1" or 1/2" Audio Reels? - Information request?

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Newbie11

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Hello, I'm new here and was hoping someone here could help me out with something, I don't really know much about recording gear but recently bought some audio reels, they are listed as 1" reels, but I think by the looks of the boxes they are maybe 1/2" reels...

Anyway, what I wanted to know was, would a 1/2" audio reel (AMPEX 467), contain just the mixed down versions of a track we hear on say any normal CD, or would it contain multi-tracks, like Vocals, TV Mixes or Instrumental Mixes of the tracks? and does it need to be a very specific type of machine required to play these or are there really only a few different types of machines? (e.g. 1/4", 1/2" and 1" or are there machines for different multitracks etc etc)?

If anyone here can help please feel free to post or PM me?
Thanks
 
1/2" tape could be used in 2-track or 4/8/16 track recording...various brands of tape decks.

So like...why would you buy tapes if you don't know what/how/when...and since you don't seem to even have a tape deck?
 
Thanks for replying.. it was an auction of some very collectible master reels from an album from the 90's, so as a collector of the artist I thought it was maybe a good thing to own, but I'm curious to know what might be on the reels... I know what songs are on them, but would like to find out how to play these and how to find out if there are multiple tracks on them as the session sheets state TV Mix, Vocal Mix, Instrumental etc, does that mean there are multiple tracks on one reel or does that just mean that's what' been mixed down into the one track?

I'm not familiar with the process but would like to try to find out what exactly each reel contains, I'm curious?
 
Well, first figure out if they are 1/2" or 1"...then move on to track format ( 2-track or some multi-track).
If they are "masters"...I would guess they are most likely final, 2-track/stereo mixes.

Also...tape speed comes into play, but 15 ips or 30 ips would be the norm.

Isn't there any info with or on the tape boxes?
Most people would include something with their tapes for archiving purposes.
 
I see, so not very collectible then if it's just a track the same as what was put on the final CD?

Yeah all of the following various info is on various boxes...
"Master Mix Fixes"
"Master"
"Slave"
"48trk Digi Clone"
"LV Slave"
"Dig Reel"
"Dig Copy from Analoge"

I don't really know what any of that means?
Some of the reels have only 1 song listed on them and another few have around 6 titles on them with what looks like Time Markings beside each.. for example in this format ABS 00:00:00:00 and below that on each it states T.C. 00:00:00:00 (with different numbers for each, not 00, just using that as an example)?

Thanks!
 
Find a local studio that has a analog equipment and reel to reels and see if they can play them.
They could probably dump them all to CD for you if you really want it. Could very well be some bad takes on there...
 
Thanks... I've found out a little bit more, the auction house has told me they are infact 1/2" Digital Reels and NOT analog, so they said in order to play these I would need to find someone who can play a multitrack digital 1/2" reel, They said they are 48trk reels with a 30min capacity, some of which have used up all 30mins and the rest have only one or two songs on them... they also said because these are 48trk digital reels, they would need to be played through pro-tools...

Does this make any sense to anyone? I know pro-tools is like the multitrack editing software right that backs up mixes etc?, but does this help identify the name or type of machine I need to look for?
 
Newbie11 said:
Thanks... I've found out a little bit more, the auction house has told me they are infact 1/2" Digital Reels and NOT analog, so they said in order to play these I would need to find someone who can play a multitrack digital 1/2" reel, They said they are 48trk reels with a 30min capacity, some of which have used up all 30mins and the rest have only one or two songs on them... they also said because these are 48trk digital reels, they would need to be played through pro-tools...
Click to expand...

Good luck....

You need something like this:
Studer D827 MCH 48 Track Digital Tape Recorder | eBay

I think this is a format that is pretty much dead even in most pro studios...so probably not too many machines out there, but if you really need/want to hear what is on those tapes...start calling some of the bigger/pro studios in your area and see who can play 48-track digital tapes.
(They won't do it for free.)

My advice, put the tapes up on eBay...you might get a couple of bucks for them....maybe.
 
48 track? I didn't even know digital tape was ever really big in studios......I assumed ADAT was about the only thing out there that utilized that technology.
 
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