Making Your own Tapes

[Alder]

Dungeon dwellers - 

I'd love to make some tapes of my stuff.  I'd like to do it myself & I want to keep the overall costs as low as possible so they can be sold low.
Recording the material & getting ahold of a template for the inset shouldn't be issues.

What I need some advice on is - who can recommend a place to get bulk (~100) orders of blank, type II  90min cassettes & cases?
Poking around online so far has given me, uh, mixed results and wildly varying prices from $40 - 200+ for 100.

So, folks who I can trust, people who make their own tapes - what suppliers do you recommend?  Any other general tips?


Also, please feel free to post any other tape-making questions, etc. in this thread.

[thekeeper]

I get all my tapes from Duplication.ca located in Canada. They have a big selection of stuff and they're pretty helpful if you need anything. I don't actually get them professionally duplicated, I just order blanks and cases and do them myself. If you're just wanting 90 minute chrome tapes, they do them for $1.87 for 100, any color. A 100 pack of norelco cases (the standard clear ones) are $26 through them. I've never purchased anything above normal bias tapes from them though, but they make pretty quality stuff so I'd recommend them. I'd guess your total production cost per tape if you do everything yourself and pay for okay j-card prints will be close to $3 per tape if you go through them, excluding their shipping cost from the equation (which isn't that bad, honestly, like $15 if I remember correctly). It's always a good idea to order a few extra single cases in case any end up getting scratched or cracked in shipment.

Edit: National Audio Company is a popular supplier, too. You can get bulk chrome c90s for .90 if you get 100. Only clear, though. Definitely the cheaper route for chrome tapes, but Duplication is most often a better deal for normal bias tapes and they have a better selection.

[DieuxDesCimetieres]

I've ordered my stuff from Tapeline (https://tapeline.info/v2/index.php); a lot of variety, and you can also get stickers for tape labels from there. Some people have reported problems with ordering from them, but I've never had any problems.

[Alder]

Thank you for the input so far.
A couple more questions:

- What's up with the "soft poly boxes" like these? I've never run across cassettes packaged like this in the wild.  Are there certain pros/cons about them other than price?  Do standard j-cards fit in these boxes?

- Any tips on ways to DIY label the cassettes themselves?  For previous extremely-small-run tapes I've done some spray-painting, but that can be super time intensive and doesn't always...turn out well.  Label printing at the local Kinkos?  Blow pens?  Etching?  Maybe I'll do some hand-lettering with acrylic paints...

[Witherer]

Jun 28, 2017 11:01:02 GMT -5 Alder said:

- What's up with the "soft poly boxes" like these? I've never run across cassettes packaged like this in the wild.  Are there certain pros/cons about them other than price?  Do standard j-cards fit in these boxes?

I have a few of these and dislike them. They get the job done but feel cheap and the plastic obscures the artwork.




Note the circular plastics in the center and corners.

[thekeeper]

Jun 28, 2017 11:01:02 GMT -5 Alder said:

Thank you for the input so far.
A couple more questions:

- What's up with the "soft poly boxes" like these? I've never run across cassettes packaged like this in the wild.  Are there certain pros/cons about them other than price?  Do standard j-cards fit in these boxes?

- Any tips on ways to DIY label the cassettes themselves?  For previous extremely-small-run tapes I've done some spray-painting, but that can be super time intensive and doesn't always...turn out well.  Label printing at the local Kinkos?  Blow pens?  Etching?  Maybe I'll do some hand-lettering with acrylic paints...

I actually really like polyboxes, aside from like a label stand point. I just think they stand out and they don't chip and crack like norelcos. The also more closely hug the tape, and the snap as well so the tapes are secured. Different companies have pretty diffferent cases, though. Some are 'frosty' and not totally clear, some like Witherer pointed out have a big circle in the middle. The ones I've purchased from Duplication have 8 'frosty' small circles around the perimeter of the front, but that's it. If your tape has a dark j-card, they'll show up, but otherwise you don't notice them. I'll have to double check measurements on mine, but I think the j-cards were roughly the same, a little shorter width wise, I think.

