sound is located on the tape, it must be cut exactly at the playback head gap.
b. On most professional tape recorders, the distance from the playback head to the point where
the tape comes out of the headgate is 1 1/2 inches. This is also the distance from the diagonal slot to the
straight slot on the editing block.
c. To check this, record a 1000 cycle tone on a tape and splice a length of leader tape to it. Cue
the tape to the point where the tone is first heard. The splice should be directly over the playback head
gap at this point.
d. Mark the leader where it comes out of the headgate, and place it in the editing block so that
the splice lines up with the diagonal slot. The mark should line up with the straight slot. If not, mark
the editing block to match the mark made on the leader tape.
e. The diagonal cut across the editing block is designed to cut with a single-edged razor blade.
With the tape in the groove ready for cutting, splice the tape by pulling the blade back while holding it
firmly down in the slot.
f. Make certain that the razor blade is not magnetized. If it is magnetized, it will magnetize the
tape; and a "click" will be heard when that part of the tape is played back.
g. Mark the back of the tape with a grease pencil for cutting. Cut out desired portion and splice
the tape together.
3.
Splicing material. Magnetic tape can be cut and spliced very easily with present day equipment.
a. Should the tape break, there is a method of repairing it without affecting or losing much of
the signal recorded on the tape. Use a splicing block to hold the tape and position it for proper butting.
Broken or damaged tape will need to be cut to remove the ragged tape edges. Editing blocks have a
diagonal slot at 45 degrees used for splicing tape. This 45-degree angle is necessary to prevent popping
noises that would be heard at normal tape speeds. The ends of the tape must butt together perfectly, so
there will be no exposed adhesive to accumulate dust, dirt, and oxide particles.
b. More important, the adhesive used on the splice must not "bleed", or flow from the repair to
adjacent turns of tape on the real so that the tape sticks as it unwinds during use. Adhesive that bleeds to
the oxide coating of the tape will cause a sound dropout as the bleed passes over the heads, and will gum
up the heads. Bleeding and protruding splices are easily avoided by using standard splicing tapes which
have a special adhesive that will not run or bleed under conditions normally encountered in use or in
storage. Never use cellophane tape, as the adhesive used on cellophane tape runs like a leaky faucet.
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