Illustrated Histories of Various Recording Technologies
April 22, 2008 1:25 PM Subscribe
Oh yes I like this post.
Just today I was reflecting on the awesomeness of recording technology over the years.
I found a rare/homebrew tape in a pile of them next to a boombox. I got a hankering to rip it to mp3. I pulled out my little cheap but awesome flash based player, which has a line in and patch cable. Pop in the tape, stick the patch cable in the headphone jack, hit play and record, and 60 minutes later I have a decent digital recording of a mostly dead media. So awesome.
It could be any number of things that I could record it on that way. I could archive a gramaphone or wax cylinder through the mic, or off any FM signal from the built in radio. The damn thing is nearly the size of a zippo, and weighs less. Heck, I think it might cost less than a fancy Zippo. It sure is smaller than a Compact Cassette tape, or a CD case.
Oh, hell no I don't miss carrying around a portable cassette player and huge box of tapes.
posted by loquacious at 1:53 PM on April 22, 2008
Just today I was reflecting on the awesomeness of recording technology over the years.
I found a rare/homebrew tape in a pile of them next to a boombox. I got a hankering to rip it to mp3. I pulled out my little cheap but awesome flash based player, which has a line in and patch cable. Pop in the tape, stick the patch cable in the headphone jack, hit play and record, and 60 minutes later I have a decent digital recording of a mostly dead media. So awesome.
It could be any number of things that I could record it on that way. I could archive a gramaphone or wax cylinder through the mic, or off any FM signal from the built in radio. The damn thing is nearly the size of a zippo, and weighs less. Heck, I think it might cost less than a fancy Zippo. It sure is smaller than a Compact Cassette tape, or a CD case.
Oh, hell no I don't miss carrying around a portable cassette player and huge box of tapes.
posted by loquacious at 1:53 PM on April 22, 2008
I love my MiniDisc player/ recorder. I never use it anymore, but man did I ever embrace the hell out of that technology. It fit perfectly between cassettes and MP3s for me; I didn't have a CD burner for years, and even after I did get one, my MiniDisc player was a fraction of the size of a portable CD player.
It was awesome.
I still have it, in fact, just in case I need to do some high(ish) end recording.
posted by quin at 2:02 PM on April 22, 2008
It was awesome.
I still have it, in fact, just in case I need to do some high(ish) end recording.
posted by quin at 2:02 PM on April 22, 2008
yhbc - 1600 recordings, not hits. 500 million units sold.
posted by joseph_elmhurst at 2:07 PM on April 22, 2008
posted by joseph_elmhurst at 2:07 PM on April 22, 2008
this post rocks. can't wait to explore in more depth. thanks!
posted by saulgoodman at 2:14 PM on April 22, 2008
posted by saulgoodman at 2:14 PM on April 22, 2008
actually, now that i've had a chance to peruse a little more, i'm noticing there's not a whole lot of detail about the rise of affordable home studio technology (like consumer grade cassette tape or reel-to-reel four-trackers and eight-trackers, like the antares eight-track machine popular with early indie bands like american analog set, etc.)--since a lot of the early development of indie rock was fueled by the easy availability of cheap analog multi-track recorders, it'd be nice to see a little more about the development of those technologies, unless it's there somewhere already and i just overlooked it.
still, good stuff.
posted by saulgoodman at 2:26 PM on April 22, 2008
still, good stuff.
posted by saulgoodman at 2:26 PM on April 22, 2008
An excellent compliment to this old chesnut, thanks carter.
posted by carsonb at 3:59 PM on April 22, 2008
posted by carsonb at 3:59 PM on April 22, 2008
Great post as always thanks carter. Tangentially, I was just looking through the Victor Animatograph collection.
posted by peacay at 4:24 PM on April 22, 2008
posted by peacay at 4:24 PM on April 22, 2008
No mention of the RCA videodisc (though it did say something about a cassette? Others will know more than I).
posted by IndigoJones at 5:16 PM on April 22, 2008
posted by IndigoJones at 5:16 PM on April 22, 2008
Fascinating.
posted by owhydididoit at 11:07 PM on April 23, 2008
posted by owhydididoit at 11:07 PM on April 23, 2008
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posted by joseph_elmhurst at 1:30 PM on April 22, 2008