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{{short description|Machine for recording sound}}
{{About|machines used for audio (sound) recording|video recording|video tape recorder|the tape systems used for computer data|tape drive}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2021}}

[[File:Akai GX 635D - edit.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|A [[Reel-to-reel audio tape recording|reel-to-reel tape recorder]] from [[Akai]], c. 1978]]

An '''audio tape recorder''', also known as a '''tape deck''', '''tape player''' or '''tape machine''' or simply a '''tape recorder''', is a [[sound recording and reproduction]] device that records and plays back sounds usually using [[magnetic tape]] for storage.  In its present-day form, it records a fluctuating [[signal]] by moving the tape across a [[tape head]] that polarizes the [[magnetic domains]] in the tape in proportion to the audio signal. Tape-recording devices include the [[reel-to-reel tape deck]] and the [[cassette deck]], which uses a [[cassette tape (format)|cassette]] for storage.

The use of magnetic tape for sound recording originated around 1930 in Germany as paper tape with oxide lacquered to it. Prior to the development of magnetic tape, magnetic [[wire recording|wire recorders]] had successfully demonstrated the concept of [[magnetic recording]], but they never offered audio quality comparable to the other recording and broadcast standards of the time. This German invention was the start of a long string of innovations that have led to present-day magnetic tape recordings.

Magnetic tape revolutionized both the radio broadcast and music recording industries.  It gave artists and producers the power to record and re-record audio with minimal loss in quality as well as edit and rearrange recordings with ease. The alternative recording technologies of the era, [[transcription disc]]s and [[wire recorder]]s, could not provide anywhere near this level of quality and functionality.

Since some early refinements improved the fidelity of the reproduced sound, magnetic tape has been the highest quality [[analog recording]] medium available. As of the first decade of the 21st century, analog magnetic tape has been largely replaced by [[digital recording]] technologies.

==History==
{{for timeline|Timeline of audio formats}}
{{gallery |title=Early tape recorders |height=250
|File:Early experimental non-magnetic Tape Recorder invented by the Volta Associates -Bell & Tainter -i013.jpg |An early experimental '''non-magnetic tape recorder''' patented in 1886 by Alexander Graham Bell's Volta Laboratory.
|File:Tape Recorder 1909.tif |1909 analog tape recorder of Franklin C. Goodale. This machine had 15 Tracks
|File:Tape Recorder 1909.pdf |Franklin C. Goodale built the first working tape recorder in 1909 and got the patent for this invention
|File:Prototype of the Goodale Tape Recorder.jpg |Prototype of the Goodale tape recorder. The patent is based on this machine.
}}

=== Wax strip recorder ===
The earliest known audio tape recorder was a [[non-magnetic]], [[electricity|non-electric]] version invented by [[Alexander Graham Bell]]'s [[Volta Laboratory]] and patented in 1886 ({{US patent|341214}}). It employed a {{convert|3/16|in|mm|adj=mid|-wide}} strip of wax-covered paper that was coated by dipping it in a solution of [[beeswax]] and [[Paraffin wax|paraffin]] and then had one side scraped clean, with the other side allowed to harden. The machine was of sturdy wood and metal construction and hand-powered by means of a knob fastened to a [[flywheel]]. The wax strip passed from one eight-inch reel around the periphery of a pulley (with guide flanges) mounted above the V-pulleys on the main vertical shaft, where it came in contact with either its recording or playback [[stylus]]. The tape was then taken up on the other reel. The sharp recording stylus, actuated by a vibrating mica diaphragm, cut the wax from the strip. In playback mode, a dull, loosely mounted stylus, attached to a rubber diaphragm, carried the reproduced sounds through an ear tube to its listener. Both recording and playback styluses, mounted alternately on the same two posts, could be adjusted vertically so that several recordings could be cut on the same {{convert|3/16|in|mm|adj=mid|-wide}} strip.<ref name="Newville"/>

While the machine was never developed commercially, it somewhat resembled the modern magnetic tape recorder in its design. The tapes and machine created by Bell's associates, examined at one of the [[Smithsonian Institution]]'s museums, became brittle, and the heavy paper reels warped. The machine's playback head was also missing. Otherwise, with some reconditioning, they could be placed into working condition.<ref name="Newville">Newville, Leslie J. [http://www.gutenberg.org/files/30112/30112-h/30112-h.htm Development of the Phonograph at Alexander Graham Bell's Volta Laboratory], United States National Museum Bulletin, [[United States National Museum]] and the [[Museum of History and Technology]], Washington, D.C., 1959, No. 218, Paper 5, pp.69–79. Retrieved from ProjectGutenberg.org.</ref>

The waxed tape recording medium was later refined by Edison's  [[wax cylinder]], and became the first widespread sound recording technology, used for both entertainment and office dictation. However, recordings on wax cylinders were unable to be easily duplicated, making them both costly and time consuming for large-scale production. Wax cylinders were also unable to record more than 2 minutes of audio, a problem solved by [[Phonograph record|gramophone discs]].<ref>{{citation |url=https://www.loc.gov/collections/edison-company-motion-pictures-and-sound-recordings/articles-and-essays/history-of-edison-sound-recordings/history-of-the-cylinder-phonograph/ |title=History of the Cylinder Phonograph |publisher=[[Library of Congress]] |access-date=2024-02-24}}</ref><ref>{{citation |url=https://www.loc.gov/collections/emile-berliner/articles-and-essays/gramophone/ |title=The Gramophone |publisher=[[Library of Congress]] |access-date=2024-02-24}}</ref>

