Why release your music on tapes?
Because tapes are awesome, that’s why! They come in a bunch of great colours, they’re easy to carry, you can do all kinds of great things with the packaging, and you can do super small runs very affordable which means anyone and their fans have enjoy having a release on a physical medium.
Daftpop Sounds is equipped to do small batches of tape duplication. We can produce the master tape and duplicate copies using our vintage equipment, and then apply the labels and package with a J card and case. A selection of tape lengths and colours are available.
Testimonials:
“Daftpop Sounds were quick, patient, and helpful with technical questions I had. It made the whole process feel very personal. Getting tapes duplicated with them was a breeze.”
– thruoutin
“I had a small batch requirement of cassettes for the label and DaftPop Sounds delivered a great product. 10/10 would go with them again.”
– Brad M. Seippel (Jingweir)
“It was an honor to work with Dann (Daftpop Sounds) on the tape for my Nan Chui Xian Sheng album. Thanks for his patience. From the initial design, to the choice of materials, to the final release of the tape, it was amazing. Thank you for his carefulness and his kindness.”
“非常荣幸能与Dann合作，来制作我的《南吹先生》专辑的磁带。谢谢他耐心的制作。从最初的设计、到材质的选择、再到最终磁带的面世，这一切都很令人惊叹。谢谢他的细心、还有他的友善。”
– Nan Chui 石岩
Past Clients:
Nurture Records (China)
Co-Artist Project (China)
Nan Chui 石岩 (China)
Round Eye (USA/China)
thruoutin (USA/China)
Jingweir (USA/ China)
Brain Mold (China)
Ninjablade (China)
Puketiro Superhero (New Zealand)
FAQ
How’s the sound quality?
We offer two different options for tape production; the first and more affordable is high speed dubbing. We make a master tape from your digital file and then create copies of this using high speed duplicators with high quality tapes produced for this purpose. The results are pretty warm artifacts with a little bit of charm in some warble here and there. We’ve got through a lot of trial and error to find a combination of equipment that creates an end product we’re happy with.
The second option is real-time dubbing, where we skip the second part of the process and essentially every tape is a master tape. This results in an end product with a better fidelity that will sound a lot brighter.
So what’s the perceivable difference in term of sound quality?
Here’s a comparison we did using the track ‘lon lon ranch’ by Puketiro Superhero, mainly because we love this track.
Here’s a rip of the master tape — which would be the same as a real-time copy. The tape was being played on a Yamaha KX-W321 tape deck recorded through a Soundcraft Signature 12MTK mixing board into Ableton Live. No effects or processing were applied.
And while you should always listen with your ears for audio quality here’s a visualisation of the frequencies which was created by taking a screen shot of FabFilter Pro-Q 3 while playing back in Ableton (no EQ shaping was applied, this was for visualisation purposes only):
As you can see the high frequencies only start rolling off around 12k Hz, and those cymbal hits are still coming through nice and bright.
For comparison here’s the same section ripped off a high speed duplicate, using the same signal chain as above:
And the visualisation of this section:
You’ll notice while the lows and mids are pretty similar the high speed duplicate’s highs starts to roll off around 5k and drops off around 10k, so it doesn’t sparkle quite as much.
Which one is right for you depends on how particular you are about sound quality or perhaps more importantly how discerning your listeners will be. Seeing as loud-as-possbile mp3s blasted off a phone speaker seem to be the norm for music consumption these days your average listener probably won’t be able to tell too much difference, and hardcore audiophiles probably aren’t to mess with tapes in the first place. There are also some instances where less than hi-fi can do the music some favours, for example a lead guitarist who’s noodling all over the place and generally getting lost isn’t as noticable once the highs are rolled off. Again, it’s case by case if it’s the right fit for you.
What sort of mastering should I do for tape?
Some mastering studios do offer mastering for tape and if you’re after that we recommend Steve Voidloss at Black Monolith Studios. As a rule of thumb what would considered a suitable for vinyl will work just fine on a tape (which makes sense when you think of the chronology of these formats and processes commonly used in that era). So, dynamic range, not blasted through a limiter to make it as loud as possible, and avoid insane low end that would cause a needle to skip out of a groove or get all blown out on tape.
