"Reel-to-Reel" Premium Unisex T-Shirt

The Technology Was German. The Americans Found It After the War. Bing Crosby Funded the First Commercial Machine Because He Didn't Want to Do Live Radio.

Magnetic tape recording was developed in Germany in the 1930s. The AEG Magnetophon was the machine; it ran in German radio stations and recording studios through the war. In 1945, a US Army Signal Corps officer named Jack Mullin captured two Magnetophon machines and 50 reels of tape and shipped them home. He demonstrated them to the Institute of Radio Engineers in Hollywood in 1946. Bing Crosby was in the audience.

Crosby wanted to pre-record his radio shows — NBC forbade it, insisting on live broadcast, and Crosby found the schedule exhausting. Tape made pre-recording possible at a quality indistinguishable from live. He funded Ampex Corporation to build the first American professional tape machine, the Ampex 200, which delivered in 1948. The first commercially pre-recorded radio program in America was Bing Crosby's show. The machines that followed — the Ampex 350, the Studer A80, the MCI JH-24 — are the machines on which the canonical recordings of the 20th century were made.

Professional studios ran tape at 15 or 30 inches per second on 10.5-inch NAB reels. Faster speed meant better frequency response and lower noise. 30 IPS was the standard for final masters. Editing was physical: a razor blade cut the tape, adhesive splice tape held it together. A bad edit was irreversible unless you kept the trimmed piece. Every assembled performance, every removed mistake, every crossfade between takes — someone had held the tape and cut it by hand.

The format never fully disappeared. Half-inch two-track at 30 IPS is still a mastering medium in high-end studios. The reels are beautiful because what's on them is irreplaceable.

This tee is for the machines and the tape and the people who understand what runs through them.

Premium Quality

• Bella + Canvas 3001 — Premium unisex tee, true to size
• Airlume combed and ring-spun cotton — Exceptionally soft from the first wear
• Classic unisex fit — Relaxed, versatile, works for everyone
• Available in White and Silver — Sizes XS–4XL

Made to Order

For environmental and quality reasons, this tee is made specifically for you after you order. Please allow approximately one week for production. Tracking information will be sent as soon as it ships.