Re: "Suspended in Gaffa" et al

[dbk@cs.UMD.EDU (Dan Kozak)]

Really-From: hplabs!grega@hp-ptp.hp.com (Number 6)

> Doug Alan <nessus@athena.mit.edu>:

>>Why do you think Kate didn't intend this?  Why did she pick gaffer's
>>tape as the material she's stuck in then?  Why didn't she pick
>>molasses, or tar, or fly paper instead?

> Because "gaffer" tape is used (I should say, by now, *was* used) to edit
> recording tape.  It is *Splicing tape*, not *Duct tape* (of course, to
> some people it might be duct tape, but to recording engineers it is
> splicing tape).

> Therefore, Kate and all other recording artists are "Suspended in (Gaffer Tape)"(At least, their voices are!)

No.  A gaffer is a lighting man (read your movie credits, you'll see
grips and gaffers; grips are the people who move things around).  And
gaffer's tape is known to the layman as duct tape.  Splicing tape is
called, for obscure historical reasons, "splicing tape", to distinguish
it from "tape" which is what one records music on.  Having spent a
significant fraction of my adult life in recording studios, I can
guarantee you that this is true.

#dan

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