"Reverse Tape Effects"

Transcript
Page 1. Panel 1. Mr. Long and K are in K Labs. A clock on the wall reads 12:08. Mr. Long says, "It seems that humans seek patterns and connections in everything!" Panel 2. A reverse music staff has the notes D, E, C, and A. K says, "Much of what seems clever in composition is coincidence." Panel 3. Mr. Long says, "I bet you'd get some happy coincidences from reverse tape effects." The clock on the wall reads 12:06. Panel 4. Mr. Long says, "It would be interesting to improvise, then play it backwards." Panel 5. The D, E, C, A music staff is shown backwards again, but also forwards, reading A, C, E, and D. K says, "The trick is that the notes must make sense backwards or forwards."

Page 2. Panel 1. Diagram of a sound waveform, which starts silently and swells up to a fast peak. K says, "With reverse tape effects, the envelope of the notes is reversed." Panel 2. The waveform diagram is shown in the opposite order, with the peak first, followed by the decay. The end of the diagram, where it decays into silence, is circled. K says, "The last part of a note is the decay. The lapse into silence." Panel 3. The middle part of the waveform is now circled. K says, "The middle part is the sustain, as the note rings out." Panel 4. Now the beginning of the waveform, the peak, is circled. K says, "The first part of the note is the attack. The 'hit' of the note." Panel 5. K says, "The goal is to get notes with backwards envelpes in forwards order. 'Envelope' is the arc of a note as it plays from start to finish." Panel 6. The clock reads 12:05. Mr. Long says, "Reverse tape effects seems like a simple enough process."

Page 3. Panel 1. The clock on the wall still reads 12:05. K fiddles with the tape attached to a reel to reel machine. Mr. Long looks on, wearing a guitar strapped over his shoulder. K says, "To accomplish the effect, reverse the recording of your playing." Panel 2. Mr. Long plays a passage of music on the guitar. The notes are A, C, E, and D. K says, "First, you must record yourself playing composition backwards." Panel 3. K and Mr. Long are covered in bits of tape. K says, "All this tape is the result of playing with reverse tape effects." Panel 4. The clock reads 12:04. Mr. Long says, "We're surrounded by this confusing mess." Panel 5. Mr. Long and K look embarrassed. Mr. Long says, "I sense we're about to end up in the April Fools comic." The World On A String. Special. April Fools. CC BY-SA Ken Alleman 2020.

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