In addition to whatever post production you’ve done before you give us your music there is some processing involved; one of the advantages of an analogue medium is when you drive the signal it saturates the sound in a pleasant way which brings out harmonic qualities (as opposed to harsh sounding digital clipping). Running a signal through any kind of analogue circuitry will colour it in subtle ways, so the journey from our interface to the mastering decks and then onto duplicators will run take the sound on an adventure through some circuitry, each piece having lived a unique life of its own. Sounds magical, doesn’t it?
What colours and lengths do tapes come in?
Tapes come in a range of colors and lengths, quite literally every colour the rainbow and you can get some really nice sparkly ones and so on. Right now at the time of writing we have read access to C30s (15 minutes a side) and C60s (30 minutes a side) in black, white, blue, green, pink, yellow, red, and transparent.
If you want a different colour or length we can order that but it will be more expensive (hence why you’re encouraged to email us about those in the price list). Lengths usually go in increments of 5 (C5,C10,C15) and by divided by two you’ll know how many minutes per side.
Sometimes people ask for very specific lengths, like C7, in which case you probably want a CD or a USB. It is possible to hand cut the tape to length but that is extremely time consuming and removing the transparent leader tape can results in the tape snapping when fast rewinding on a player, so we don’t do that. Instead what we’d encourage you to do is put a bit of silence on there (it’s never actually silence) and either encourage the listener to meditate the gentle voice of a magnetic ocean or hide a secret track in there to reward those who listen though.
In terms of maximum length the longest you’ll realistically do is C120 but be warned that above C60 thinner tape is used which leads to a loss of audio quality, essentially making a lossy audio format even more lossy. Very long tapes like that are only considered suitable for spoken word, but if you’ve got two hours of poetry or stand up comedy you want committed to tape, by all means we’re here to help.
What are the packaging options?
As stated above our standard package includes adhesive labels on both sides of tape, double sided 1 panel J card insert, and a transparent plastic case. We can use more porous matte card or glossy card for the J card, just let us know which you’d prefer. We can do more elaborate J cards which fold out and right now we can do a maximum of six panels, which will cost a little more per tape. To get more idea of what they look like check out https://www.nationalaudiocompany.com/cassette-duplication/prepare-your-audio-and-your-album-art/j-card-o-card-templates/
If you have a specific requirement for a case (eg. gold sparkly cases which hold three tapes) get in touch and we’ll see what we can do.
Currently we don’t have the facilities to print on the tape shell itself, but we hope to offer that in the near future.
Oh, and if you want to acknowledge the fact that not everyone has a tape player we can print out Bandcamp download codes to place inside too.
How does it work with art?
We provide an artwork file for you to work from for the labels and J card and then we’ll make sure it’s laid out correctly.
If you want us to do the artwork/layout for your tape we can do that for a fee, get in touch and we’ll figure that out.
What are the minimum/maximum orders?
You know we took the time and effort to put together a whole chart about this which you probably scrolled past to get here, so please check that. Still, a few notes: when we say small batch we mean small: if you want one we’ll make you one. You’ll also notice there’s no option for a single high speed tape because it’s kind of pointless to take the time to make a master tape, make a copy of that, and give you the copy when we could just save the electricity and time give you the master tape.
As we’re a small team here our upper limit is 200 tapes, but if you do want more and the deadline isn’t super tight (like 6 weeks later) then get in touch and we’ll figure something out.
How long does it take?
For under 50 tapes you can expect a turn around of one week, for larger orders or something more specific expect two weeks plus.
Can you ship overseas?
Yes, although obviously it costs more than shipping domestically in the UK.
How long do they last?
Well, you know someone once said (crooned) “Nothin’ lasts forever, and we both know hearts can change…”
Anyway, there’s a lot of variables involved here like how the tape is stored, the quality of the player and how well maintained it is, but if you’re keeping your tapes in a dry environment away from UV light you can expect to get hundreds of plays over a few decades.
How much does it cost?
Below are some example prices which includes labels on both sides of tape, double sided 1 panel J card insert, and a transparent plastic case (see below). Inquire for larger J cards (max 6 panels)
For a bespoke quotation drop us a line at daftpopsounds AT proton DOT me.
| High Speed Dubbing | Real Time Dubbing | |||
| C30 (black, white, blue, green, pink, yellow, red, transparent | C60 (black, white, blue, green, pink, yellow, red, transparent | C30 (black, white, blue, green, pink, yellow, red, transparent | C60 (black, white, blue, green, pink, yellow, red, transparent | |
| 50 copies | £2.50 each | £2.60 each | £4 each | £5 each |
But seriously, why make tapes in the first place?
