Abstract: In a high speed magnetic tape duplicating system, a single master tape is wound around a transfer drum rotatable about a fixed axis. Longitudinal sections of two copy tapes are preferably urged against different sections of the master tape as it contacts the transfer drum using an air clamp, and a bias field magnetic transfer heads are used to carry out anhysteretic transfer from the master to the copy tapes. The transfer heads, mounted on translatable deck plates, may be retracted away from the transfer drum along with the master and copy tapes to facilitate threading, rewinding the master tape, and automatic transfer drum cleaning with a plurality of rollers. The method of the invention includes steps whereby the master tape may be automatically threaded to accommodate both shuttle and bin-loop modes of operation, and to detect damage to the master tape and halt further manufacturing operation of the duplicating system.