A rubber washer
A razor or craft knife
Double-sided tape
Clear packing tape
A screwdriver
Scissors
Mat board
A ruler
A cassette player
Step 2: Open the Case
Open the cassette tape by removing the screws. Carefully set them aside for later reassembly.
Step 3: Remove the Reels
Remove the tape reels, but don’t disturb any of the other mechanisms.
Step 4: Prepare the Reels
Cut both reels free from the magnetic tape.
Put your rubber washer around one of them. This will be the wheel which will pull the tape.
Step 5: Cut Some Magnetic Tape
Cut a section of magnetic tape roughly a foot long.
Step 6: Thread
Position your wheels back inside the tape and thread the magnetic ribbon around the rubber wheel, under the unmodified wheel, around the pulley opposite the rubber wheel, through the channel at the bottom of the tape, around the other pulley and also to the right of the plastic peg (next to the pulley).
In other words, just look at the pictures.
Step 7: Tape
Apply a small piece of double-sided tape on the inside of the magnetic ribbon, pull the loop tight and tape it evenly together.
If the magnetic ribbon is attached at an angle or any tape is sticking off the sides, your tape loop almost assuredly will not work.
Step 8: Washer
Cut a washer out of mat board and stick it on the inside of the case around the opening that lines up with the wheel with the rubber on it.
This provides more pressure on the sides of the wheel and ensures the wheel will spin. I found this to be necessary.
Step 9: Close the Case
Trim away all excess magnet ribbon and close the cassette back up. When reinserting the screws, only tighten them about 80% on the side with the rubber wheel. Readjust tightness as necessary until it plays correctly in your cassette deck.
Step 10: Now Make It Better
Perhaps that first loop you made was a little glitchy and you would like for it to work better.
There is an easy way to do this.
First, reopen the case, remove the magnetic ribbon loop and cut it in half anywhere along its length.
Step 11: Make a New Piece
Carefully measure this piece of magnetic ribbon and then cut yet another piece of that exact length.
Take a small piece of packing tape and evenly splice together the two ends to form a solid band (without any twists in it… although, if you put one twist in it, it will double the length of the loop, but make it harder to reassemble).
Trim away any excess packing tape with your razor or craft knife.
Putting All Back Together Again
Install the new band of magnetic tape into the cassette deck.
Reassemble the whole unit once more and enjoy your cleaner sounding tape loop.
The trick:
I always assumed that the tape wheel was the mechanism feeding the tape through the player and because of this, I thought that the magnetic ribbon had to be highly tensioned and the wheel needed to be as loose as possible to spin freely. However, what I discovered is that what is really feeding the magnetic ribbon through the player is a little rubber wheel that comes up from the bottom when you hit play. Because of this, it is beneficial if the ribbon has a little slack (less tensioned) and the wheel is a little compressed with sides of the case. Figuring out the right ratio takes a little trial and error.
Article Mercilessly Hacked from: http://www.instructables.com/id/Audio-Cassette-Loop/
You don’t need a washer…
see this example:
Cassette Tape Loops
March 1, 2017
http://www.thesoundspace.co.uk/pete-smith/
Here’s is my first proper attempt at making a 10s tape loop. I have made short 5s loops before, which are fairly easy to make, but I wanted to try making a longer loop. Above is a picture of the loop I made. It is made from a length of tape around 41cm joined together with a tiny piece of scotch tape. I left some tape on the reel on the right (shown below) and stuck it down to allow some space for the tape to move past the reel on the left. The join is made on the underside of the tape which is slightly duller and more matte looking. Make sure you have some scotch tape, some scissors, a tape measure and a small phillips head screw driver if you’re giving it a go.
You can then record whatever you want onto your loop. I the recorded an ambient drone and played it through some delay and reverb (shown in the video below). There is also a bit of fuzz added from izotope trash. What I love about using these loops is that it gives you an endless, constantly evolving sound. Ideally I would be making loops on a proper 1/4 tape reel to reel machine but this will have to do for now!
one more method example: http://createrevolutionaryart.net/how-t … ette-loop/
How to make an endless cassette loop tape
Rewind the tape to the beginning
Undo the four or five screws securing the two halves of the cassette
Remove the two spindles and detach the tape from them – cut with a blade after pressing out of the spool of tape
Select a short length of tape – don’t use leader tape unless you want blank, unrecordable parts
Form a loop with this tape passing through the cassette tape path
Make sure the tape is not inside out – only one side of the tape is magnetic and if you put in the inside out you won’t get any recording or playback
Get some nail polish and brush onto the end of the tape – about 5mm.
Loop the other end and press together on a flat surface – you should be able to move the tape slightly to get it lined up if you do it in the first few seconds
Check the tape path is set up correctly – it does not need to be under tension as it is the capstan and roller that pulls the tape through – the spindles do nothing at all
Insert into your walkman/recorder and test it out – you should get about 5-6 seconds of recording time
This is a simple cassette tape loop method…
Yet my real goal is making something like “TDK ENDLESS EC3”
3 minute “PRO” loop tape
without hacking apart the one eye have…
highly suspect they are wound much like 8Track tapes
using this series of posts whilst conducting R&D
Obviously the optimal usage of “Endless Cassette Tape Loop” is
using such with a Tape Multrack
aka Tascam 424 or 488 or whatever you have
exploring methods for making longer endless loop tapes than a few seconds…….
BRAINSTORMING
obviously the secret key is related with 8track winding
