Tag Archives: cassette culture

August 2019 Cassette Round-Up

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Up in Canada there are only so many months that are optimal for picnics in the park, long hikes, and hanging out on balconies. Fortunately we’re in the thick of it now, and our outdoorsy activities have been soundtrack by some truly stellar music we discovered through cassette duplication orders and stocked at Toronto’s Dupe Shop. Here are a few standouts from the past month!

Veach - Quiet People Other Places

Veach – “Quiet People Other Places” c46

This is a choice cassette to pluck off the shelf during a rainy day. Side-length longform tracks consisting of guitar strums and pads rotating in and out via modular synthesis. Relaxing and meditative, it’ll make you feel pretty good about being cooped up for the afternoon.

Various Artists - VLSC Vol. 1 cassette

Various Artists – “VLSC Vol. 1” c76 

A wide-ranging look at Atlanta’s club scene. Features some heavy hitting deconstructed techno, juke, Balearic house, and even some acid. All good compilations act as a gateway, VLSC Vol. 1 serves as a worthy introduction to the electronic south.

French Vanilla - How Am I Not Myself? cassette

French Vanilla – “How Am I Not Myself?” c32 

Upbeat contemporary post-punk with some killer squeaky no wave saxophone to drive it over the edge. In the same ballpark as the self-titled B-52s LP and Girls At Our Best without the UK falsetto. Great tape if you like feeling funky and tough at the same time!

Nighttime - Hand in the Dark cassette

Nighttime – “Hand in the Dark” c42

Soft but powerful vocals that reverberate along lakes and marshes. Haunting like UK folk horror productions, and reminiscent of the 60s psychedelic folk movement. If you liked Midsommar (and how could you not!?) you’ll like the vibe of this cassette.

CFCF - Liquid Colours cassette

CFCF – “Liquid Colours” c44 

A revisionist look at corporate y2k-era IDM and jungle music, tailor made to soundtrack your Calvin Klein purchases, or day at the relaxation spa, or even choosing your souped-up car in a Sega Dreamcast game. Conceptually fascinating, sonically amazing. Serious album of the year contender.

Want to see what other awesome albums make their way through Duplication.ca? Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, we’re posting amazing looking cassettes everyday!

There are a ton of cassette shell colour and packaging options over at our cassette duplication calculator. We duplicate in high-speed or HiFi real-time with superb quality assurance to make sure your tapes sound great.

Check out our cassette duplication calculator for an instant quote!

The Duplication.ca Guide to Cassette Box Sets and Double Cassettes

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Double cassette cases at Duplication.ca

Do you have an album so big that one cassette alone could not possibly handle it? Double cassette releases are always exciting, but how do you go about packaging them? Don’t worry, we’ve got your back.

Wet Tuna, released by Baked Tapes

Triple cassette box available from Duplication.ca

Multi-Cassette Box

This sleek design works like a Norelco case with the two cassettes sitting side-by-side. Its longer length makes it size comparable to that of a CD case, making it easy to store and easy on the eyes. An extra large double-sided J-card allows you to go nuts with the artwork, pack in as much detail and information as possible!

View the double cassette boxes on the online store

Our triple cassette boxes are even longer in length but keep the same width. Unlike the double cassette boxes they do not have posts.

Click here for triple cassette boxes

"MTL Tapes" released by La Cohu and packaged in a Triple Cassette Album from Duplication.ca

Cassette Albums

If you’re a fan of the classic audio book packaging style, look no further than our cassette albums. These packages contain a transparent wraparound film for you to slip in a larger trapsheet in lieu of a J-card. We even have albums that hold up to EIGHT CASSETTES, if you can believe it.

View our wide selection of cassette albums here

Disso Vol. One

Double Norelcos

Double Norelcos are exactly as they sound– two Norelcos joined at the hip! They open on both sides “butterfly style,” meaning it facilitates two J-cards. This is perfect for releasing two separate albums that require different artwork in one package.

Click here to order Double Norelcos

If you’re planning a run of 100 units or more, take advantage of our special offer. 100pcs for $60 CAD / $45.50 USD!

Double cassette slipcase by Duplication.ca

Printed Slipcases

Last, but certainly not least, we have our cardboard slipcases. These 15pt boxes can hold up to four cassettes with Norelco cases, which make them ideal for career retrospectives. They’re printed and assembled in-house, so not only do they go under our rigorous quality control, but we pass the manufacturer-direct savings on to you.

Take a look at our Printed Slipcases options

At Duplication.ca, no cassette release is too big or too small for us to handle! Don’t forget that in addition to great packaging and printing solutions, we offer high-quality cassette duplication services so your cassettes sound amazing on any stereo.

