hey
My question is, since this band obviously has a very low sound, would there be an advantage to tracking at 15? Or is that whole idea of more low end at that speed just a myth?
no, it's not a myth
analog tape machines have what's called a 'head bump' in the low end
they have a little boost down there that peaks at some frequency and drops off pretty steeply below it
the bump is a recording phenomenon more than a playback one
at 30ips, a typical head bump might peak someplace between 80Hz and 120Hz, rolling off below that
at 15ips, that bump goes down an octave. for example, 120Hz bump becomes 60Hz, and the rolloff starts there instead of at a higher freq
each type of machine is a little different--the ampex atr-102 2-track, for example, can be close to dead flat, down to the bottom of the usable freq range, even at 30ips.
anyway, the tradeoff is noise. tape hiss also drops down an octave and is therefore more noticeable.
i prefer 15ips for rock. i like where the head bump lands better, and the extended LF response makes it easier to get bass and kick drum sounding the way they should. and who cares about tape hiss anyway.
anything w/o much going on in the low end, 30ips may be preferable
it would also depend on format, as track width and number of tracks will determine the amt of hiss. 1" 16track is going to be pretty noisy, 1" 8track not so much. some people use noise reduction at 15ips to ameliorate the hiss, but i have hated NR whenever i have heard it on multitracks.
for my money, 2" 16track at 15ips is the winner among multitrack formats
good luck
tm