=== Celluloid strip recorder ===
[[File:Franklin C. Goodale Tape Recorder D.jpg|thumb|This tape recorder of Dr. Goodale is exhibited in the private Phonograph Museum in Mariazell, Austria.]]
Franklin C. Goodale adapted movie film for analog audio recording. He received a patent for his invention in 1909. The celluloid film was inscribed and played back with a stylus, in a manner similar to the wax cylinders of Edison's gramophone. The patent description states that the machine could store six records on the same strip of film, side by side, and it was possible to switch between them.<ref>{{cite patent|country=US|number=944608|title=Sound-reproducing machine|pubdate=1909-12-28|inventor1-first=Franklin C.|inventor1-last=Goodale}}</ref> In 1912, a similar process was used for the Hiller [[talking clock]].{{citation needed|date=August 2022|reason=Mentioned without citation at [[talking clock]]. Search confirms it exists but does not identify a [[WP:RS]].}}

=== Photoelectric paper tape recorder ===
In 1932, after six years of developmental work, including a patent application in 1931,<ref>USPTO. [https://books.google.com/books?id=gCegAAAAMAAJ Official Gazette Of The United States Patent Office], United States Patent Office, 1936, Volume 463, pp.537.</ref><ref>USPTO. [https://patents.google.com/patent/US2030973 United States Patent Office, Patent US2030973 A, "Method of and apparatus for electrically recording and reproducing sound or other vibrations"]</ref> Merle Duston, a [[Detroit]] radio engineer, created a tape recorder capable of recording both sounds and voice that used a low-cost chemically treated paper tape.  During the recording process, the tape moved through a pair of electrodes which immediately imprinted the modulated sound signals as visible black stripes into the paper tape's surface.  The [[audio signal]] could be immediately replayed from the same recorder unit, which also contained photoelectric sensors, somewhat similar to the various [[sound-on-film]] technologies of the era.<ref>Popular Science. [https://books.google.com/books?id=2CcDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA40 Record Of Voice Now Made On Moving Paper Tape], Popular Science, Bonnier Corporation, February 1934, pp.40, Vol. 124, No. 2, ISSN 0161-7370.</ref><ref name="Onosko">Onosko, Tim. [https://books.google.com/books?id=2XKQAAAACAAJ Wasn't The Future Wonderful?: A View Of Trends And Technology From The 1930s: (article) Book Reads Itself Aloud: After 500 Years, Books Are Given Voice], Dutton, 1979, pp.73, {{ISBN|0-525-47551-6}}, {{ISBN|978-0-525-47551-4}}. Article attributed to: [[Popular Mechanics]], date of publication unstated, likely c. February 1934.</ref>

=== Magnetic recording ===
[[Magnetic recording]] was conceived as early as 1878 by the American engineer [[Oberlin Smith]]<ref>Engel, Friedrich Karl, ed. (2006) "Oberlin Smith and the invention of magnetic sound recording:  An appreciation on the 150th anniversary of the inventor's birth".  Smith's caveat of 4 October 1878 regarding the recording of sound on magnetic media appears on pp. 14–16.  Available at:  [http://www.richardhess.com/tape/history/Engel--Oberlin_Smith_2006.pdf RichardHess.com] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061021075340/http://www.richardhess.com/tape/history/Engel--Oberlin_Smith_2006.pdf |date=21 October 2006 }}</ref><ref>Smith, Oberlin (1888 September 8) [https://books.google.com/books?id=zYVMAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA3-PA116 "Some possible forms of phonograph,"] ''The Electrical World'', '''12''' (10) :  116–117.</ref> and demonstrated in practice in 1898 by Danish engineer [[Valdemar Poulsen]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Poulsen |first1=Valdemar |url=http://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?Docid=00661619&homeurl=http%3A%2F%2Fpatft.uspto.gov%2Fnetacgi%2Fnph-Parser%3FSect2%3DPTO1%2526Sect2%3DHITOFF%2526p%3D1%2526u%3D%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html%2526r%3D1%2526f%3DG%2526l%3D50%2526d%3DPALL%2526S1%3D0661619.PN.%2526OS%3DPN%2F661619%2526RS%3DPN%2F661619&PageNum=&Rtype=&SectionNum=&idkey=NONE&Input=View+first+page |title=Method of recording and reproducing sounds or signals|id=No. 661,619 |orig-date=July 8, 1899 |date= November 13, 1900 |website=United States Patent and Trademark Office Patent Images |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190115234516/http://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?Docid=00661619&homeurl=http%3A%2F%2Fpatft.uspto.gov%2Fnetacgi%2Fnph-Parser%3FSect2%3DPTO1%2526Sect2%3DHITOFF%2526p%3D1%2526u%3D%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html%2526r%3D1%2526f%3DG%2526l%3D50%2526d%3DPALL%2526S1%3D0661619.PN.%2526OS%3DPN%2F661619%2526RS%3DPN%2F661619&PageNum=&Rtype=&SectionNum=&idkey=NONE&Input=View+first+page |archive-date= Jan 15, 2019 }}</ref><ref name="Nagra">{{cite web |title=Magnetic Recording Timeline |website=ACMI  |archive-url=https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20040302130000/http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/13071/20040303-0000/www.acmi.net.au/AIC/HIST_REC_NAGRA.html |archive-date=2004-03-02 |url=http://www.acmi.net.au/AIC/HIST_REC_NAGRA.html |author=Nagra Company}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> Analog magnetic [[wire recording]], and its successor, [[magnetic tape]] recording, involve the use of a magnetizable medium which moves with a constant speed past a recording head. An electrical signal, which is analogous to the sound that is to be recorded, is fed to the recording head, inducing a pattern of magnetization similar to the signal. A playback head can then pick up the changes in magnetic field from the tape and convert it into an electrical signal to be [[Amplifier|amplified]] and played back through a [[loudspeaker]].

