I am honored Gordon; I am a big fan of true indie style producing! I would like your insights on what you look for when bouncing a vocal take/track from the DAW down to tape (cassette or other) and then back into the mix. Any special techniques or processes you've acquired or enjoy? Do you usually have something definitive in mind or do you shoot a little from the hip? Thanks in advance.

I can honestly say I have never done that process, ever,,,, not once in my life. I started on 4-track reel to reel 1/2 inch tape (Teac 3340s) and then had experience on 24track 2 inch and wide mixing consoles... before jumping into digital audio (eMagic Logic with Pro Tools cards in a Powermac). Very rarely a band/artist and I decide to use tape... (Regina Spektor's Soviet Kitsch was an example, and more recently New Silver Girl (from Helsinki, Finland) recorded on tape at the legendary Hansa Studio with me in Berlin). Some times I'm sent vocals to mix that were recorded (in my view) very blandly, or too clean... and then I use UAD ATR tape emulation, along with UAD LA-2A emulation, or Distressor emulation and very often Soundtoys Decapitator to rough up the vocals and give them some of the excitement that could have been included into the original recording session!

If I want to destroy voice sounds for fun and profit: I like Amp Farm, SansAmp (plugin) those work cool.

Thank you for the reply. Often when I hear one of your productions; I do not tire of it. I constantly say what is that? How did he/they do that? I am sure others have also learned from from your experiences and production skills. Magic happened with Strokes... a 'sound' which moves both the young and old as well as cross genre fans. I do not foresee that going away in the future.

What I could not put my finger on was - was there any tape involved. Thanks for clearing this up! And thank you for being so gracious to mention some of the tape emulations and FX 'destruction' you have used. Happy Holidays & prosper...