The Challenges of Using Reel-to-Reel Tape Recorders

A story about the difficulties faced by a student trying to use a reel-to-reel tape recorder in school.

There was a hitch, though. My father, a serious audiophile, refused to allow his copy of the Carlos album to be ravaged by the school’s record player. He offered to make a recording of “Switched-On Bach” on his reel-to-reel tape recorder . Did the school have one of those? The next day, the teacher confirmed that they did, but she warned that she didn’t know how to operate it. That would be up to me.

My father gave me a tutorial on his TEAC at home, but when my turn came in class—after every other kid had played their selection on vinyl—I could not make the school’s reel-to-reel machine work properly. The music came out accelerated, as if performed by Alvin and the Chipmunks. I crumpled with embarrassment as my classmates laughed. A simpler solution existed, of course: the cassette tape. Shaped like a deck of cards (or a pack of cigarettes), the cassette was cheap, portable, easy to use, and eminently shareable. A cassette could live in the footwell of the family car or the bottom of your backpack. But it was also looked down upon by audiophiles like my fathe

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Reel-To-Reel Tape Recorder Cassette Tape Audiophile Embarrassment Music

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