Follows on from part of Programmes May to November 2017

Pat Heigham

My most un-favourite grams/tape story is already told here:
Retake – That’s a Wrap

Terry Meadowcroft

[Ed: Here is a favourite grams/tape story!]

Scene; Look North gallery, late sixties.

I, tape/grams operator in Leeds Gallery. VT in Manchester, none in Leeds. As we recorded the studio interview down the line to the Manchester VT, I, as I always did, keeping it to myself, backed it up with a recording onto quarter inch tape on the Leevers-Rich tape machine (forgotten the type number – non – synch of course), in case we lost the post office sound line on replay from Manchester VT on air.

It was my custom to play back the audio from the back of the gallery, and fumble it into exact synch quickly with one ear hearing the Gallery monitor and the other, headphone from the Leevers Rich, giving a ‘central’ image when the phase was right.  It was possible to continuously manipulate the machine to be fractionally slow or fast by horrible manual manipulation. (Recognise the use of soft science?)

One night it happened of course, and as the desk faders receiving output from grams and tape were always left open, as soon as I heard the Manchester sound disappear, I quickly faded up the backup. We stayed in synch to the end, and nobody but the S Tel E on the sound desk realised that the sound for the interview was coming from back of gallery!

Nice brownie point when Howard Brooksbank, the S Tel E told the News Editor, Bill Greaves after we came off air!

I was given a pat on the back and the gift of a thumb stall in the shape of a rubber thimble!