=== Wire recorders ===
{{main|Wire recording}}
[[File:Telegrafon 8154.jpg|thumb|right|Magnetic wire recorder, invented by [[Valdemar Poulsen]], 1898. It is exhibited at [[Brede works]] Industrial Museum, Lyngby, Denmark.]]
The first wire recorder was the Telegraphone invented by Valdemar Poulsen in the late 1890s.  Wire recorders for law and office dictation and telephone recording were made almost continuously by various companies (mainly the American Telegraphone Company) through the 1920s and 1930s. These devices were mostly sold as consumer technologies after World War II.{{citation needed|date=August 2022|reason=Accurately summarizes content in [[Wire recording]] and [[Valdemar Poulsen]] but citations are lacking in both.}}

Widespread use of wire recording occurred within the decades spanning from 1940 until 1960, following the development of inexpensive designs licensed internationally by the Brush Development Company of Cleveland, Ohio and the Armour Research Foundation of the Armour Institute of Technology (later [[Illinois Institute of Technology]]). These two organizations licensed dozens of manufacturers in the U.S., Japan, and Europe.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Morton|first1=David|title=Armour Research Foundation and the Wire Recorder: How Academic Entrepreneurs Fail|journal=Technology and Culture|date=April 1998|volume=39|issue=2|pages=213–244|doi=10.2307/3107045|jstor=3107045|publisher=[[Society for the History of Technology]]}}</ref> Wire was also used as a recording medium in [[Flight recorder|black box]] voice recorders for aviation in the 1950s.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Radio-News/40s/Radio-News-1944-01-R.pdf|title=Radio News, 'Radio - On a Flying Fortress' |page=21|last=Porter|first=Kenneth|date=January 1944|website=www.americanradiohistory.com|access-date=February 13, 2019|archive-date=January 25, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220125123836/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Radio-News/40s/Radio-News-1944-01-R.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

Consumer wire recorders were marketed for home entertainment or as an inexpensive substitute for commercial office dictation recorders, but the development of consumer magnetic tape recorders starting in 1946, with the BK 401 Soundmirror, using paper-based tape,<ref name=CLEVE02/><!--less reliable, but interesting refs: http://esrv.net/brush_bk401.html, http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/brush_bk401.html--> gradually drove wire recorders from the market, being "pretty much out of the picture" by 1952.<ref>Mooney, Mark Jr. "The History of Magnetic Recording." Hi-Fi Tape Recording 5:3 (February 1958), 37. This detailed, illustrated 17-page article is a fundamental source for early history of magnetic (wire/tape) recording: https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Audio/Archive-Tape-Recording/50s/Tape-Recording-1958-02.pdf {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309113138/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Audio/Archive-Tape-Recording/50s/Tape-Recording-1958-02.pdf |date=9 March 2021 }}</ref>

=== Early steel tape recorders ===
[[File:Blattnerphone recorder 1937.jpg|thumb|Marconi-Stille steel tape recorder at BBC studios, London, 1937]]
In 1924 a German engineer, Kurt Stille, developed the Poulsen wire recorder as a dictating machine.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Magnetic tape recorder - Kurt Stille, Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Company|url=https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/magnetic-tape-recorder-kurt-stille-marconi-s-wireless-telegraph-company/mAFj8zsPfUBqrw|access-date=2020-06-20|website=Google Arts & Culture|language=en}}</ref> The following year a fellow German, [[Louis Blattner]], working in Britain, licensed Stille's device and started work on a machine which would instead record on a magnetic steel tape, which he called the Blattnerphone.<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.orbem.co.uk/tapes/blattner.htm |title=Blattnerphone |access-date=2013-12-11}}</ref> The tape was 6&nbsp;mm wide and 0.08&nbsp;mm thick, traveling at 5 feet per second; the recording time was 20 minutes.

The [[BBC]] installed a Blattnerphone at Avenue House<!--Probably not [[Avenue House]]. [http://www.bbceng.info/Equipment/ed_top.htm This] mentions more than one Avenue House.--> in September 1930 for tests, and used it to record [[King George V]]'s speech at the opening of the [[Round Table Conferences (India)|India Round Table Conference]] on 12 November 1930. Though not considered suitable for music the machine continued in use and was moved to [[Broadcasting House]] in March 1932, a second machine also being installed. In September 1932, a new model was installed, using 3&nbsp;mm tape with a recording time of 32 minutes.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=EdIjgeedgRwC&pg=PA54 Video Recording Technology: Its Impact on Media and Home Entertainment, Aaron Foisi Nmungwun – Google Books] pub. Routledge, Nov. 2012. {{ISBN|9781136466045}}</ref><ref>[http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BBC-Annual/BBC-Year-Book-1932.pdf The BBC Year-Book 1932] p.101, British Broadcasting Corporation, London W.1, retrieved 30 September 2015</ref>

In 1933, the [[Marconi Company]] purchased the rights to the Blattnerphone, and newly developed Marconi-Stille recorders were installed in the BBC's [[Maida Vale Studios]] in March 1935.<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.orbem.co.uk/tapes/ms.htm |title=Marconi-Stille recorders |access-date=2013-12-11}}</ref> The quality and reliability were slightly improved, though it still tended to be obvious that one was listening to a recording. A reservoir system containing a loop of tape helped to stabilize the speed. The tape was 3&nbsp;mm wide and traveled at 1.5&nbsp; meters/second.<ref name="Nagra"/>

They were not easy to handle. The reels were heavy and expensive and the steel tape has been described as being like a traveling razor blade. The tape was liable to snap, particularly at joints, which at 1.5&nbsp; meters/second could rapidly cover the floor with loops of the sharp-edged tape. Rewinding was done at twice the speed of the recording.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://creativeaudioworks.com/history/the-marconi-stille-magnetic-recorder-reproducer/ |title=The Marconi-Stille magnetic recorder-reproducer |author=Stewart Adam |date=October 18, 2012 |access-date=2022-12-25}}</ref>

