Petra multitrack tape for sale.

[brent]

http://cgi.ebay.com/Petra-2-Master-window ... 3a5e371ce7

Ok. First things first. The seller knows nothing about the tape really. He is selling it for a friend, who has a mini-storage unit full of "stuff". The seller does not know how his friend got it. I talked to a certain somebody who called the original studio owner and producer, and it is not being sold by them. This would actually be Star Song's property. EMI bought Star Song's assets, so it would be theirs. There are no rights to duplicate and distribute, because those are owned by EMI alone.

Now, second...the tape. The description is vague. In 79, there were only a couple of analog 32 track analog recorders and one digital offered. One analog was a THREE INCH machine, NOT a two inch machine. Here is a pic of it: http://www.gearslutz.com/board/attachme ... ere-32.jpg This deck never went into production. There was one prototype. There were RARE Stephens 32 and 40 track machines with closed loop transports. Those were cool. Queen recorded on those machines. I have a friend that has the Stephens machines used by Leon Russell.
The next commercially sold 32-track was the Otari MX-80/32, and that was LOOONG after 1979, and it sounded like crap. Nobody bought it really. The fact that the tape is Ampex456 formulation, running at 15 inches per second, with dbx, means that it is analog.

Based on the info I was originally given I was thinking this tape was likely just 16 tracks (REEL 1) of the 32, requiring one to have REEL2 for the other 16.
How does this work, using two tapes together to get all of the 32 tracks? Glad you asked. You would have to have two identical machines, calibrated to the same settings they used when recording, each loaded with a synchronizer card to read the SMPTE time code recorded on one of the outside tracks of each tape. The machines would play the time coder back to a "house synchonizer/time code generator", and this device would control the motors of each machine.

In any case one would also need to have the same dbx decoders used. The tape was encoded with dbx and would sound like crap without decoding. dbx then was not noise reduction, but a compander circuit used to get more dynamic range out of the tape/electronics. It sounds like crap now. But back in the day, you either use dbx, or a form of Dolby Labs with headroom extension.

The tape has not been stored in a tape vault. That old Ampex tape is garbage. The tape binder (the glue that holds the microscopic rust particles, also known as mini magnets) was sub par. That tape has what is called excessive "tape shred", meaning that as you play it, the heads, pinch roller, capstans, brakes....all of the transport will remove the particles from the mylar, and the tape will be destroyed...so will the brakes on the machine. The tape would have to be baked in a tape oven, or by someone with a clue in a convection oven, and then transfered immediately to another medium.

So, if you bid on it, you are buying a useless thing that was used in the recording process of Petra. That's it. You could not use it if you wanted to . You would be sued to high heaven even if you could.

Edit: This has been eating at me. After talking some more with the parties involved, it would appear that this is indeed a complete 32-track 2" tape. So ghat means it was likely recorded on a Stephens Electronics machine.

[cndfogie]

Thanks for the history and for makin sure none of us get ripped off. Though it's not something I would ever be interested in owning.

[Dan]

So Brent, what are we talking here individual tracks for voice & instrument?

Pieter would want this, he has everything else.

[brent]

Yes...all individ tracks.

I have used peanut cans and sweat bands...kidding.

[Dan]

I would love to use it for a remix just for kicks.. if I had that dinosaur of a machine to read it.

Well this is kinda priceless, it only worth what it's worth to have it.. 5 cents or maybe $100.

[p-freak]

Thanks for all the info, Brent. I asked Brent earlier, when I sent the link to him, if this tape could be used to re-master Without You and Magic Words, but it seems like that's an impossible job, especially since you would have to mix it first.

Pieter would want this, he has everything else.

I think I'll let it pass. Shipping costs are just too high. The shipping costs that the guys is asking are more than the starting price of the auction. So here's your idea for a nice birthday present for me, Daniel!

And I almost have everything else. There's still stuff out there that should sit in my collection, but hasn't found its way yet.

And since I like show and tell: This is the newest addition to my collection: http://www.petrafiles.com/petraspective/21ar02.html
It's the advance release of Revival without information about the artist. They sent it to radio people and had some sort of contest. There was some reward if you could name the artist. I already knew they gave Revival to some people in the industry to have a listen without telling that it was Petra, but I didn't know they actually made some 'secret' advance releases especially for this. Now I know and now I have one coming my way!

[Dan]

Would love to buy this for you Pieter, but um yeah the postage etc... must be time for a witty Johnathan pun...

[Jonathan]

Oh, umm...

I would go postal if I had to pay for mailing this.

[brent]

No kiddin'. PLUS if they do their little scan thing they do to the package like they do at the airport...there goes the data. If they drop and bend the reel, that would not be good. Forget it. This is the kind of thing you pick up. In the old days, we carried all of our analog tapes, ADAT tapes, DAT tapes and floppies on the plane with us. They would let them pass without scanning. It is a different world today.

[p-freak]

No one bought it.

[Dan]

I think had it been a track tape for say This means war or Not of this world, I would have got it. Not a huge fan of washes whiter than, Morning Star was ok. maybe you could negotiate a cheaper price now Pieter?