These Musicians Turn Obsolete Tape Decks Into Living Instruments - Yanko Design

"There's something wonderfully defiant about watching three musicians hunched over dusty reel-to-reel tape recorders, coaxing haunting melodies from technology most people consider obsolete. The Japanese trio Open Reel Ensemble isn't just playing vintage machines from the 1970s and 80s. They're rewriting the rules of what counts as a musical instrument, one spinning magnetic tape at a time. Their latest project, "Magnetic Folklore," feels less like a performance and more like a conversation with ghosts trapped in analog media."

"The group, composed of Ei Wada, Haruka Yoshida, and Masaru Yoshida, has been perfecting what they call "magnetikpunk" for years. It's a fitting name. Like cyberpunk imagined gritty futures through technology, magnetikpunk explores forgotten pasts through the warm hiss and physical presence of tape. The sound they create is ethereal and otherworldly, full of texture that digital production often scrubs away in pursuit of perfection."

"What makes their approach truly fascinating is how they've turned recording equipment into live performance instruments. These aren't simply tape playback devices. The ensemble has developed techniques to program sounds directly onto the recorders, switching individual tracks on multi-track machines on and off like notes on a guitar. They record blocks of sustained noise at various pitches, then trigger and disable them during performances to create intricate chords and melodies in real time."

Open Reel Ensemble transforms vintage reel-to-reel tape recorders into live performance instruments through a practice called magnetikpunk. The trio manipulates magnetic tape loops and bamboo bows to produce ethereal, textured sounds that contrast with digital clarity. They program sounds directly onto multi-track recorders, switching individual tracks on and off like guitar notes to generate chords and melodies in real time. The group records sustained noise blocks at varying pitches, then triggers and disables them during performances. One invented instrument, the JIGAKKYU, stretches magnetic tape across a bamboo bow to merge traditional folk aesthetics with analog technology.

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