Master Reels

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Originally Posted by SapphireSister

I already asked this question I think but can somebody please explain what a master reel is? How is it different from other outtakes/demos?

It's a reel-to-reel tape that was produced in the studio. A 'master' copy if you will, from which other copies would be made. Some masters are complete mixes, while other masters contain the components of mixes, like the vocal, or the drum tracks.

The poor-quality demos that we hear today were often sourced from masters, but the quality degraded over time from copies being made of copies.

In 2003ish, a stash of reel-to-reels was 'discovered' (this is up for debate - the guy selling them was named Chris) and sold on eBay to a single individual, who personally incurred the expense of storing them and converting them to digital CDs. They were made available via purchase to a network of fans, who traded them amongst each other.