Despite these drawbacks, the ability to make replayable recordings proved useful, and even with subsequent methods coming into use (direct-cut discs<ref>{{citation |url=http://rfwilmut.net/broadcast/recording4.html |title=Directly-cut discs |access-date=2013-12-11}}</ref> and Philips-Miller optical film<ref>{{citation |url=http://rfwilmut.net/broadcast/recording3.html |title=Optical film |access-date=2013-12-11}}),</ref> the Marconi-Stilles remained in use until the late 1940s.<ref>Information in this section from 'BBC Engineering 1922-1972' by Edward Pawley, pp178-182; plus some from colleagues who worked in BH in the 1930s.</ref>
{{clear}}

=== Modern tape recorders ===
[[File:Ton S.b, tape unit.jpg|thumb|right|Magnetophon from a German radio station in World War II]]
Magnetic tape recording as we know it today was developed in Germany during the 1930s at [[BASF]] (then part of the chemical giant [[IG Farben]]) and [[AEG (German company)|AEG]] in cooperation with the state radio [[Reichs-Rundfunk-Gesellschaft|RRG]].  This was based on [[Fritz Pfleumer]]'s 1928 invention of paper tape with oxide powder lacquered onto it. The first practical tape recorder from [[AEG (German company)|AEG]] was the [[Magnetophon K1]], demonstrated in Berlin, Germany in 1935. {{ill|Eduard Schüller (engineer)|lt=Eduard Schüller|de}} of AEG built the recorders and developed a ring-shaped recording and playback head.  It replaced the needle-shaped head which tended to shred the tape. Friedrich Matthias of IG Farben/BASF developed the recording tape, including the oxide, the binder, and the backing material. Walter Weber, working for {{ill|Hans Joachim von Braunmühl|de}} at the RRG, discovered the [[AC bias]]ing technique, which radically improved sound quality.<ref name="fenster"/>

During [[World War II]], the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] noticed that certain German officials were making radio broadcasts from multiple time zones almost simultaneously.<ref name="fenster"/> Analysts such as [[Richard H. Ranger]] believed that the broadcasts had to be transcriptions, but their audio quality was indistinguishable from that of a live broadcast<ref name="fenster"/> and their duration was far longer than was possible even with 16&nbsp;rpm transcription discs.{{efn|The Allies were aware of the existence of the pre-war Magnetophon recorders, but not of the introduction of high-frequency [[Tape bias|bias]] and PVC-backed tape.<ref>Information from ''BBC Engineering 1922–1972'' by Edward Pawley, page 387.</ref>}} In the final stages of the war in Europe, the Allies' capture of a number of German [[Magnetophon]] recorders from [[Radio_Luxembourg#World_War_II|Radio Luxembourg]] aroused great interest. These recorders incorporated all the key technological features of modern analog magnetic recording and were the basis for future developments in the field.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}

== Commercialization ==
=== American developments ===
Development of magnetic tape recorders in the late 1940s and early 1950s is associated with the [[Brush Development Company]] and its licensee, [[Ampex]]. The equally important development of the magnetic tape medium itself was led by [[Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing]] (3M) corporation.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}
In 1938, [[Semi Joseph Begun|S.J. Begun]] left Germany and joined the Brush Development Company in the United States, where work continued but attracted little attention until the late 1940s when the company released the very first consumer tape recorder in 1946: the Soundmirror BK 401.<ref name=CLEVE02>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://ech.case.edu/cgi/article.pl?id=BDC |title=BRUSH DEVELOPMENT CORP |encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History |date=2002-05-29}}</ref><!—less reliable, but interesting refs: http://esrv.net/brush_bk401.html, http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/brush_bk401.html—> Several other models were quickly released in the following years. Tapes were initially made of paper coated with [[Iron(II,III) oxide|magnetite powder]]. In 1947/48 Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing Company ([[3M]]) replaced the paper backing with [[cellulose acetate]] or [[polyester]], and coated it first with black oxide, and later, to improve signal-to-noise ratio and improve overall superior quality, with red oxide ([[Iron(III) oxide#Gamma phase|gamma ferric oxide]]).<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bruce-Jones |first1=Henry |title=Worldwide gamma ferric oxide shortage delays cassette tape production |url=https://www.factmag.com/2019/10/11/gamma-ferric-oxide-shortage-delays-cassette-tape-production/ |website=www.factmag.com |date=11 October 2019 |publisher=[[Fact (UK magazine)|Fact]] |access-date=8 April 2020}}</ref>{{Citation needed|date=May 2023|reason=Current citation only affirms the use of gamma ferric oxide in manufacture of cassette tapes, and does not reference 3M being involved in the manufacturing process at all. As of now there is no citation providing evidence for the 3M related content in the preceding sentence.}}

American audio engineer [[John T. Mullin]] and entertainer [[Bing Crosby]] were key players in the commercial development of magnetic tape. Mullin served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps and was posted to Paris in the final months of WWII. His unit was assigned to find out everything they could about German radio and electronics, including the investigation of claims that the Germans had been experimenting with high-energy directed radio beams as a means of disabling the electrical systems of aircraft. Mullin's unit soon amassed a collection of hundreds of low-quality magnetic dictating machines, but it was a chance visit to a studio at [[Bad Nauheim]] near Frankfurt while investigating radio beam rumors, that yielded the real prize.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}

Mullin was given two suitcase-sized AEG 'Magnetophon' high-fidelity recorders and fifty reels of recording tape. He had them shipped home<ref name="fenster"/> and over the next two years he worked on the machines constantly, modifying them and improving their performance. His major aim was to interest Hollywood studios in using magnetic tape for movie soundtrack recording.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}

Mullin gave two public demonstrations of his machines, and they caused a sensation among American audio professionals; many listeners literally could not believe that what they heard was not a live performance. By luck, Mullin's second demonstration was held at [[MGM Studios]] in Hollywood and in the audience that day was Bing Crosby's technical director, Murdo Mackenzie. He arranged for Mullin to meet Crosby and in June 1947 he gave Crosby a private demonstration of his magnetic tape recorders.<ref name="fenster"/>

