Three input channels are provided on 1/4-inch jack connectors, along with a jack output and headphone socket. The system works by recording audio fed into the unit, then replaying the signal via a series of playback heads until further incoming audio erases the signal. The Space Echo makes use of a continuous loop of 1/4-inch magnetic tape housed in a tape chamber at the top of the unit, while a capstan drive motor transports the tape over the record/replay heads. The RE-201 was launched in 1974, replacing Roland’s earlier models the RE-100 and RE-200 and becoming an instant hit with engineers. Les Paul, the inventor of multitrack recording, began experimenting with multiple tape echo effects as early as 1950, but it would be another decade before dedicated tape delay units such as the Watkins Copycat and Maestro Echoplex appeared. That’s how Sun Studios’ Sam Phillips popularised the slap-back echo effect on those classic mid-50s recordings of Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley. Tape echo and delay are among the oldest effects used in pop production however, during the early rock ‘n’ roll era of the 1950s, engineers had to create the effect using the record and replay heads of standard professional tape machines. Portishead engineer Stu Matthews: “You can’t beat them for that warm, saturated sound that you can only get from analogue tape.”
