Human Controlled Tape Transport

WHY?

A: The HC-TT is a performance device that brings together a dated form of technology with an even more dated form of control: human hands. Influenced by early tape music, DJs, and childhood deconstruction, it's a guarantee that you will never be able to create the same sound twice. This is the guarantee of our imperfect human movement, a flaw that enables endless variations of sound possibilities for performance or sampling purposes.

What you can put into the HC-TT is endless. So are tape loops. I think of it as a tape-based synthesizer with immediate response so intense that you can nearly feel the texture of sound with your fingertips. Its minimalist design can make cassettes feel like memory cards that can contain your own pre-recorded musical or non-musical ideas to be re-performed with the HC-TT. Highly suggested tapes (HSTs) include: your favorite pop album, self-help tapes, books on tape, hypnosis recordings, mix-tapes, your least favorite pop album, classical music, sound effects, children's music, adults' music, lectures, sermons, film scores, dusty unmarked tapes, melted car tapes, 4 track tapes and also additional tapes.

The HC-TT sounds great when connected to and shaped with other audio devices. More suggestions: modular synthesizers, effects pedals, DJ mixers, rack gear, spring reverbs, tape echoes, ARP 2500s, loopers, samplers and vocoders. The L/R stereo outputs (both1/4" & 1/8") with individual volume control compound your options. Hearing real tape sound manipulated by your real human hands is a very analog experience and adding effects to that equation isn't terrible either. The momentary mute switch allows stuttering effects, and beat-based gating.

This device was made for a fairly selfish reason: For years, I've wanted to have a compact, organized device that mirrors the compact, organized cassette medium. It's an obsessive-compulsive dream to create your own library of tape loops which stay safely packaged and organized inside individual cassettes.