Crosby, a top movie and singing star, was stunned by the amazing sound quality and instantly saw the huge commercial potential of the new machines. Live music was the standard for American radio at the time and the major radio networks didn't permit the use of disc recording in many programs because of their comparatively poor sound quality. Crosby disliked the regimentation of live broadcasts 39 weeks a year,<ref name="fenster"/> preferring the recording studio's relaxed atmosphere and ability to retain the best parts of a performance. He asked NBC to let him pre-record his 1944–45 series on [[transcription disc]]s, but the network refused, so Crosby withdrew from live radio for a year. ABC agreed to let him use transcription discs for the 1946–47 season, but listeners complained about the sound quality.<ref name="fenster">{{cite magazine |author=Fenster, J.M. |url=http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/it/1994/2/1994_2_52.shtml |title=How Bing Crosby Brought You Audiotape |magazine=Invention & Technology |date=Fall 1994 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110404045940/http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/it/1994/2/1994_2_52.shtml |archive-date=4 April 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Crosby realised that Mullin's tape recorder technology would enable him to pre-record his radio show with high sound quality and that these tapes could be replayed many times with no appreciable loss of quality. Mullin was asked to tape one show as a test and was subsequently hired as Crosby's chief engineer to pre-record the rest of the series.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}

Crosby's season premiere on 1 October 1947 was the first magnetic tape broadcast in America.<ref name="fenster"/> He became the first major American music star to use tape to pre-record radio broadcasts, and the first to master commercial recordings on tape. The taped Crosby radio shows were painstakingly edited through tape-splicing to give them a pace and flow that was wholly unprecedented in radio.{{efn|Mullin claims to have been the first to use [[canned laughter]]; at the insistence of Crosby's head writer, Bill Morrow, he inserted a segment of raucous laughter from an earlier show into a joke in a later show that hadn't worked well.}} Soon other radio performers were demanding the ability to pre-record their broadcasts with the high quality of tape, and the recording ban was lifted.<ref name="fenster"/>

Crosby invested $50,000 of his own money into the Californian electronics company [[Ampex]], and the six-man concern (headed by [[Alexander M. Poniatoff]], whose initials became part of the company name) soon became the world leader in the development of tape recording, with its Model 200 tape deck, released in 1948 and developed from Mullin's modified Magnetophons.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}

===Tape recording at the BBC===
[[File:BTR2 1961-11-12.jpg|thumb|EMI BTR2 machines in a BBC recording room, 12 November 1961.]]
[[File:Studer1969.jpg|thumb|Early model Studer professional tape recorder, 1969]]
The [[BBC]] acquired some Magnetophon machines in 1946 on an experimental basis, and they were used in the early stages of the new [[Third Programme]] to record and play back performances of operas from Germany. Delivery of tape was preferred as live relays over landlines were unreliable in the immediate post-war period. These machines were used until 1952, though most of the work continued to be done using the established media.<ref name="rfwilmut">{{Cite web |last=Wilmut |first=Roger |title=Recording of the BBC |page=5 |url=https://rfwilmut.net/broadcast/recording5.html |access-date=4 June 2025 |website=Fragments of an informal History of Broadcasting}}</ref>

In 1948, a new British model became available from EMI: the BTR1. Though in many ways clumsy, its quality was good, and as it wasn't possible to obtain any more Magnetophons it was an obvious choice.<ref>{{Cite report |url=https://downloads.bbc.co.uk/rd/pubs/reports/1948-30.pdf |title=The EMI magnetic tape recorder BTR/1 |date=September 1948 |publisher=British Broadcasting Corporation |issue=1948/30 |access-date=4 June 2025 }}</ref>

In the early 1950s, the EMI BTR 2 became available; a much-improved machine and generally liked. The machines were responsive, could run up to speed quite quickly, had light-touch operating buttons, forward-facing heads (The BTR 1s had rear-facing heads which made editing difficult), and were quick and easy to do fine editing. It became the standard in recording rooms for many years and was in use until the end of the 1960s.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hughes |first=David |title=Large Green Tape Machines |url=https://www.orbem.co.uk/tapes/btr2.htm |access-date=4 June 2025 |website=Old BBC Radio Broadcasting Equipment and Memories}}</ref>

In 1963, [[the Beatles]] were allowed to enhance their recordings at the BBC by overdubbing. The BBC didn't have any multi-track equipment; Overdubbing was accomplished by copying onto another tape.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Fleming |first=Colin |date=2018-07-02 |title=Remembering the Beatles' Greatest BBC Session |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/remembering-the-beatles-greatest-bbc-session-666887/ |access-date=2025-06-04 |magazine=Rolling Stone |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Mastropolo |first=Frank |date=2014-12-06 |title=How a Deep Dive Produced the Beatles' Revealing 'Live at the BBC' |url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/beatles-live-at-the-bbc/ |access-date=2025-06-04 |website=Ultimate Classic Rock |language=en}}</ref>

The tape speed was eventually standardized at 15&nbsp;[[Inch per second|ips]] for almost all work at Broadcasting House, and at 15&nbsp;ips for music and 7½&nbsp;ips for speech at Bush House.<ref name="rfwilmut" />

Broadcasting House also used the EMI TR90 and a Philips machine which was lightweight but very easy and quick to use.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Stories BBC & EMI |url=https://museumofmagneticsoundrecording.org/StoriesBBCEMI.html |access-date=2025-06-04 |website=Museum of Magnetic Sound Recording}}</ref> Bush House used several Leevers-Rich models.<ref name="rfwilmut" />

The Studer range of machines had become the studio recording industry standard by the 1970s, gradually replacing the aging BTR2s in recording rooms and studios. By the mid-2000s tape was pretty well out of use and had been replaced by digital playout<ref>[http://rfwilmut.net/broadcast/recording8.html Web page about digital playout]</ref> systems.<ref>Information in this section from 'BBC Engineering 1922-1972' by Edward Pawley, p387ff and 488ff plus personal experience.</ref>

