These days, creating new sounds in the studio often comes from simply grabbing the latest DSP plug-in or synth patch. But it wasn’t always so easy, and in the early days of studio production, producers and engineers were left to their own resources to make original sounds. One of the best examples of this came from the legendary Sam Phillips, one of the most influential producers in rock history. As owner of Memphis-based Sun Records, Phillips helped launch the careers of Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and B.B. King, among others.

Besides employing innovative techniques such as close miking, Phillips was looking for a “sound” to define some of artists on his roster. Phillips began feeding channels into a second tape recorder and combining the delayed sound from that deck’s playback heads, resulting in a long echo similar to sound bouncing off the back wall of a venue, in a new process known as tape slap delay. By adjusting the playback speed of the second recorder, a variety of echo effects were possible. One of Phillips’ earliest examples of this was used on Elvis’ “Blue Moon of Kentucky,” and tape slap quickly became a part of defining the new rock ‘n’ roll genre.