Tape Cassettes

[spoonie g]

tape was about portability, not sound quality. I think the key factor to look at is dynamic range, where theoretically, tape would be at the bottom, and cd's tops. However, the loudness wars have compressed the crap out of most recordings to the ceiling to where it sounds like crap compared to older recordings.

[Roy Brooks]

Here are a couple reasons why I think a band might make some cassettes of their music.

1. They own cassette recording equipment
2. They know other people who have cassette players

[RUExp?]

I never stopped listening to cassettes.

[TheFigurehead]

I hate cassettes.

Having lived through any number of formats, I choose digital. I get all the arguments for analog formats, especially vinyl, as it really does sound "best" to my ears, but having an iPod with 30k songs in the palm of my hands was a thing of wet dreams in 1980.

 

I've never had to clean my digital files, buy a new needle, replace an album because it was rendered unlistenable due to careless handling... the song I'm listening to doesn't pause in the middle to flip to the next bit on the other track, my computer has never eaten my tape, nor does it degrade the quality of the song every time I listen to it... I can record on my computer without having the results turned into moist ass because I recorded it on a piece of tape the width of a human hair at 1 inch per hour because I can only afford a {censored}ty Tascam 8 track... I don't have to worry about lending my albums out to have them ruined, or never returned, nor do I have to worry about handling anyone elses borrowed albums... I don't have to spend a whole day picking songs and matching levels to make a mix tape to listen to in my car, that I'll be bored of in a week... I don't have to find a way to physically store, organize, and arrange several thousand CD's, hundreds of records, and whatever cassettes I still have.

[letsgocoyote]

I think cassettes now have a special niche vibe , not unlike the fact that film makers still use Super 8 even though it looks 'terrible'

[Phil O'Keefe]

I know things are different over there... but here I don't think that's the case at all, I guess because we have the BBC playing to the whole country, most recent music I've found out about was because I heard them on the radio, last year Yuck were getting played 2 or 3 times a day on 'BBC6 music' and as a result I heard them and bought a ticket to go see them. I usually listen to Steve Lamacq's show everyday and Jarvis Cocker and Huey Morgan on a sunday when I can, it's my primary source for hearing good new (and old) music I didn't know about.

 

My wife is getting way more love from the BBC than she gets here in the States. She never tried to push it, but she keeps getting these contacts from various people over there who want to play her stuff... and it's all from songwriting demos we did about 17 years ago on a 1/2" 16 track - I guess that they heard on the web and liked it. That kind of stuff never happens over here. Most of the stations are owned by a few large corporations, and playlists are either talk radio or tightly controlled and they come down from on-high; the local program director can't even set their own playlists, much less the DJ or host of a show.

 

Then again, I live in what is known as a "major market" - maybe it would be different if I lived in a less populous region.

[HP Hovercraft]

I practically went from records to CDs. I bought maybe 20 or so tapes in their prime over two years or so. I had always preferred buying the vinyl then dubbing it. I did go CD-crazy starting in 1988.

 

Most of the stations are owned by a few large corporations, and playlists are either talk radio or tightly controlled and they come down from on-high; the local program director can't even set their own playlists, much less the DJ or host of a show.

 

RIP Indie 103.1

[McManus]

I guess it is part of our consumer culture where there is an appeal to what was slightly out of our reach when we were young. That toy your older cousin had. At the same time there are opportunities and options which were never available before. Music no longer needs a physical carrier. For some on this thread it is a loss while others see it as freedom.

[THAT4301]

Then again, I live in what is known as a "major market" - maybe it would be different if I lived in a less populous region.

 

If anything, that would be worse; you can get 10,000 people listening to niche stuff in a city radio station, no chance in a rural nowhere.

 

Do you guys have DAB yet?

