Category: vhs

Possible 2023 Slate

Featured Mike MazzottaLeave a comment

EDIT: I’m going to keep this stickied to the top of the Blog for all of 2023, and keep it updated as the year progresses.

I’m only a couple of days into 2023, and already i’ve got a stack of really interesting things that I’d like to accomplish this year.

On top of playing as many shows as possible, I’ve already got a stack of ideas scribbled down. . . almost one a month for all of 2023.

Lots of things can get in the way, and plans always change, but as of 4pm on Tuesday, January 3rd, here’s a rough list of everything I’d like to do this year (in addition to 12x VJOLTRONS, and whatever releases I end up duplicating for Virtua 94, Retro Release Video, and anyone else who’d like to release some VHS tapes).

✔ denotes completion!

Jan
✔ VJOLTRON – 1/9
✔ 8 HOUR SMART TAPE
• 8 HOUR CYBER TAPE
✔ 8 HOUR BEMANI TAPE

Feb
✔ VJOLTRON – 2/13
✔ STREET SPIRIT (FADE OUT) 2019 Photodiary
✔ STREET SPIRIT (FADE OUT) 2020 Photodiary

Mar
✔ VJOLTRON – 3/13
• STREET SPIRIT (FADE OUT) 2021 Photodiary
• STREET SPIRIT (FADE OUT) 2022 Photodiary

Apr
• 60 Second Wipeout Video Installation
• VJOLTRON – 4/10
• VXPX_048 – #PureMoods 2023 – VHS release – V94
• VXPX_051 – Future Streams – VHS release – V94
• Dirty Epic Photo Book

May
• Home Away from Home Photo book (title subject to change)
• VJOLTRON – 5/8


Jun
• VJOLTRON – 6/12

Jul
• Music for Three VCRs – “Decay” Live Performance
• VJOLTRON – 7/10

Aug
• VXPX_050 – H4XOr5 – VHS & Cassette Release + Tour? – V94
• VJOLTRON – 8/14

Sep
• V I D E O H E X installation
• Music for Three VCRs – “Stasis” Live Performance
• VJOLTRON – 9/11

Oct
• VJOLTRON – 10/9

Nov
• Music for Three VCRs – “Growth” Live Performance
• VXPX_054 – Music for Three VCRs – VHS release
• VJOLTRON – 11/13

Dec
• VXPX_020 – Tomorrow is Code for a Bright and Shining Future – VHS release (finally)
• VJOLTRON – 12/11

———-



Currently On Hold

• VXPX_045 – VVerevvolf Fucktape – VHS & Cassette (re)-release – V94
• VXPX_046 – Perfect Tone – VHS Release
• VXPX_047 – Untitled SC – VHS Release
• VXPX_049 – GREETING THE NEW DAY – VHS release
• VXPX_052 – $kinhead Fucktape – VHS & Cassette release – V94
• VXPX_053 – Øbject Fucktape – VHS & Cassette release – V94
• H4XOr1 digital release
• H4XOr2 digital release
• H4XOr3 digital release
• H4XOr4 digital release


Gearlog: VHS DJ Rig for 2023

Mike MazzottaLeave a comment

The Youtube Algo Gods have blessed me again.

Last night, I was poking around Youtube, and stumbled across this truly incredible DJ mix by Kerri Chandler, and it reminded me of a LOT of things.

After much brainstorming, I’ve come to the conclusion that really the only thing to do is to sell (almost) all of my VJ gear (the wearable wireless rig, the “cruiser” rig, and whatever else I have laying around that’s not part of the Butohscope), and build a fresh rig from scratch.

The first Videopunks live rig was originally built around a Numark AVM-02, and now they’re a lot harder to come by, but they’re a really great mixer. I’ve owned two. . . the first I killed at the FIRST Videopunks live set in Manhattan (due to sketchy ass power), and the second I killed onstage with Angelspit. 4 channel Vision Mixer, 4 channel DJ mixer, and a lot of knobs/buttons/faders. Shit’s fuckin’ great.

There’s a lot of ways that I could monitor this, but I think the ol’ standby Numark VM-03 is a solid choice. I’m not sure if there’s something slimmer, but this seems like the move.



Out of the mixer would need to be some sort of HDMI upscaler. . . there’s a lot of options out there, and I’ve owned a bunch of variations of THIS GUY, and they’re pretty OK.

Cool. . . So, that’s Mixing, but what about Playback? Ideally, I’d like to have a pair of Rackmountable VCRs with JOG WHEELS and Pause Functionality, with S-Video out, so I can get the cleanest image out of the VCRs, and into the Mixer, with bonus ‘FX sends’ for whatever Glitch gear I’d like to have chained in.

I’m lowkey looking at the JVC-HR-s3600u. . . it ticks all the boxes (minus TBC), and seem like they’re still pretty cheap & available.



Here’s an interesting forum post breaking down some of the taxonomy of the JVC model numbers at the time.

Something else to consider would be getting a pair of Mitsubishi HS-MD3000‘s. . . they’re really rugged, meant to be kinda beaten on, and most importantly, I already have one. . . So sourcing a second one might be cheaper.


You can’t really modify VCRs for Speed Adjustments, so I’d have to Pre-Stretch all of my tracks to a specific tempo. . . I think 120bpm is the move, since VHS is ostensibly 60fps (60i), and those numbers fit into each other pretty well. Additionally, 120bpm is pretty damn funky, and I happen to have quite a bit of experience DJing at that tempo.

