Love Isn’t always rational. Witness magnetic tape. The analog technology, which uses a coating of iron oxide powder on a thin strip of plastic film to capture and store live audio, was commercially developed by the German company BASF in the 1930s. It quickly became ubiquitous in recording studios and reigned supreme until a quarter century ago, when it was relegated to boutique status by the rise of digital. The hiss of tape heads can't compete with a computer's crystal clarity, and bits don't degrade over time the way tape does (or require rewinding). Industry purists like D’Angelo and storied producer-performer Steve Albini (Big Black, Shellac) still swear by their reel-to-reel recorders. The sound of analog preamps running signal onto analog tape yields a natural compression that minimizes harsh transients and delivers a warmer sound. Many musicians also prefer analog's enforced discipline: the band must focus on its performance, as fixing mistakes on tape is laborious. And though tape has some nasty decomposition habits, the sounds can survive decades if the reels are properly stored—try retrieving a Pro Tools mix from 2004 and see how many of your plug-ins from that period still work. That an 80-year-old technology is still the format of choice for many of today's recordings is testimony to our love, irrational as it may be.
Indie rock pioneers Camper Van Beethoven (bassist Victor Krummenacher, far right) still swear by old-school magnetic tape.
Listen: Killer Tape Tracks
D’Angelo
Foo Fighters
Shellac