That’s a question we’ve heard more than once and if you can’t see much value in putting your music on cassette we’re surprised you’ve read this far. Still, in case you’re on the fence we’ll offer a couple of rationales.
First, as we’ve mentioned above tapes aren’t for everyone, they are after all a lossy format and were never the optimum way of releasing music. Nonetheless the humble cassette tape has more than a few advantages to make up for this. In our opinion above all else is the fact they are a democratic and accessible format: the entry level for somebody putting their music on cassette is very low as blank cassettes aren’t particular expensive and it’s not hard to find a cassette deck with a record function (have a look in your loft). If you can find these two ingredients you can put your music on a physical medium; you might not even need a computer or a microphone if the cassette has a built in one. Yes, the results can be low-fi, but consider the amount of equipment required to put your music on a CD or a vinyl record (or trust us, a lathe cut!) and it becomes apparent how accessible a format the tape is. Furthermore cassettes are universal (unlike CD-Rs), the only variation being the quality of the tape and the noise reduction technology used/not-used to reduce tape hiss. While it seems a bit counter-intuitive but we have indeed just told you that you could make your tapes because it’s true! You just might not want to sit there and dub 100 of them.
The democratic and accessible character of the tape means that the medium has played an important part in musical history, and here we’ll point out that while tapes have made a resurgence in the Western Hemisphere over the past decade or so music doesn’t only exist in Western nations; in some parts fo the world and some scenes tapes never faded from view. An example of this would be in South East Asia where the affordability and accessibility of tapes made it the go-to for bands from less well-to-do backgrounds: the troves of incredible punk and hardcore music from Indonesian and Malaysian bands is a testament to this. Another important note in musical history would be dakou 打口 tapes: excess/unsold cassettes from the West which were sent to China to be destroyed in the ‘90s (they were called dakou because of the distinctive hole stamped in them that marked them for destruction). Some of these tape found their way out in record shops and market stalls, bypassing government censors and influencing an entire generation of young Chinese people who laid the foundation for the music being made in the People’s Republic today. A favorite story of ours would be a dakou copy of ‘The Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness’ by The Smashing Pumpkins inspiring he seminal post-rock band Wangwen to do what they do. So please, before making comments about only hipsters caring about tapes remember that the world is a diverse place filled with people who come from a whole range of circumstances, which make tapes an important bridge between musicians and their fans.
Of course you can put your music online and that’s got a very low entry threshold too. Absolutely true, however the open cyberspace of possibilities of Web 2.0 has generally faded into a structure that has a striking resemblance to the model of the music industry before streaming was king. Gone are the free and easy days of bands on Myspace selling out shows without a record deal, and indeed you can get your music on Spotify, it doesn’t guarantee that anyone will listen to it or pay much attention; with most of the attention (and money) going to a few people at the top of the pyramid. Something that does grab attention however is physicality, which brings us to our next point.
Musicians work hard at their art (we know this very intimately) and it we feel it’s worthwhile that they can have their work committed on a physical format to share with the world, friends, family, fans, and that one person who comes up to merch table after the show because they genuinely enjoyed what they saw/heard. The downside with CDs and pressed vinyl is that there are minimum orders and while on one level there is a certain level of excitement to having 300 records with your band’s name printed on them if you don’t have an extensive fanbase or a distributor you’re probably going to have a lot of stock you tied up money in collecting dust. Not everyone is going to sell 300 records, but selling 20 tapes is a lot more feasible and we believe you have right to share your music on a physical object that you and others can hold in your hands (plus artwork looks waaaaaaaaay better on a physical format compared to a flat image on a computer screen). We’ll also point out that whatever level of the music ‘biz’ you’re operating in (if money has ever crossed your palm in exchange for performing you are in the music biz) merch tables are where you can actually claw back a bit of cash and interact with fans, so having something to put on said merch table is a worthwhile investment. Another advantage is the quick turn around on a release that tapes offer; you really could record an EP, mix and master it over a few days and within 14 days have it on the march table(most likely a lo-fi effort admittedly). Good luck doing that with vinyl, especially when all the pressing plants are suddenly churning out the latest Taylor Swift epic or a million repressings of one of Metallica’s earlier albums.