Is recording backwards possible on a Model 12?

[bobbydj]

Hi everyone. I've just joined. I've been recording sound since 1980, one way or another. Always as a hobby/interest/unprofessionally. In about 2002 I bought a 424mkiii, and had three or four more after (all plagued by poor build quality and inconsistencies, tbh). Big into GbV, etc. etc. etc. So yes - hello, everyone. That's my intro done.

One thing I used to enjoy doing on the 424 was recording what used to sometimes be called "back-masking" passes. Basically, recording something forwards by turning the reel upside down and starting from the end of the recording - and flipping the reel over and playing it in the usual way, so that the track would then be in reverse.

Crap explanation, bygwim. Simple question - are such shenanigans possible on the very much digital, no tape involved Model 12? I ask because I'm in the market for a digital means of recording that will at least feel somewhat familiar and similar to a 424. That's essentially it.

Thanks in advance.

PS - I did google this question prior to signing up here, but found no answer.

 

[Max Relic]

Welcome to the forum. The Model series can't do backward recording as we did on multitrack tape recorders. Digital recording takes place only in the time domain while tape recorders could be "fooled" by flipping the cassette over, thus dealing with time and space domain. You can easily reverse a given part of a digital recording using audio editing software like Audacity, Audition, SoundForge etc.

 

[bobbydj]

Thanks

I have an Akai S20 which, bion, has a reverse sort of function - send a signal to it (could be anything, of course), then, once sample time reached or part completed, it can be "played back" in reverse by just pressing the uhm "reverse" button.

I only just this minute googled 'Akai S20 backwards' to check i was remembering correctly. It turns out I was. However, and this I find interesting, the S20 is apparently one of very, very few samplers that have such a function.

In any case, I can quite easily create a work around that presses my S20 into service as a backwards tape machine. It will obviously require a few more steps, but not actually that many.

cheers ; - )

 

[Max Relic]

I replied strictly in the context of onboard backward effect. There is a whole lot of outboard gear that offer reverse delay or reverb in realtime. IMO using them effectively in realtime is more cumbersome and less entertaining than reversing a magnetic tape.

 

[bobbydj]

I tend to agree. Definitely with the "less entertaining" part! For hobbyists like myself, that actual physical reversing almost felt like a kind of magic when you'd taken the cassette out and put it back in the right way round, hit play, and the cans filled with weird emanations. I am a simple person ; - ).