=== Standardized products ===
The typical professional audio tape recorder of the early 1950s used {{cvt|1/4|in|mm|0}} wide tape on {{cvt|10+1/2|in|cm}} reels, with a capacity of {{cvt|2400|ft|m}}. Typical speeds were initially {{cvt|15|in/s|cm/s|1}} yielding 30 minutes' recording time on a {{cvt|2400|ft|m}} reel. Early professional machines used single-sided reels but double-sided reels soon became popular, particularly for domestic use. Tape reels were made from metal or transparent plastic.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}

Standard tape speeds varied by factors of two: 15 and {{nowrap|30 in/s}} were used for professional audio recording; {{cvt|7+1/2|in/s|cm/s|1}} for home audiophile prerecorded tapes; {{cvt|7+1/2|and|3+3/4|in/s|cm/s|1}} for audiophile and consumer recordings (typically on {{cvt|7|in|cm|0}} reels). {{cvt|1+7/8|in/s|cm/s}} and occasionally even {{cvt|15/16|in/s|cm/s}} and {{cvt|15/32|in/s|cm/s}} were used for voice, dictation, and applications where very long recording times were needed, such as logging police and fire department calls.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}

The [[8-track tape]] standard, developed by [[Bill Lear]] in the mid-1960s, popularized consumer audio playback in automobiles in the USA. Eventually, this standard was replaced by the smaller and more reliable [[Compact Cassette]], which was launched earlier in 1963.

[[File:Recordr tape.jpg|thumb|[[Compact cassette]]]]
[[Philips]]'s development of the Compact Cassette in 1963 and [[Sony]]'s development of the [[Walkman]] in 1979<ref>[http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/CorporateInfo/History/sonyhistory-e.html#tps-l2 First Sony Walkman introduced]</ref> led to widespread consumer use of magnetic audio tape. In 1990, the Compact Cassette was the dominant format in mass-market recorded music.<ref>[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE7DF123AF932A35757C0A966958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all Recording Enters a New Era, And You Can't Find It on LP]</ref>{{failed verification|reason=Article is about the demise of vinyl. Cassette was the most popular format at the time this was written (1990) - "For every album sold last year, six compact disks and 13 recorded cassettes were sold."|date=November 2020}} The development of [[Dolby noise reduction]] technology in the 1960s brought audiophile-quality recording to the Compact Cassette also contributing to its popularity.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}

== Later developments ==
Since their first introduction, analog tape recorders have experienced a long series of progressive developments resulting in increased sound quality, convenience, and versatility.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}

* Two-track and, later, multi-track heads permitted discrete recording and playback of individual sound sources, such as two channels for [[stereophonic sound]], or different microphones during live recording. The more versatile machines could be switched to record on some tracks while playing back others, permitting additional tracks to be recorded in synchronization with previously recorded material such as a rhythm track.
* Use of separate heads for recording and playback (three heads total, counting the erase head) enabled monitoring of the recorded signal a fraction of a second after recording. Mixing the playback signal back into the record input also created a primitive [[Delay (audio effect)|echo generator]]. The use of separate record and play heads allowed each head to be optimized for its purpose rather than the compromise design required for a combined record/play head. The result was an improved signal-to-noise plus an extended frequency response.
* Dynamic range compression during recording and expansion during playback expanded the available dynamic range and improved the signal-to-noise ratio. [[dbx (company)|dbx]] and [[Dolby Laboratories]] introduced add-on products in this area, originally for studio use, and later in versions for the consumer market. In particular, [[Dolby B]] noise reduction became very common in all but the least expensive cassette tape recorders.
[[File:OpenReel-GMS204.jpg|thumb|Solidyne GMS200 tape recorder with computer self-adjustment. Argentina 1980–1990]]
* Computer-controlled analog tape recorders were introduced by Oscar Bonello in Argentina.<ref>"A new tape transport system with digital control", Oscar Bonello, Journal of Audio Engineering Society, Vol 31 # 12, December 1983</ref> The mechanical transport used three DC motors and introduced two new advances: automated microprocessor transport control and automatic adjustment of bias and [[frequency response]]. In 30 seconds the recorder adjusted its bias for minimum [[Total harmonic distortion|THD]] and best frequency response to match the brand and batch of magnetic tape used. The microprocessor control of transport allowed fast location to any point on the tape.<ref>"Grabador Magnético profesional controlado por microprocesador", Rev Telegráfica Electrónica, Julio-Agosto de 1982</ref>

==Operation==
=== Electrical ===
Due to [[electromagnetism]], [[electric current]] flowing in the coils of the tape head creates a fluctuating magnetic field. This causes the magnetic material on the tape, which is moving past and in contact with the head, to align in a manner proportional to the original signal. The signal can be reproduced by running the tape back across the tape head, where the reverse process occurs – the magnetic imprint on the tape [[Faraday's law of induction|induces]] a small current in the read head which approximates the original signal and is then amplified for playback. Many tape recorders are capable of recording and playing back simultaneously by means of separate record and playback heads.<ref>{{cite book | last=Hurtig | first=B. | title=Multi-Track Recording for Musicians | publisher=Alfred Music Publishing | isbn=978-1-4574-2484-7 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ByJG1iwUHBAC&pg=PA7 | access-date=2024-08-09 | page=7}}</ref>

[[File:TG1000.ogv|thumb|Tape deck in operation]]

=== Mechanical ===
Modern professional recorders usually use a three-motor scheme. One motor with a constant rotational speed drives the [[Capstan (tape recorder)|capstan]]. Usually combined with a rubber pinch roller, it ensures that the tape speed does not fluctuate. The other two motors, which are called torque motors, apply equal and opposite torques to the supply and take-up reels during recording and playback functions and maintain the tape's tension. During fast winding operations, the pinch roller is disengaged and the take-up reel motor produces more torque than the supply motor. The cheapest models use a single motor for all required functions; the motor drives the capstan directly and the supply and take-up reels are loosely coupled to the capstan motor with slipping belts, gears, or clutches.  There are also variants with two motors, one motor being used for the capstan and one for driving the reels for playback, rewind, and fast forward.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}

[[File:RadioShack-ctr-119.jpg|thumb|A typical portable desktop cassette recorder from [[RadioShack]].]]

