The most famous Tape-Echo Unit in Britain, and possibly in the World, the Copicat also happens to be the first repeat-echo machine manufactured as one compact unit. It was designed by Charlie Watkins in 1958, apparently after he heard a similar sound effect generated by two linked studio quality tape recorders for the Italian singer Marino Marini. The Copicat is still being manufactured by Charlie Watkins, at a list price of £745. But, actually there's a digital clone of Copicat, created by GSI - WatKatIt sounds very lo-fi, noisy, irregular. When you turn it off and leave the tape loaded, the tape bends in proximity of the capstan, and this turns into a periodic pitch fall during echo playback; plus, it gets hot and the background hum gets worse in time... you should turn it off every now and then; the tape is never completely erased, and the capstan motor flutters... and it gets worse if you touch it while it's spinning; heads tend to get dirty very soon, infact you should clean them often. This is true for the actual hardware unit, and for the digital simulation as well!It's definitely worth a try, you might like it. It's a simple little tool that actually has a history - for example Elvis Presley’s electric guitar player liked it so much. If you want to understand the whole idea behind getting a tape echo (mp3 example of tape delay (not Copicat) below) - read "Tape Delay In Your DAW" (Sound On Sound) article.
Download: http://www.genuinesoundware.com
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