12″ cassette tape loop

In my recent posts I described some different loop length scenarios. I have made loops as short as 6″ that still are able to work with the stock location of the erase head. I just completed a 12″ loop that worked out pretty well by threading the tape over 2 extra small rollers up in the top corners of the shell and back down around the take up hubs on the opposite than normal side. Point being, 12″ fits easily in a cassette shell. With another small roller maybe 14″ could fit.

Let’s do some math. At the standard speed of 1.875 inches per second, we are looking at 6.4 seconds of play time. This is just under 13 beats of 120 BPM music. That doesn’t sound too useful. If we look at it a little differently maybe we can say it’s 3 bars at 112.5 BPM.

What’s the best loop length? To be determined. I have a lot of loop tapes now. I think I want to pick a few standard lengths to use so I don’t have to think too hard when playing live with these things.