The Tape Loop That Made 'Money' Cha-Ching in 7/4 Time

For “Money,” Roger Waters and engineer Alan Parsons built a tape loop from scratch using coins, a cash register, and paper tearing sounds. They recorded each sound onto a small section of tape, then physically spliced those pieces together in a repeating pattern that matched the song’s 7/4 time signature.

The loop was cut to a precise length so that it cycled every seven beats at the song’s tempo. That way, the clinks and ker-chings land in the same spot each loop — the rhythmic pattern is literally carved into the tape. They ran it through a Binson Echorec and mixed it into the track, keeping the whole thing live and unquantized. That accidental swing is part of why it feels so off-kilter and perfectly funky.