I’m not sure if you can scrub audio with a VCR (pretty sure you can’t), so I’ll have to bake in some flashframe Cue Points. . . and a lot of the music that I would want to play probably never had music videos for it, so that’ll give me an opportunity to make a bunch of Music Videos for all sorts of stuff, which is fun as all get out. In terms of tapes, I’m thinking that a STACK of T-10’s would give me more than enough material to DJ with (maybe with color-coded labels? Why Not?!), and Really Just Get Weird With It.

The last piece of the puzzle would be some sort of DJ mixer case, like this SKB jawn. . . All I’d need to do is find a way to rackmount the VCRs, and I’m golden. A rackmount powerstrip seals the deal, and makes it real.

A lot of people have done DJ sets with VHS visuals (kinda), and a lot of people have DJed with Tape. . . but I can’t seem to find anyone who’s combined the two. This is gonna be a super fuckin’ wild.

7 Years of DIY VHS

Mike MazzottaLeave a comment

Happy 7th Anniversary to Videopunks VHS!

On this day, 7 years ago, I released my first VHS release, “Video Art is Awful”.

To commemorate this, I’ve gone back through ALL of the releases, added blog posts to line them up with my personal timeline, and added a new section of the Blog that’s JUST focused on VXPX video releases.

My goal (in the near future) is to provide all the Art Assets, Video Masters, and labels for folks to make their OWN copies of all of those out-of-print releases, so that they’ll hopefully live on far longer than the rest of us.

Having gone through all of these releases today, I realized that there’s a lot of gaps in what I still have. . . but it’s a really dense discography.

I’m particularly proud of some of these releases (I provided visuals for a lot of them), and I’m really looking forward to adding to this body of work in 2023, alongside my label partners Virtua 94 Records.

I like nice, round numbers, and the catalog numbers already have three digits. . . so the goal is 100 releases. After looking at the 45 (official) releases i’ve done in the past 7 years, that feels particularly attainable.

If you’d like to have a look back at all the released, jump over HERE.



DO IT YOURSELF VIDEO

Mike MazzottaLeave a comment

Right now, in the 21st century, there’s a ROBUST community of folks STILL MAKING VHS TAPES!  VHS was one of the first home video formats that allowed people of all walks of life to create and distribute their own high-quality moving images quickly & cheaply, and we’re keeping that tradition alive!

PLACES TO MAKE VHS TAPES:

Duplication & Manufacturing Services for hire!

VXPX.INFO – Based in New York, NY
The Basement Labs – Based in Worcester, MA

Cryptic Carousel – Based in Upstate NY

Duplication.ca – Based in Canada

PLACES TO BUY VHS TAPES:

Weirdos, Beardos, and Videopunks of all Stripes!

Lunchmeat – The OG, stocking ALL THINGS VHS

Horror Boobs – Schlocky Horror B-Movie Madness!

The Basement Labs – specializing in Ambient/Experimental Weirdness

Factory 25 – Indie Film Distributor with VHS feature film releases
Retro Release Video – Officially Licensed VHS Re-Issues!
Bleu Nuit Video – Analog Experiments from Montreal

American Piss Video Magazine – NYC based VHS Zine focusing on Graffiti, Raving, and Havin’ a Good Time.

Baudway Video – Vaporwave VHS label

Vill4in – Dark Vaporwave & Industrial

SRS Cinema –  Horror/Scifi/KAIJU distro!
Witter Entertainment – Horror Distro!
Black VVideo – VHS label for horror/action/bizarre
Pacific Plaza – Vaporwave Label w/ VHS releases
Unstable King – UK based VHS Bootlegs

Kitty On Fire Records – Vancouver Label with some VHS releases

Oscilloscope Laboratories – NYC Based Film Distributor w/ some VHS releases
Devaughn’s Tapes – Cute Customs for Sale
Black Ring Ritual – Fargo, ND based Noise label that releases on VHS & Beta

VHS DUPLICATION ESSENTIALS

Export presets/templates/etc

NTSC Title Safe Framing Chart (.PNG)
Spine Labels (.PDF
Face Labels (.PDF)
Bottom-Loading Slipcase (.EPS)
Bottom-Loading  Slipcase (.SIT)
Bottom-Loading  Slipcase (ALT)  (.PDF)
Bottom-Loading Slipcase (ALT) (.PSD)
Side-Loading Slipcase (.SIT)
Clamshell/Library Case (.EPS)
Clamshell/Library Case (alt) (.JPG)

Adobe Media Encoder (AME/PPRO) .EPR

Vector Assets & Templates (from Mediafire)


Our recommendation for anyone delivering a file for
VHS duplication would be the following delivery spec:

DV NTSC Quicktime .MOV
720×840
29.97 (30i)
Field Order: LOWER first
0.9091 (DV NTSC) Pixel Aspect Ratio
and ALWAYS full screen 4:3 (not letterboxed)

OTHER RESOURCES

Further down the Spiral


Scanlines.xyz – Forum for Experimental/Analog Video
BPMC – The GOAT of Glitch Video Synthesis
Lunchmeat VHS – the OG VHS Zine

Strange Tapes Zine – Another VHS Classic

Video Circuits – The Biggest/Best Analog Video Facebook Group
Coaxial Arts – Experimental Media Art center in LA
Signal Culture – Experimental Media Art Center in Upstate NY
r/Video Synthesis – Video Synth Subreddit
r/CustomVHS – DIY Customs
Andre Jay’s Resource Page – The GOAT, with LOTS of great stuff
Bootleg VHS – Cool VHS-Themed Merch
Capital Waste Pictures – AU analog video productions
Color VHS Shell Database
r/CustomCovers

Experimental Television Center | Title Safe | NTSC | Aspect Ratio | VHS | Spool Swapping

Wanna get added to the list?  Shoot us an email!  We wanna hear from you!

videopunksnotdead@gmail.com