MetaFilter posts tagged with 8-track

The Birotron: The Keyboard of the Future

40 Watt — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 12:14:06 -0800

In 1975, armed with a big pile of 8-track car stereos and a whole lot of moxie, Dave Biro set out to change the sound of rock music. He failed spectacularly. This is the fascinating and tragic story of one of the rarest instruments in rock music- The Birotron. Even if you don't recognize the name, you've probably heard the Mellotron. The Beatles, Pink Floyd, David Bowie, The Kinks and countless others featured the unusual sounds of the keyboard on many of the most recognizable songs in rock music. However, despite the popularity of the Mellotron, it wasn't without it's flaws- heavy, bulky, slow, and- most important to this post- limited to 8 seconds of sound per key before the tapes which made up the sounds needed rewinding. Dave Biro decided to improve upon the Mellotron, and by cramming all those 8-tracks in a case and wiring the whole mess together, he was able to create an instrument with virtually infinite sustain. Unfortunately, his timing was a bit off: 4 years after the first Birotron rolled off the line, the world's first polyphonic digital sampling synthesizer was introduced. That, plus some serious technical and quality control issues, was enough to kill off the Birotron after only a handful were made.

Television is furniture.

tellurian — Thu, 23 Mar 2006 23:16:24 -0800

Marcels TV Museum Quite why some are pictured on the lawn is not clear. Videos, cameras, radios and 8-tracks too. [via]

8-Track Heaven

Stan Chin — Sat, 15 Feb 2003 17:06:00 -0800

Wife Swapping Swingers Orgy Porgy Party: Married couples banging their way up the ladder, greedy for position and power, hungry for sex. (NSFW, also, rage-inducing VBScript pop-up) Ah, 8-Track Porn, sadly, no audio included. Explore the rest of 8-Track Heaven, including odd 8-track technology (check out the portable horse player), a gallery of players, the 8-track Hall Of Fame, and bootleg cart artwork. Do you still have any 8-tracks laying around? Wish you did? Don't worry, they still make them.