== Limitations ==
The storage of an [[analog signal]] on tape works well but is not perfect. In particular, the granular nature of the magnetic material adds high-frequency noise to the signal, generally referred to as [[tape hiss]]. Also, the magnetic characteristics of tape are not [[linear]]. They exhibit a characteristic [[hysteresis]] curve, which causes unwanted [[distortion]] of the signal. Some of this distortion is overcome by using inaudible high-frequency [[AC bias]] when recording. The amount of bias needs careful adjustment for best results as different tape material requires differing amounts of bias. Most recorders have a switch to select this.{{efn|In a cassette recorder, bias settings are selected automatically based on cutouts in the cassette shell.}} Additionally, systems such as [[Dolby noise reduction system]]s have been devised to ameliorate some noise and distortion problems.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}

Variations in tape speed cause [[Wow (recording)|wow]] and [[Flutter (electronics and communication)|flutter]]. Flutter can be reduced by using dual capstans.{{citation needed|date=June 2021}} The higher the flutter the more noise that can be heard causing the quality of the recording to be worse.<ref name=":0" /> Higher tape speeds used in professional recorders are prone to cause ''head bumps'', which are fluctuations in low-frequency response.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.aes.org/e-lib/browse.cfm?elib=11855 |title=Equalizing Tape Recorder Head Bumps |last=Dugan |first=Dan|date=October 1982 }}</ref>

== Tape recorder variety ==
[[File:Otari MX-80.JPG|thumb|Otari MX-80 24-track with 2-inch reels]]
There is a wide variety of tape recorders in existence, from small hand-held devices to large [[multitrack recording|multitrack]] machines. A machine with built-in speakers and audio power amplification to drive them is usually called a ''tape recorder'' or – if it has no record functionality – a ''tape player'', while one that requires external amplification for playback is usually called a ''tape deck'' (regardless of whether it can record).{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}

Multitrack technology enabled the development of modern [[art music]] and one such artist, [[Brian Eno]], described the tape recorder as "an automatic musical collage device."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tamm |first=Eric |title=Brian Eno : his music and the vertical color of sound |date=1989 |publisher=Faber and Faber |isbn=0-571-12958-7 |location=Boston |oclc=18870418}}</ref>

== Uses ==
[[File:Klaudia Wilde WDR Archiv.jpg|thumb|Klaudia Wilde from the German [[Westdeutscher Rundfunk|WDR]] radio archive with a broadcast tape from 1990. This is a center hub with only a very short length of tape wound round it.]]
[[File:Tape editing.jpg|thumb|Editing magnetic tape]]
Magnetic tape brought about sweeping changes in both radio and the recording industry. Sound could be recorded, erased and re-recorded on the same tape many times, sounds could be duplicated from tape to tape with only minor loss of quality, and recordings could now be very precisely edited by physically cutting the tape and rejoining it. In August 1948, Los Angeles-based Capitol Records became the first recording company to use the new process.<ref>"The Capitol Story – A Decade of Growth and Success." ''Billboard'', 2 August 1952</ref>

Within a few years of the introduction of the first commercial tape recorder, the Ampex 200 model, launched in 1948, the [[History of multitrack recording|invention of the first multitrack tape recorder]], brought about another technical revolution in the recording industry. Tape made possible the first sound recordings totally created by electronic means, opening the way for the bold sonic experiments of the [[Musique Concrète]] school and avant-garde composers like [[Karlheinz Stockhausen]], which in turn led to the innovative [[pop music]] [[Recording studio as an instrument|studio-as-an-instrument]] recordings of artists such as [[Frank Zappa]], [[the Beatles]], and [[the Beach Boys]]. Philips advertised their reel-to-reel recorders as an audial family album and pushed families to purchase these recorders to capture and relive memories forever. But the use for recording music slowly but steadily rose as the main function for the tape recorder.<ref>{{Citation |last1=Bijsterveld |first1=Karin |title=Storing Sound Souvenirs: The Multi-Sited Domestication of the Tape Recorder |date=2009 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt45kf7f.6 |work=Sound Souvenirs |pages=25–42 |editor-last=Bijsterveld |editor-first=Karin |series=Audio Technologies, Memory and Cultural Practices |publisher=Amsterdam University Press |isbn=978-90-8964-132-8 |access-date=2022-04-16 |last2=Jacobs |first2=Annelies |jstor=j.ctt45kf7f.6 |editor2-last=van Dijck |editor2-first=José}}</ref>

Tape enabled the radio industry for the first time to pre-record many sections of program content such as advertising, which formerly had to be presented live, and it also enabled the creation and duplication of complex, high-fidelity, long-duration recordings of entire programs. It also, for the first time, allowed broadcasters, regulators and other interested parties to undertake comprehensive logging of radio broadcasts for legislative and commercial purposes, leading to the growth of the modern [[media monitoring]] industry.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}

Innovations, like [[multitrack recording]] and [[tape echo]], enabled radio programs and advertisements to be pre-produced to a level of complexity and sophistication that was previously unattainable and tape also led to significant changes to the pacing of program content, thanks to the introduction of the [[endless tape cartridge]].{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}

While they are primarily used for [[sound recording]], tape machines were also important for data storage before the advent of [[floppy disk]]s and [[CD]]s, and are still used today, although primarily to provide [[backup]].{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}

