See what is real and what is make believe

Magnetic tape wound on a wheel
Record and playback, reel-to-reel
Splice because it's not encased,
Shake the rust – it's bulk-erased.

And now a few thoughts on audiotape. It was, simply, everywhere. Thin, brownish-black strings of tape snaked its way up, down, and around every room of the radio station and often into every aspect of the student life. You discussed its measurements and width and movement in class, you practiced using it lab, and then you made it work – ready or not – on staff at the radio station.

The first format for magnetic tape sound reproduction was using reel-to-reel audio tape recording. In the audio profession, reels are the round, somewhat flat plastic or metal devices used to store and playback audiotape. The operator affixed the reel of tape to the spindle of the open reel-to-reel machine and then manually feed the tape over, under, or across the various knobs, rollers, and tape heads to the empty take-up reel. Correctly done, the tape would be pulled across the heads and sound would be produced.

Knowing how to use these machines was expected of practically everybody: Propel’s Introduction course first presented the medium to students and LeMeck’s Advanced course would build from that with topics of tape speed, tape thickness, reverberation, and the anxiety of splicing. After these two required courses students rarely used audiotape reels unless they spent their time working at the radio station. Every audio production room in the Communication Building had one of these open-reel machines, so named because the reels of tape were “open” instead of closed within the confines of a cassette cartridge. Another such device was found in the radio station’s main studio; here the DJ might use the machine to air a lengthy public affairs program.

Students often pointed out that the concept of audiotape was nearing the apogee of antiquation. Why, with all the rage of digital devices, should we be taught how to use the outdated analog equipment? Easy enough, the faculty responded: money. The newest and best digital toys were often so expensive that only certain big market stations could afford them. Not everybody graduates and immediately takes a job at these major market station, but, instead, usually gets their feet wet at middle market stations or, perhaps, at that 900 watt-job out west of the middle of nowhere that’s never heard of digital (those stations, Propel joked, played country music). Those stations, so went this theory, would not have had the resources to purchase the digital equipment and would still be using reel-to-reel machines. Therefore it wouldn’t bode well for a newly graduated radio station employee to not know how to use the most basic of equipment. While that is a somewhat exaggerated theory, the more important reason was to instill students with the fundamentals. If by splicing audiotape the student gained a better understanding of multi-track recording, chances are they would better understand the concept when they had to use a computer to perform a similar task.

Using open-reel machines could be fun, such as when you created echo or reverberation effects with the output. The biggest headaches came from splicing the tape – marking it properly and cutting the tape to remove an unwanted noise and then fastening it back together. It took practice but soon we all mastered the moves. That is, most of us mastered it. During my junior year that Spadowski kid couldn’t reel the thread...I mean, thread the reel.

Really. And he would be graduating at the end of that semester.

Really.

- - - - - - - - - - - -
Real
(Ronny Moorings)
Xymox
From the album Metamorphosis
1992

You sit in a garden
locked away from the world
find no reason to see your friends
everything you need is here
but your eyes are open
enough to see you said
all i read are memories
with a black line of love

you make me feel
real

see the hand in front of your face
and see what is real and what is make believe
would you run away to catch the ocean if it called you name ?
Everybody is looking for heaven on earth
and you believe to be bling
your mind is the watchman at the gate
faith is all you need

you make me feel
real
real