vimsynth/modules/tape

modules/processors/TAPE

TAPE

An echo that wanders and darkens: wow bends the pitch slowly, flutter jitters it faster, damp takes a little top end off each repeat, and the feedback path saturates readily. No sync — the real thing has a motor's own speed, not a tempo to lock to.

The TAPE card as vimsynth draws it: its title bar, 8 knobs, 4 inputs down the left edge and 2 outputs down the right
TAPE on an empty rack — 32×20 cells, knobs at their defaults. Press a in the app and pick TAPE to get this card.

inputs

Down the left edge of the card, top to bottom.

laudio
The signal to delay, left.
raudio
The right side. Normals from l, so ONE cable in is the mono tape delay this always was — patch both and it stays stereo all the way through.
time cvcv
Modulates the delay time, on top of wow and flutter's own wander.
fb cvcv
Modulates the feedback.

outputs

Down the right edge, in the same order.

laudio
Dry and echoes, mixed by mix — the echoes wandering, darkening, and warming as they repeat. Left.
raudio
The right side, and it is not a copy: the two heads wobble INDEPENDENTLY. One transport, so the slow wow is shared and merely offset, but the fast flutter runs at its own rate on each head — which is what makes a stereo tape sound wide rather than like a mono tape on two channels. route and spread work as the DELAY's do.

knobs

Left to right across the face — the dials in the picture.

time0.001 … 2 s= 0.3 s
The delay time.
fb0 … 0.95= 0.4
How much comes back. High values repeat for a long time, and saturate more on the way.
mix0 … 1= 0.35
Dry/wet.
wow0 … 1= 0.3
A slow pitch wander — the reel, not the motor. Turn it up for seasick, seaside repeats.
flutter0 … 1= 0.15
A faster jitter — the capstan. Subtler than wow; it reads as a shimmer, not a bend.
damp0 … 1= 0.4
How much top end each repeat loses. Up for a dark, degraded loop; down for a brighter one.
routestereo · ping= stereo
How the two heads are wired to each other, exactly as the DELAY's is — and here the damping travels with the feedback, so a ping-pong tape darkens as it walks across the field.
spread0 … 1= 0
How far apart the two heads' times are. 0 is identical times — though never identical SOUND, because the two heads wobble independently whatever this is set to.

more

The full reference — every parameter curve, the patching notes and the worked examples — lives in the manual: docs.vimsynth.com/modules/tape. In the app itself, :help TAPE opens the same page without leaving the rack.