== Tape speeds ==
Professional decks will use higher tape speeds, with 15 and 30&nbsp;inches per second being most common, while lower tape speeds are usually used for smaller recorders and cassette players, in order to save space where fidelity is not as critical as in professional recorders.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Kuhn |first=Wolfgang |date=1953 |title=Magnetic Tape Recorders |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3387651 |journal=Music Educators Journal |volume=39 |issue=3 |pages=40 |doi=10.2307/3387651 |jstor=3387651 |s2cid=144400351 |issn=0027-4321|url-access=subscription }}</ref> By providing a range of tape speeds, users can trade-off recording time against recording quality with higher tape speeds providing greater frequency response.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Reels |first=R. X. |title=Ultimate Guide for Reel to Reel Tape Players |url=https://rxreels.com/blogs/news/h1-ultimate-guide-for-reel-to-real-tape-players-h1 |access-date=2024-06-11 |website=RX Reels |language=en}}</ref>

There are many tape speeds in use in all sorts of tape recorders. Speed may be expressed in centimeters per [[second]] (cm/s) or in [[inches per second]] (in/s).{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}

{| class="wikitable"
|+Common tape speeds
|-
! {{nowrap|cm/s}}
! {{nowrap|in/s}}
! Usage
|-
| 1.2
| {{frac|15|32}}<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.martelelectronics.com/taperecorderterms.htm |title=Martel Electronics. ''Terms commonly used for Tape Recorder. Tape Recorder Speed.'' |access-date=26 April 2008 |archive-date=1 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120301195718/http://www.martelelectronics.com/taperecorderterms.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>
| Found on some Microcassette pocket dictaphones
|-
| 2.4
| {{frac|15|16}}
| Microcassette standard speed; Cassettes issued by the National Library Service For The Blind And Physically Handicapped
|-
| 4.75
| {{frac|1|7|8}}
| Standard for Cassette tape. Common on portable reel-to-reel machines
|-
| 9.5
| {{frac|3|3|4}}
|Lower speed, common on full-size reel-to-reel and some portable machines
|-
| 19
| {{frac|7|1|2}}
| Common on full-size reel-to-reel machines
|-
| 38
| 15
|Higher end of [[wikt:prosumer#Etymology 2|prosumer]] machines, lower end of professional machines
|-
| 76
| 30
|Highest end of professional reel-to-reel machines
|}

==Inventory==
{{Gallery
| title        = Tape formats
| align        = center
| File:8track inside.JPG
 | [[8-track tape]]
| File:Side A, TDK D-C60 20041220.jpg
 | [[Compact audio cassette]]
| File:Digital_Compact_Cassette_front.jpg
 | [[Digital Compact Cassette]]
| File:CassetteAndMicrocassette.jpg
 | [[Microcassette]]
| File:Dat cartridge.jpg
 | [[Digital Audio Tape]] (DAT)
| File:Sony LC-90 Elcaset.jpg
 | [[Elcaset]]
 | alt6=Size comparison of Elcaset (left) with standard Compact Cassette
| File:Magtape1.jpg
 | [[Reel-to-reel audio tape recording]]
| File:RCA Quarter Inch Tape Cartridge 2A (cropped).png
 | [[RCA tape cartridge]]
}}

{{Gallery
| title        = Recorders
| align        = center
| File:TeacTopCassetteDeck.jpg
 | [[Cassette deck]]
| File:VHS head drum 2.jpg
 | [[Helical scan]]
| File:D Reichhalter 1951 W102 Geraet offen.jpg
 | [[Wire recording]]
}}

== See also ==
* [[Audio tape specifications]] – Details of different audio tape formats
* [[Bootleg recording]]
* [[Dictation machine]]
* [[Electronic music]]
* {{slink|History of sound recording|Magnetic recording}} – Magnetic tape in the context of the history of sound recording
* [[Multitrack recording]] – Advanced usage of sophisticated tape recorders
* [[Preservation of magnetic audiotape]]
* [[Reel-to-reel audio tape recording]] – Details of using old-style recorders
* [[Sound follower]] – For film
* [[Video tape recorder]]
* {{slink|Volta Laboratory and Bureau|Sound recording and phonograph development}}

== Explanatory notes ==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{refbegin}}
{{refend}}
This article incorporates text from the [[Smithsonian Contributions and Studies Series|United States National Museum Bulletin]], a government publication in the public domain.

==External links==
{{commons category|Tape recorders}}
* [http://museumofmagneticsoundrecording.org Museum of Magnetic Sound Recording]
* A [https://www.h2g2.com/approved_entry/A3224936 History of Magnetic Recording]BBC/H2G2 [https://www.h2g2.com/approved_entry/A3224936]
* [http://www.richardhess.com/tape/history/Engel_Hammar--Magnetic_Tape_History.pdf ''A Selected History of Magnetic Recording'']
* [http://www.richardhess.com/tape/history/Engel--Walter_Weber_2006.pdf ''Walter Weber's Technical Innovation at the Reichs-Rundfunk-Gesellschaft'']
* {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100312213800/http://history.sandiego.edu/GEN/recording/notes.html#tape |date=20100312213800 |title=Timeline from U of San Diego's Archive}}
* {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040603152849/http://www.tvhandbook.com/History/History_recording.htm |date=2004-06-03 |title=History of Recording Technology}}
* {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040603153341/http://www.tvhandbook.com/History/History_tape.htm |date=2004-06-03 |title=History of Magnetic Tape}}
* Description of the [http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/audio/tape.html recording process] with diagrams. [http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/audio/tape2.html pg. 2], [http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/audio/tape3.html pg. 3], [http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/audio/tape4.html pg. 4], [http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/audio/tape5.html pg. 5].
* [http://rfwilmut.net/broadcast/recording.html Recording at the BBC] – a brief history of various sound recording methods used by the BBC.

{{Music technology}}
{{Authority control}}

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