A set of electronic-music production techniques which existed prior to the advent of synthesizers, as well as a facility where these techniques were utilized. Tape studios arose shortly after WWII, when the first practical tape recorders became available (the Nazis had invented the tape recorder's predecessor, the wire recorder, shortly before the war), and persisted until about 1980. Tape studios fell out of favor in the 1980s as samplers which could do the job with far less trouble became more affordable.