Tape Music

Tape music emerged in the 1950s, largely the brainchild of avant-garde composers who fancied themselves audio magicians, crafting sounds by manipulating magnetic tape instead of purely playing instruments. Characterised by the use of loops, tape splicing, and various sound collaging tricks, it sounds a bit like a sonic puzzle where you’re not quite sure if the pieces fit or if the artist just had a very odd afternoon in a sound studio. Interestingly, it paved the way for numerous modern genres, and let’s be honest, it’s probably cleaned up quite a few parties when someone decided to play their tape collection instead of the usual pop drivel.