DUPLICATION.CA HAS A QUICK 4-WEEK TURNAROUND TIME FOR CASSETTES!

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FM Attack - "New World" cassette duplicated at Duplication.ca

Sometimes the hardest part of recording and designing your latest cassette release is the waiting! It’s tough standing by the door, watching the mail carrier walk by your apartment with no packages in hand. At Duplication.ca we do everything we can to get your cassettes shipped as quickly as possible while not compromising the quality of our recording, printing, and packaging. We’re proud to be able to lower our standard turnaround time to an estimated 4 weeks before shipping! The standard shipping cost remains the same: FREE to the United States and Canada!

If you’re about to leave on tour or you’re just too excited to wait, we have a variety of rush options which guarantee that your cassettes will be out the door or ready for pick-up in a matter of days. Choose from 15 business days all the way to our ultra quick 5 business day turnaround.

Hot tip: if you want to ensure your cassettes will be put into production immediately, double check your audio and artwork files and upload them when you place your order! We only begin production once all the files have arrived and are ready for processing.

Click here to place your cassette order and receive your tapes in a matter of weeks!

Hot Cassette Shell Colors for Summer Releases

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ED. (Elektric Dreams) Pool Party cassette duplicated by Duplication.ca
When it comes to summer activities like barbecuing in the backyard, floating in the pool, or chilling in the park, you’ve gotta have your jams by your side. At Duplication.ca we’ll make your cassettes look as hot as they sound! Here are some awesome cassette shell colour suggestions for you to duplicate the hottest summer album or mixtape!

Blue tinted with square hubs cassette tape shell by Duplication.ca

Blue Tinted w/ Square Hubs
Normal-bias • Tabs out • Red leaders • Soft window

Calm like a blue ocean, this is a great shell for you to slow down R&B cuts and create a killer vapor beat. Just don’t bring your tape deck too close to the tide.

Silver platinum mirror cassette tape shell by Duplication.ca

Platinum Silver
Normal-bias • Tabs in • Clear leaders

The type of cassette for when you’re decked out and ready to party all night. It’s the visual equivalent of Diamond in the Back by Curtis Mayfield. Your cassette deck will never look classier!

Yellow cassette tape shell by Duplication.ca

Feel Good Yellow
Normal-bias • Tabs out • Red leaders

Really, this tape is what summer is all about: kicking it with friends, good vibes, and forgetting that you have work tomorrow until it’s too late. Pop it into your 4-track and record an improvised jangle pop demo with your buds.

Fire engine red tint cassette tape shell by Duplication.ca
Scorching Red Tinted
Normal-bias • Tabs out • White frosted leaders

If you really want to turn up the heat, try out these red tinted tapes. When placed against a light source they look like smouldering molten lava. Pairs well with 100mph convertible synthwave tracks and Chromatics-style disco guitar.

Glitter cassette tape shells by Duplication.ca

Glitter Tapes
Normal-bias • Tabs out • Leader colours vary

Whether it’s Fourth of July, Canada Day, or any opportunity where you can shoot off fireworks and keep your neighbours up all night, let it be soundtracked by our glitter shells. We have a wide variety of glitter colours— red, blue, white, green, silver, gold, and some of them all mixed together!

Hotel Pools - Fall '18 cassette tape duplicated by Duplication.ca

Feeling inspired? Take a look around our cassette duplication page for more packaging options and shell colours! We duplicate our cassettes with a frequency range of 20Hz to 20kHz, meaning no bass slap or squealing synth will be spared.

Click here for an instant quote!

If you’re looking for blank tapes for home duplication or to put together the best BBQ mixtape anyone has ever heard, then head over to our online shop. We load blank cassettes to your exact desired audio length and with your choice of colour.

Visit our Blank Cassettes page today

Straight Outta Duplication.ca: Beat Tapes for your Boombox

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From 80s NYC rappers to the modern day Ableton beat makers, cassette culture and hip hop will forever be fused. There are few things in the world that bring us more joy than popping a tape in our Nakamichi decks and listening to the chill snare hits and loop-digging samples of a hip hop beat tape. With our real-time duplication services and high-bias chrome tape the bass hits live loud and proud on cassette tape, allowing for a range of 20Hz to 20kHz.

Here are a few of our favourite hip hop and beat tapes that we’ve been blasting through the office!

