Add a pitch mod and line-in to a brand new, inexpensive tape player
Okay, so I learned how to make loop tapes for use with my 4-track, but I wanted to add some simple stereo looping cassette decks to my live rig. With my 4-track, I use the FX sends to add a bunch of reverb and delay, and sometimes you don’t want or need sounds to be drenched in FX, like drums for example. So after building a “The Sound of Machines” modified cassette player tutorial, I figured I could start modding cassette walkmans. I only found one at a local thrift store, but it lacked many of the record features, but it seems like all the tape loop artists love the Byron Statics walkman – and the LOUD colors variants are just a bonus. So here’s my documentation on how to add a simple pitch potentiometer and a 3.5mm mono line-in.
Just wanted to say thanks for these excellent resources! I made some tape loops and your blog had the best info. And I was hoping to made a modded cassette player…and now you have that too, excellent!