatic here.

Re: Neil Young and Rick Rubin on "Recording to Tape"

6 by Kniferide
Nate Dort wrote: Mon Aug 19, 2024 12:14 pm Tape print-through is a real thing,
Was my first thought. It's not an unreal concern scientifically, but I don't think you are on a timer to get your mixes done before sunrise. I would suspect the magnetic anomalies of just playing the tape back are more detrimental to the recording than print through, which takes a pretty long time to establish a hearable issue. These dudes have always said absolutely stupid shit about recording so this is no real news to me.
Was Japmn.

New OST project: https://japmn.bandcamp.com/album/flight-ost
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Re: Neil Young and Rick Rubin on "Recording to Tape"

7 by zorg
Thanks for the reality check, I don't think I've ever watched a technical discussion from either of these guys, so I guess I wasn't prepared for the "mojo" based teardown of the recording process. I have great respect for Neil's music and sound, and Rick has managed to make a good number of quality records with artists I like....but considering their strong pedigrees they both surprised me by coming off as complete dilletantes.

Re: Neil Young and Rick Rubin on "Recording to Tape"

8 by penningtron
Kniferide wrote: Mon Aug 19, 2024 12:59 pm
Nate Dort wrote: Mon Aug 19, 2024 12:14 pm Tape print-through is a real thing,
Was my first thought. It's not an unreal concern scientifically, but I don't think you are on a timer to get your mixes done before sunrise. I would suspect the magnetic anomalies of just playing the tape back are more detrimental to the recording than print through, which takes a pretty long time to establish a hearable issue. These dudes have always said absolutely stupid shit about recording so this is no real news to me.
The only time I've noticed print thru was by the reference master stage, listening intensely with headphones for a pass and noticing a faint ghosting between tracks. All of the records I made in that roughly 10 year period were tracked and mixed to tape. I think by that point I asked the ME to quiet those gaps but then I went back and listened to a previous album and EP and noticed that same effect ended up on those finished CDs. Whoops (but also not a huge deal).

I've never noticed it while making a record. I've certainly never heard tape degradation in real time.
Music

Re: Neil Young and Rick Rubin on "Recording to Tape"

9 by Kniferide
penningtron wrote: Mon Aug 19, 2024 3:22 pm
Kniferide wrote: Mon Aug 19, 2024 12:59 pm
Nate Dort wrote: Mon Aug 19, 2024 12:14 pm Tape print-through is a real thing,
Was my first thought. It's not an unreal concern scientifically, but I don't think you are on a timer to get your mixes done before sunrise. I would suspect the magnetic anomalies of just playing the tape back are more detrimental to the recording than print through, which takes a pretty long time to establish a hearable issue. These dudes have always said absolutely stupid shit about recording so this is no real news to me.
The only time I've noticed print thru was by the reference master stage, listening intensely with headphones for a pass and noticing a faint ghosting between tracks. All of the records I made in that roughly 10 year period were tracked and mixed to tape. I think by that point I asked the ME to quiet those gaps but then I went back and listened to a previous album and EP and noticed that same effect ended up on those finished CDs. Whoops (but also not a huge deal).

I've never noticed it while making a record. I've certainly never heard tape degradation in real time.
My Number of the Beast Cassette had print through so bad all the songs had a pre-delay you could hear even in my 1971 El Camino stereo. It was awesome.
Was Japmn.

New OST project: https://japmn.bandcamp.com/album/flight-ost
https://japmn.bandcamp.com/album/numberwitch
https://boneandbell.com/site/music.html
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