How bad can it be?
Go out of tune and of the grid with the Bad Tape from denise.
The Bad Tape is the next plugin from denise audio. denise like to describe it as a tape harming (#tapeharm) effect plugin. Its focus is on creating extreme tape artifacts... and man does it sound bad. The inspiration for the Bad Tape came from denise team member Enrico 'nrec' Tiberi: “I was using a lot of my old Akai 4000 DS MK2 reel to reel tape recorder pressing the tape to slow it down as an effect and that made me want a plugin that could control how to break the sound without having to use my fingers each time and without all the cables and fuss that analog hardware inevitably brings”.
Combining a good old vintage tape sound with harming features makes the Bad Tape a very creative and versatile tool. Want an “out of tune and off the grid” beat or a wonky drum groove? Just keep the detune button pressed and it will create a tape-stop in real time. Press it shortly for slight slow-downs and speed-ups, or use wow and shake to make it go in and out of tune and go off-grid periodically. Use the mix knob to create tracks that are heavily saturated and detuned, with additional interesting tape artifacts like hiss, squeal and harm. The Bad Tape can be used to colour and detune your whole track, or it can be applied to just one bar at the end of a section to help introduce some variation and lead in the next section of your song.
Features
- Mix: Smoothly mix in different extreme tape artifacts with great precision.
- Detune (Tape stop): Slow down the tape in real time, as if you would press your finger on the tape reel.
- Wobble & Shake: Randomly detune the pitch of your track like your tape machine has an inconsistent playback speed.
- Harm: Introduce failing tape artifacts with subtle bitcrushing.
- Squeal & Noize: Add old tape machine noises for character and vibe.
- Colour & Speed: Adjust the colour and speed of the tape for a unique flavour.
- Saturate your tracks for that good old vintage tape sound. Warm and smooth character due to hysteresis emulation.
- Comes with presets for synth, drums, bass and classic tape-style effects.
- Low CPU usage & works offline without dongles or complex licence managers.
System Requirements
Mac:
- OS X 10.7 or newer (64-bit only) - Big Sur (M1) included
- VST, VST3, AU, AAX
Windows:
- Windows 7 or newer
- VST, VST3, AAX
Awards
We check out Denise Audio Bad Tape, a plug-in designed to bring reel-to-reel tape machine effects to your DAW projects. Its sounds so bad, it’s good. Pros: Creative tape harming effects that can take sound design to the extreme Tape hiss and squeal can add subtle artefacts to tracks ...
Read MoreNote: Perfect Plate XL is used as an example.
Mac
Installation
1. Download the installer from within your Plugin Boutique account and double-click the .zip file to extract the contents > Double-click the .pkg file to begin the installation process.
2. Click 'Continue'.

3. Click 'Continue'.

4. Click 'Agree'.

5. Click 'Install'.

6. Your installation is complete > Click 'Close'.

Activation
1. Open the plugin within your DAW and enter the serial number found within your Plugin Boutique account > Click anywhere to redeem the code.

Your software is now activated and ready to use within your DAW.

Windows
Installation
1. Download the installer from within your Plugin Boutique account and double-click the .zip file to extract the contents > Double-click the .exe file to begin the installation process.
2. Select 'I Accept the Agreement' > Click 'Next'.

3. Click 'Next'.

4. Click 'Next'.

5. Click 'Next'.

6. Click 'Next'.

7. Click 'Install'.

8. Your installation is complete > Click 'Finish'.

Activation
1. Open the plugin within your DAW and enter the serial number found within your Plugin Boutique account > Click anywhere to redeem the code.

Your software is now activated and ready to use within your DAW.
