Tape

What it means

Tape is a strip of plastic coated with a magnetizable layer, on which sound is recorded. It became widespread in the middle of the twentieth century and fundamentally changed the handling of music, because it allowed sound to be stored, cut, reversed, changed in speed, and layered. In scores, the indication “tape” designates a pre-produced sound part that is played in during the performance.

Musical use

For composition, tape meant a new level of material: recorded noises and sounds themselves become material that can be worked on — the basis of musique concrète and electronic music. With this, for the first time, a music became possible that is no longer mediated through notation and performers but exists directly as sound. Also widespread are works for instruments and tape, in which live playing and playback meet. Today digital methods take over these tasks; the works remain, and with them the question of how historical tape materials are preserved and reproduced.

Performance practice

With works involving playback, clarify beforehand the technology, loudspeaker placement, and volume relationships; they belong to interpretation and not to technology alone. Practise with the playback, not only with the notated text, for the tape dictates the tempo relentlessly and allows no adjustment. Fix unambiguous entry points and rehearse the starting. Check the condition of old recordings in good time and keep a checked copy ready. Expect differences between the rehearsal room and the performance space.

The WDR Studio for Electronic Music in Cologne, founded in 1951 by Werner Meyer-Eppler, Robert Beyer, and Herbert Eimert, worked with tape technology from the outset; loops made from spliced tape loops were an early means of repetition. Stockhausen's Gesang der Jünglinge (1955/56) is a central work for tape. Also check whether the playback exists at the intended sample rate, because otherwise pitch and duration will deviate.