Before the introduction of magnetic tape for mastering, disc recording was done "live" (see direct to disc recording), although sometimes intermediate disc-to-disc editing procedures were involved. Before acetate discs were adopted for the purpose, the master recording was cut into a disc of wax-like material that was too soft to be played non-destructively and had to be electroplated to produce a metal stamper, which was in turn used to make playable pressings. Acetate blanks allowed high-quality playable records to be produced "instantaneously".