DIY labeling capabilities are vast. You can buy the actual tape face stickers are design them yourself however you want (printed, painted, etc), or just put something on the tape case itself. I've done rubber-stamping on a couple Path tapes right onto the tape face, which works but you have to let them dry for like 24 hours. I've tried actually brush design painting some tapes but it just rubs off so easily and never really looks right if you want details. I suppose brush coloring the whole thing would work though, I have a glow in the dark painted tape from another label. I've done paint spackle/splatter too for the Ranseur tapes, turned out really well. I'd buy some very short length tapes when you order your c90s just to mess around with because you'll definitely need some trial and error.

[Alder]

Jun 28, 2017 13:57:26 GMT -5 thekeeper said:

If your tape has a dark j-card, they'll show up, but otherwise you don't notice them. 

Ok, I'll keep the softies in mind, but I think I'll stick to ol' norelcos for this first tape.

Jun 28, 2017 13:57:26 GMT -5 thekeeper said:

I've done rubber-stamping on a couple Path tapes right onto the tape face, which works but you have to let them dry for like 24 hours.
I've tried actually brush design painting some tapes but it just rubs off so easily and never really looks right if you want details.
I'd buy some very short length tapes when you order your c90s just to mess around with because you'll definitely need some trial and error.

Man, there's legit a full-on rubber stamping store a handful of blocks from my house!  I'd love to carve my own stamps from one of those blank pads.  I'll have to look into if I can get some of the right tools for a deal - they can get super expensive!

What did you try painting with?  I've got a whole stack of old from-the-radio tapes I made as a kid (seems to be mostly Pear Jam/Everclear/Sublime/Rage AtM, etc.) I'm using for testing & so far white acrylic on black tapes has been holding up, though I haven't really be handling them much or playing them often for obvious reasons...

[thekeeper]

Jun 29, 2017 13:09:32 GMT -5 Alder said:

Man, there's legit a full-on rubber stamping store a handful of blocks from my house!  I'd love to carve my own stamps from one of those blank pads.  I'll have to look into if I can get some of the right tools for a deal - they can get super expensive!

What did you try painting with?  I've got a whole stack of old from-the-radio tapes I made as a kid (seems to be mostly Pear Jam/Everclear/Sublime/Rage AtM, etc.) I'm using for testing & so far white acrylic on black tapes has been holding up, though I haven't really be handling them much or playing them often for obvious reasons...

Stamping is fun. How well it works depends on how glossy the tape surface is. I did rubber stamping onto matte tapes for Spectral Kingdoms which was much easier than stamping onto the semi-gloss Verminaard tapes. Requires a real steady hand. Also, do not use gel ink. It looks awful, better to use archival liquid ink pads. I got my stamps made for me, but yeah carving my own would be ultra kool. Could probably just carve stencils over erasers with an x-acto knife if anything!

I did acrylic paint for both releases I've painted. I tried to paint like page lines on the edges of the Verminaard tape to make it look like the tape was the book pages around the j-card tome cover (was a full back and front length, no tape posts), but I just couldn't get it to work. The splattering for the Ranseur tapes was just white acrylic with a bit of water added. Just needs a long time to dry, but probably less than the stamp ink.

[pendraig]

Watching this thread with interest.

[nahadoth]

anyone have a trusted J-card template? Finally getting around to this Solstice cassette release.

[Alder]

Aug 7, 2017 9:51:59 GMT -5 nahadoth said:

anyone have a trusted J-card template? Finally getting around to this Solstice cassette release.

I used the PSD files from here to get the art right:

www.duplication.ca/printspecs/cassette-cover-templates.htm


For printing I used the attached pdfs opened in word, though they're for j-carrds+1 specifically.



