![]() There’s no mixing or re-mastering involved though in some cases there may be some very gentle but faithful refurbishing if the original is a true vintage and has degenerated slightly. That longed-for experience of ‘being there’, whether live on stage or hanging out in the studio, will take on a whole new feeling of reality.Įach copy is typically made on a one-to-one basis in real time at 15 ips, direct from the first or second generation master. If your aim is to get up close and personal with some incredible recordings then this is about as up close and personal as you’re going to get. The albums are often classics in their genre, the production usually in limited editions and the quality unbeatable. Still, renewed interest in open reel tape has led to the emergence of a number of companies who re-release selected analogue-recorded albums on tape. Record companies don’t tend to dig into their vaults or copyright owners hand out licenses without charging some serious bucks for the privilege so it’s unlikely we’ll be seeing authorized copies of the likes of Pink Floyd’s ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ any day soon (but you never know…). In theory, any recording from that period could become available but in practice the menu is fairly limited for now. What we’re looking at are direct copies, usually one-to-one, of master tapes from analogue recordings made up until digital recording took over during the 1980s and 1990s. This will be the absolute best version of an album that money can buy, bar none. To say that it’s an experience worth having would be an understatement. Imagine encountering some of the world’s greatest recorded music at a never-before-heard level of quality and fidelity. This is what brings most converts to open reel tape and for good reason. But I’ve also seen some that have harboured some hidden gems – including a few original master tapes of recordings as high profile as Bing Crosby! It all depends on what you’re looking for – a cheap job lot can be a good source of reels and / or boxes to use or sell on, even if the tapes aren’t up to much! Authorized current copies of vintage master tapes I’ve seen job lots where there’s only a handful of decent usable stuff and an awful lot of dross that’s beyond restoration or resale. If you’re tempted by a listing for a job lot of tapes, my advice would be to go along and inspect the goods in person. It’s a bit of a lottery really the only way to know is to buy from someone who has play-graded the tape and who you know is trustworthy. If that’s the case then you might want to record a fresh copy onto a new tape.Įven if you buy a ‘new old’ tape that’s still sealed, it may still be useless – it might have been stored near a loudspeaker (or other magnet) or in someone’s loft (extreme temperature variations). The other thing to bear in mind condition-wise is the possibility of these older tapes shedding oxide onto the delicate heads of your reel-to-reel deck. They’re not as good as master copies of course but, condition permitting, the sound could still be superior to anything you’ll find on vinyl or digital. Price-wise these tapes will set you back considerably less than master tape copies (typically anything between £5-£100 depending on the album and its condition). Think of it like buying a vintage wine: consider not only age but also storage conditions. There are also quite a lot of early two-track mono tapes out there, but since you’d need a dedicated machine to play those, we won’t go into them here.Ĭondition is everything when you’re looking at vintage tapes, as magnetic tape is prone to degradation over time. The formats of these tapes will vary depending on the period in which they were made, but most stereo offerings will typically be four-track/quarter track recordings on ¼” tape at 3¾ or 7½ ips, on a 5” or 7” reel. If you’re lucky you might even find the odd ‘new in box’ and as yet unwrapped gem. Trawl the likes of ebay and you’ll come across plenty of old commercially-produced recordings on reel-to-reel tape. ![]() authorized current copies of vintage master tapes.When it comes to buying music on open reel tape legally, you’ve got three main options: ![]() For a bit more background on the market for tapes including all things vintage, along with some tech considerations, read on… If you’re looking for listings of current tape labels / producers, jump straight to Where to buy music on tape.
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