[andthenurse]

I know things are different over there... but here I don't think that's the case at all, I guess because we have the BBC playing to the whole country, most recent music I've found out about was because I heard them on the radio, last year Yuck were getting played 2 or 3 times a day on 'BBC6 music' and as a result I heard them and bought a ticket to go see them. I usually listen to Steve Lamacq's show everyday and Jarvis Cocker and Huey Morgan on a sunday when I can, it's my primary source for hearing good new (and old) music I didn't know about.

This is how it was for us yoofs back in the late 70s/80s - listening to Peel on the Beeb, poised over the pause button. Cassettes back then were the only way many of us could easily access or afford music. Now, they're an audio cul-de-sac.


Stay alert for my band's upcoming release on wax cylinder - 'Cackamalla', byThe Concrete Donkeys

[HP Hovercraft]

I just remembered that I do have some friends that still buy cassettes. They have old cars with cassette players, and can get tons of old tapes for cheap. So I guess there is a market, if only a tiny one.

[amp_surgeon]

I just remembered that I do have some friends that still buy cassettes. They have old cars with cassette players, and can get tons of old tapes for cheap. So I guess there is a market, if only a tiny one.

 

 

We've got four cars like that at my house. My car, my wife's car, my daughter's car, and my step-son's car. Except for my step-son's car, they all have CD players, too. None of us use the cassette players to play cassettes. My daughter and step-son use cassette adapters and they plug in their phones and listen to MP3's or stream music. I listen to CD's or the radio.

 

I've got a dual cassette deck hooked up to the home theater system in my living room. It hasn't been turned on in probably 10 years.

[Phil O'Keefe]

This is how it was for us yoofs back in the late 70s/80s - listening to Peel on the Beeb, poised over the pause button. Cassettes back then were the only way many of us could easily access or afford music. Now, they're an audio cul-de-sac. Stay alert for my band's upcoming release on wax cylinder - 'Cackamalla', byThe Concrete Donkeys

 

I remember those days well - listening to the DJ announce the upcoming songs and waiting for that new song I liked so much - with my finger resting on the pause button at the start of every song they'd play - ready to start rolling tape...

[janimarj]

 

I remember those days well - listening to the DJ announce the upcoming songs and waiting for that new song I liked so much - with my finger resting on the pause button at the start of every song they'd play - ready to start rolling tape...

 

 

... you press record, you're feeling great that you're finally getting the song on tape and then the DJ would start to talk on top of the song...

[melx]

I remember those days well - listening to the DJ announce the upcoming songs and waiting for that new song I liked so much - with my finger resting on the pause button at the start of every song they'd play - ready to start rolling tape...

 

... and then get annoyed when the DJ talked over the end..

[crohny]

Two reasons why this is happening. Tapes are obsolete so they are cheap as {censored}. You can find duplicators for super cheap. A friend of a friend just got some super high end duplicators for free from a church. Second, hipsters. /thread

[coloringpad]

Tape?

 

 

 

I liked making mix tapes. Fast forwarding: no.

[cathaya]

 

I remember those days well - listening to the DJ announce the upcoming songs and waiting for that new song I liked so much - with my finger resting on the pause button at the start of every song they'd play - ready to start rolling tape...

 

 

Back then, I'd sometimes just push record in the morning, set it to switch sides automatically and go to school - I'd listen to the 90 minutes it when I'd get home and hope that a song I'd liked was recorded. If it was, then I'd copy it to a tape of my favorite songs.

[Small Stone]

I remember those days well - listening to the DJ announce the upcoming songs and waiting for that new song I liked so much - with my finger resting on the pause button at the start of every song they'd play - ready to start rolling tape...

 

 

That was the illegal downloading of my youth. [o..o]

[caeman]

Honestly, I don't miss the days of analog tape. They were noisy. Heaven forbid one should snap inside your car stereo! I will take the dry sterility of CDs and MP3's off flash drives any day. I boxed up all my old tapes and put them up on a shelf in the garage. Someday, I may care enough to carry them to a used store and cash them for enough to buy me can of pop.