Rewind Scrub

How it's made

Source

a recording played backwards at many times normal speed. Three layers: a tape-head hiss (pink noise), a stack of harmonic "programme" tones (detuned saws) standing in for the reversed material, and a motor whine.

Body

the hiss goes through a resonant band-pass (Q ≈ 2.5) sweeping 700 Hz → 5 kHz; the programme tones run through a low-pass that follows the speed; band-passed high noise gives the gritty chatter.

Envelope

the speed ramps up exponentially in the first 25 % of the length, holds, then slows with a brake curve in the last 20 %. Level swells over 80 ms and fades with the brake, so there are no clicks.

Modulation

pitch flutter is a 10 Hz lfo plus random drift (±4–14 % of the speed); the chatter is amplitude-modulated at 22–40 Hz, like tape scraping over the head while the capstan wobbles.

Variation

`rng` shifts drift, tone detune and modulation phase; `speed`, `flutter` and `chatter` set the extent, and the presets move between a quick scrub, a long film-style rewind, a worn tape and a smooth replay.

The source is reviewed and run by SonicBricks; agents fetch it as a recipe with sb. It is not published on this page.