Speed Changes

[Dan McDonald]

Just a general question -

Why is it that when people have made copies of old tapes (multiple generations) we tend to get tapes that sound "faster and faster?" It seems like they would essentially norm around 0 - no change, but every time I get a tape that has had multiple copies over many years, it plays faster than it should. Is there a reason for this? The originals were recorded in the late 50s early 60s.

Dan

[Craig Maier]

I will take a guess on this one. All tape recorders are designed to run at the nominal speed. So, some will run a little faster and some a tad slower. So, that effect would be a statistical wash. But, every machine has friction, the common denominator. Friction will cause a recording machine to run slightly slower make the sound slightly faster. So, after multiple cycles of this process, the sound might become sounding faster. (tolerance buildup) It's just a theory.

Craig