AKAI Fly Tape II — Free Download
Fly Tape II is a creative tape cassette effects plugin developed by Akai Professional with MSXII Audio and AIR Music Tech, offering eight distinct tape-style modes for vintage sound design.
Purpose and Overview
Fly Tape II is a creative audio effect designed to bring the classic sound of cassette tapes into your music production. Developed in collaboration with MSXII Audio and AIR Music Tech, it adapts the beloved iOS app into a plugin for your DAW or MPC standalone system. The goal is to add vintage warmth, texture, and movement to your tracks with ease.
The plugin features a user-friendly interface with retro button controls, making it simple to explore its capabilities. It offers eight distinct modes, each providing a unique sonic character, from tape speed changes to lo-fi degradation. These tools allow you to mangle, stretch, and color your audio in expressive ways, suitable for both live performance and studio work.
Key Capabilities
Fly Tape II includes eight specialized modes. The Speed mode offers four tape speed settings, creating time-stretching artifacts and tonal shifts. Saturation provides three overdrive types—Boost, Amp, and Drive—for subtle harmonics to tube-style distortion. Mute and Reverse buttons enable seamless chopping, pausing, and flipping of audio.
The Warble mode adds seven variations of wow and flutter for pitch modulation. Lo-Fi offers eight presets for dusty hiss or bit reduction. Brake recreates tape stop effects with four durations, ideal for transitions. Stutter slices audio into rhythmic fragments with eight timing options. An independent Noise slider controls the amount of tape hiss in the mix.
Workflow and Integration
Using Fly Tape II is straightforward: load it on any track, such as drums, mix bus, or individual instruments, and choose a mode to shape the sound. You can automate mode parameters or play them live, making it performance-ready. The plugin integrates into your DAW or MPC standalone setup, supporting VST formats and MPC systems.
For desktop use, you need to install Akai’s MPC desktop software version 2.15.1 or higher, and an internet connection is required for authorization. This ensures the plugin works smoothly within your production environment. The intuitive controls allow for rapid tweaking, enabling you to craft nostalgic textures or dramatic effects without complex menus.
Practical Applications
Fly Tape II is ideal for beatmakers and producers seeking vintage character. Crush drums with saturation, reverse and saturate your mix bus, or tape stop breaks for dramatic transitions. It can transform string pads into retro pads, or warp and stretch electric pianos to fit your mix. The lo-fi and warble modes are perfect for creating mellow, nostalgic melodies.
The brake and stutter modes are excellent for adding energy to loops, creating syncopation, or building suspense. Use the mute and reverse buttons for live performance, offering spontaneous breaks and rhythmic reversals. Whether you’re working on hip-hop, lo-fi, or electronic music, Fly Tape II provides tools to add movement and color.
Key features
- Eight specialized tape-style modes for distinct sonic effects
- Speed mode with four variable tape speeds
- Saturation with Boost, Amp, and Drive overdrive options
- Mute and Reverse buttons for live chopping and flipping
- Warble mode with seven wow and flutter variations
- Lo-Fi mode with eight presets for degraded audio
- Independent Noise slider for controlled tape hiss
Best for
Best for producers and beatmakers who want to add vintage tape character, lo-fi textures, and expressive movement to drums, synths, or full mixes, especially those working in MPC standalone or DAW environments seeking creative sonic manipulation.
