Reel to Reel: From Dubious Beginnings in Nazi Germany to the Beatles and Beyond!

Note: this version fixes a couple audio glitches.

Welcome to Episode 2 of Season 2 of TSWS! I started putting this episode together thinking I’d move back to a little bit of technology and look at reel to reel tape recording, but as I got into it I found RTR’s back story is as interesting as the technology itself. So, today we will be looking at

• Where did the Reel to Reel tape deck come from
• What were it’s dark, even clandestine beginnings in WWII
• A smuggling operation that started an audio revolution

Resources:

• https://www.gearpatrol.com/tech/a569491/reel-to-reel-tape-players/
• https://digital-audio-systems.com/reel-to-reel-vs-digital-audio/?lang=en#:~:text=The%20digital%20files%20sounded%20lighter,even%20in%20the%20quietest%20passages.
• https://www.phaidon.com/agenda/design/articles/2019/september/12/the-starry-rise-of-magnetic-tape/
• https://rxreels.com/blogs/news/how-a-gi-brought-hitler-s-r2r-technology-to-bing-crosby-part-1
• https://rxreels.com/blogs/news/how-a-gi-brought-hitler-s-r2r-technology-to-bing-crosby-part-2
• https://www.grunge.com/919686/these-long-lost-adolf-eichmann-tapes-uncovered-some-disturbing-details/
• http://www.soundfan.it/en/history.html#:~:text=On%20April%2025%201948%20takes,for%20a%20delayed%20radio%20broadcast.
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tape_recorder
• https://www.amazon.com/Hi-fi-History-High-end-Design-Movements/dp/0714878081/ref=sr_1_1?crid=482K7UESS6JR&keywords=hi-fi+the+history+of+high-end+audio+design+gideon+schwartz&qid=1658079467&sprefix=Hi-Fi%3A+The+History+of+High-End+Audio+Design%2Caps%2C43&sr=8-1
• https://www.theregister.com/Print/2013/09/19/history_of_magnetic_tape_part_two/
• https://rxreels.com/blogs/news