Astro Mega - The Ends duplicated at Duplication.ca

Astro Mega – “The Ends” c26

Loop digging lofi hiphop beats duplicated to high-bias chrome cassette. Zone out and listen to the record pops and crackles dancing deep in the mix. Astro Mega is a Toronto local so this makes for great Game 6 half-time music during the inevitable Raptors win.
Available at the Dupe Shop

Recognize Ali - Islam duplicated at Duplication.ca

Recognize Ali – “I Self Lord And Master” c50

If you want an alternative to the Soundcloud mumble rappers look no further than Recognize Ali. When he says “that this that soulful boom bap sound” on ‘Liftin Me Higher’, he’s not lying. Limited edition cassette comes with obi-strip.

Cyrus Tha Great - CCC Vol​.​1: Beats Inspired by the film - Straight Outta Compton duplicated at Duplication.ca

Cyrus Tha Great – CCC Vol​.​1: Beats Inspired by the film “Straight Outta Compton” c11

Exactly as described, this cassette is overflowing with instrumentals and scratchwork in tribute to the legendary gangster rap crew. Has an awesome Roy Ayers sample on Side A. Truly dig the Akira style artwork and hand-numbered obi-strip.

Various Artists - Home Grown duplicated at Duplication.ca

Various Artists – “Home Grown”

Inner Ocean Records has an impressive and prolific back catalogue of beat tapes and instrumentals, and this compilation of record digging beats is a stand-out among stand-outs. Deep bass and killer vibes, each track differentiates itself from the last.
Available at the Dupe Shop

Pout - Nylon Tears duplicated at Duplication.ca

p o u t – “Nylon Tears” c26

Blending R&B, pop, and trap beats, this 2017 cassette still gets regular play at our Dupe Shop store in Toronto. Some tracks are filled to the brim with rapid snare hits and reverb-heavy saxophone, while others feel skeletal and atmospheric.
Available at the Dupe Shop

Do you have an album you’re aching to release on cassette? Take a look at our cassette duplication calculator to see all of our awesome shell colours and printing options. Our obi-strip and cassette etching options make for great limited edition releases.

Check out our cassette duplication calculator for an instant quote

Introducing Voice-Grade Blank Cassettes

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Blank tapes / Blank cassettes from Duplication.ca
Our blank cassette services need no introduction. We load the blank tapes to your custom length and offer a variety of awesome coloured shells, from completely transparent to a shimmering gold. Our Super Ferro normal-bias tape allows for a frequency range of 20Hz to 20kHz, and if you need an extra boost in bass and noise floor, we have a high-bias chrome option fulfill your audiophile needs. With that said, variety is a key component of Duplication.ca, so we’re proud to offer a budgetary option for those looking to release their audio on cassette.

Introducing our Voice-Grade custom loaded blank cassettes! This economical tape is best used for spoken word recordings, as its volume output is 4 to 5db quieter than normal-bias, but is also useable with music. Like our other blank tape options, we will load the cassette to your exact desired audio length, and you have a wide variety of funky shell colours to choose from.

Ideal for comedy releases, spoken word, poetry, podcast Patreon gifts, art installations, lofi music, folk, ambient, and anything else with a quiet recording range!

Click here to receive an instant quote on blank Voice-Grade cassettes!

AAAMYY Etcetra EP manufactured at Duplication.ca

Make sure to poke around the online store for everything else you need for a cassette release. Cassette cases, sticker labels, printed J-cards— we’ve got it all!

Cassette Round-Up: May 2019

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Every day when we walk into the Duplication.ca offices we’re greeted with a pile of awesome cassette releases waiting to be mastered and duplicated. This May we still found ourselves in a transitional stage between a never-ending gloomy winter and burgeoning hot summer. In other words, a great month for zoning out to broad range of music blasting out of our cassette decks. Here are a few of our favourites:

Various Artists – “The Mondrians” c42 + c46

A double cassette release featuring an incredible line-up of ambient-electronic composers (Ian William Craig, Norm Chambers, Connect_icut, Alexandra Spence, to name a few) interpreting the works of de stijl artist Piet Mondrian. Packaged in our awesome side-by-side double cassette boxes.

Kool G Rap & 38 Spesh – “Son of G Rap” c56 

38 Spesh and Kool G are looking to bridge generations of New York rap bringing out certified OGs from N.O.R.E. to Dipset-affiliate Vado. NYC hip hop is alive and well on this album. Limited edition tapes came with gold horizontal obi-strip.

Benjamin Hinz – “DEEP” c22

If you like your psychedelic rock brooding and slow, like it’s struggling breathe under the pressure of the ocean’s weight, then check out this 22 minute ripper. Housed in our customizable printed Maltese Cross cassette boxes.

C. Reider – “…a trustable cloud” c54 

Composed entirely out of free sound banks, instruments, and effects processing available in web browsers. It’s an outsider electronic trip, with the J-card artwork suggesting that this is the soundtrack to a Google Deep Dream.

