Rob Scallon Recreates Ten Different Sound Effects Without the Use of Modern Technology

Rob Scallon, a talented musician who is always looking for new ways to do things, attempted to recreate ten different sound effects without the use of modern technology. Instead, he created effects using reel-to-reel tape, with the help of Rob Ruccia at Uptown Recording. While some of the effects were a little more challenging than others, Rob and his pals looked like they were having fun.

Going into a studio to track on this machine really puts into perspective how much more prepared musicians had to be at the time. There’s very little editing if any that can be done to your performance and each take eats up precious time and real estate on the medium.

Here are the effects
1. Reverse
2. Speed up
3. Slow down
4. Varispeed Warp
5. Flanger
6. Chorus
7. Tremolo
8. Distortion
9. Delay
10. Tape Stop

Here’s the final version of the recording with all of the recreated effects.

Lori Dorn
Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.