Tape hiss disaster ruined our only good take from 2004

We were recording in my buddy's basement in Akron, using a four track and a cheap mixer. The whole band was buzzing because we finally got a clean run of our song 'Static Parade' after maybe 30 tries. I hit stop on the tape deck and realized the erase head was dirty the whole time, so every track had this loud hiss underneath. I tried to fix it with a noise gate, but it chopped off the snare hits and made it sound worse. We ended up keeping it, and you can hear that hiss if you listen close. Anyone else ever fought with tape hiss and just gave up on a perfect take?

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1 Comment

the_joel4d ago

Used to think hiss made takes trash, now I hear it as proof you were really there.