This article is a complete presentation of tape music techniques and aesthetics. From basic techniques like editing and splicing to synthesizers, the author explains how to use each technique. He also briefly analyses the main aesthetic problems: performance, listening, the use of aleatoric and complex structures and the role of time. A brief annotated bibliography completes the book.

Table of contents:

• Principles of tape recorders
• Principles of tape recording
• Composition using basic recording techniques
• Composition using basic tape editing techniques
• Compositing using two tape recorders
• Mixers
• Treatment devices: filtering, reverberation and variable speed control
• Composition with synthesizers
• Basic aesthetic considerations
• Setting up an electronic music studio