An option with dimensions:
www.crystalclearcds.com/artspecs/templates/cassette.php

Attachments:

Cass. Insert- 2 up Laser Ba.pdf (4.44 KB)

Cass. Insert- 2 up Laser Fr.pdf (4.43 KB)

[nahadoth]

Thanks! Now my question is - when you print, I assume you're covering up the actual template, right? I know this is a super basic question, but I'm really really bad and self taught at any kind of graphic design.

[Alder]

Aug 7, 2017 12:32:17 GMT -5 nahadoth said:

Thanks! Now my question is - when you print, I assume you're covering up the actual template, right? I know this is a super basic question, but I'm really really bad and self taught at any kind of graphic design.

Yeah, same -  there may be a better way, but here's how I figured things out:

> Opened the j-card .psd templates as a layer in Gimp (or whatever you have).
> Used the template to align the art (it's in inches, so the sizes reflects reality)
> While working I keep the templates as the topmost layer & change the colors (i.e., hue) to something easy to see, like yellow.
> Don't put anything important too close to the template lines/edges.
> exported the image cropped & with the template layer(s) hidden.  Google to choose your favorite file type.

Using the "A-Z Audio" template for printing:
> Opened the .pdf into word via insert->object->pdf (do not try & convert it)
> Customized the margins to be 0" & expanded the .pdf object to fully fit the page.
> Pasted my exported art into the .docx - make sure it stays at highest resolution
> Set the image to "in front of text" by clicking it, then format->wrap text.  This will let you freely move it about.
> I needed to align the art with the guides, but not re-size it.
> Combined the "front" & "back" documents into a single 2-sided pdf for printing

Here's what I took to the print shop:
T02_Jcard1.pdf (760.07 KB)

The corner guides make paper-cutting much, much easier.

if you have a printer at home, consider yourself lucky as it will be much easier to test alignment.  Be aware, too, that every print is different and prints from the same batch may not have the same alignment.  The best way to get around this is have a bit of potential bleed-over at the outer boundaries, just a handful of mms or so.  Or, if the edges of your album art are blank/white, then that makes things easier.  I printed both my j-cards on "standard card stock" (what I asked for), although the first one is more matte & the second more shiny.  Look into this if you care...I prefer the matte ones much more.

I also want to add that when you fold the cards, use some sort of straight edge.  Trying to do it by hand alone will always look terrible unless you are a wizard.  I used the edge of one of those 3-sided engineering rulers to make the crease, then flattened it with some rubber-coated scissor handles.  Looked good.

[olofdigre]

I am now working on making tapes for my Erdig project. I use the method of printing all the information I need and then using tape, glue and scissors. I do this becouse I can newer get the measurments right when using a printer. But a pdf can be made with exact printing sizes right?

[olofdigre]

I called a guy at work who have similar music interest as me and asked him to print out a template for a j-card with two panels and he did. When I got there I saw that the print had made the picture bigger even though it was a pdf. Silly. BUT I ran it trough the kopiator/copy-machine and shrank  it A3-A4 and then A3-A4 again and then I used a preprogrammed shrinking to 93% and it got just right. Lucky me since there was no way of choosing other than A3-A4 or A4-A3 and 93% on that machine. I have worked with copy-machines before and always found the settings for zooming percentage manually back and forth. 

It worked out fine. I got tapes from tapeline and I are getting a double decked cassette tape rack for copying and playing tapes that will get shipped tomorrow. 

OMG! Thunder outside. I need to unplug. There is a storm coming. 


---continue---

That storm passed rather quickly. I ordered C40 but the songs I have made was not originally made for cassette so there is no thought behind the length of the tracks so I need to remix them and maybe even redo on or two tracks. I made these before I got my porta so I am not sure if I have all the layers left since I had them on tapes and I often just record over what I did the day before. It will come out fine I believe. 

A tip for everyone doing bandcamp albums is: try to think forward and plan the layout of the tracks if they are supposed to be released on tape later on.