Recording with Varispeed

Varispeed is a traditional tape effect/technique where the tape speed was sped-up or slowed-down for the recording, compared to the regular Play speed. Because you recorded at a different speed, the resulting playback of that track would be slightly or dramatically detuned from the other tracks.

Varispeed recording is most-often used for one of these 2 tasks:

• Slow down a recording by one or two semitones, and play along at the lower pitch to master a tricky solo, or retune a song to match a singer’s range.
• Change the recording by a few cents and detune your guitar to match: now record a shimmering doubled guitar without having to use a different guitar for each pass.
  

The main controls for Varispeed is the “VS” button in the Transport area, and the resulting Varispeed dialog:

The “VS” button blinks red when varispeed is operational. Clicking the button, or closing the dialog, will disable the varispeed setting. (the last-used setting is remembered so you can revert to regular playback for auditioning, then re-enable varispeed for additional recording passes)

Watch this video to see how varispeed might be used artistically:

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