Surachai – “Come, Deathless” c62

Mixing elements of industrial, power electronics, and even acid house, “Come, Deathless” is richly textured and may scare you half to death. Sounds like Autechre woke up in a miserable mood.

Do you have an album you’re aching to release on cassette? Take a look at our cassette duplication calculator to see all of our awesome shell colours and printing options. We’ll provide with you an instant quote!

Place your cassette order today

October 2018 cassette round-up

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On a personal note, I love October. I love the crisp autumn weather, I love secluding myself at night and binging on horror movies, and more than anything I love stepping on crunchy leaves while listening to new tapes on my Walkman. Here’s are some personal favourite Duplication.ca jammers from the month of October!

R. Stevie Moore – “Homers” c62

Outsider artist R. Stevie Moore returns with this reissue of his 1973 self-release. If you’ve never done the deep dive of the weird ‘n wild world of RSM this is as good as any place to start!

Andrew Weathers / Blaine Todd – Split c44

A melancholic but surprisingly relaxing split cassette that wavers between post-rock and experimental folk. Fans of Six Organs of Admittance and Jackie-O Motherfucker will love it.

Plastic Cactus – “Moth Eyes” c17

Atmospheric dry desert rock, and like a mirage it moves into psych ‘n surf territory. Full of rad Thee Oh Sees style riffs at 0.6x speed!

Courtney Barnett – “Tell Me How You Really Feel” c44

If you can’t dig Courtney Barnett you can’t dig nothin’. A+ Melbourne slackerdom, and if that doesn’t sell it for you, maybe the Kim Deal backing vocals will.

Appropriate Savagery – “Elegant In Its Brutality” c26
Anasisana – “Sad For The Rest of My Life” c34

Another gorgeous batch by California label Casement Exchange. Both tapes swing between chaos and beauty, must grabs for fans of minimalism. Can’t choose between the two of them, they’re both quintessential October graveyard wandering music.

Thinking of joining the analog cassette realm? Check out our online cassette duplication calculator for an instant quote! FREE STANDARD SHIPPING to the United States and Canada.

So what’s the diff between Real-Time and High-Speed cassette duplication?

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When entering your cassette duplication order, the first question you face is whether you want to duplicate real-time or high-speed. So what’s the difference? With real-time cassettes we load the tape according to your longest side length. From there we duplicate directly from your audio files, allowing us to use a high quality 24-bit source, even higher resolution than CD. Our frequency range is 20Hz to 20kHz, meaning that we can maintain extreme highs and lows while still dubbing at a loud volume and with low tape hiss. Each cassette is manually quality controlled to ensure the A-side sounds correct.


Our Tapematic 2000 loads tape into cassette shells for real-time duplication.

High-speed is the economical choice. The cassette is loaded into a digital bin and then duplicated continuously at high speed onto bulk 8,200 foot pancakes. Each tape is separated by a cue tone, which the Tapematic loaders use to locate, cut and load the tape into the cassette shell. Each cassette is consistent in quality with a frequency range of 20Hz to 16kHz. By being able to duplicate higher quantities at a faster rate we are able to offer a lower price per cassette compared to real-time, and just like real-time we are able to duplicate the cassettes at a loud volume with low tape noise.


Our high-speed loaders and duplicators running through a batch of cassettes in a matter of minutes!

Now that you know the difference, the only question that remains is which is the right duplication speed for your release? Compare the prices alongside all of our cassette shell colour and packaging options using our online calculator!

September 2018 cassette round-up

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Let’s take a gander at some of our favourite cassettes we listened to this past September. A very upbeat month before we get into the October gloom ‘n doom!

Lucid Sound Driver – “Night Light” c42

Instrumental dream-pop that’s sure to set the vibe right. Grab your Walkman and save this one for the last night bus home.

Coping Skills – “Worst New Music” c30

Not only is this possibly the best album title and cover art this year, the music also rips! Teenage Fanclub for the internet content mill age.

Shoshana Rosenberg – “A Gold Ring in a Pig’s Snout” c30

Beautiful cassette consisting of revolving bass clarinet tones. The room sound is audible, giving an impression of claustrophobia relating to its thesis of female oppression.

Velveteen Echo – “Submarine” c15

Dream-like and hazy indie pop from Miss Champagne Records. A little Galaxie 500, a little Grouper. Love their pad print design too!

Heathers – “Midnight is a Place” c30

Montreal 90s rock revivalists return with their second cassette release. At the right time and in the right place, this would be classic Sub Pop canon.

Thinking of joining the analog cassette realm? Check out our online cassette duplication calculator for an instant quote! FREE STANDARD SHIPPING to the United States and Canada.