Griswold Posted March 10, 2021 Share Posted March 10, 2021 Not exactly keyboard news but I thought many of us have spent countless hours forwarding & rewinding to learn our tunes. https://people.com/human-interest/lou-ottens-inventor-of-cassette-tapes-dead-at-94/ Quote Kurzweil Forte 7, PC3, PC4, Hydrasynth, Kronos 61, UltraNova, Rhodes, Clavinet D6, MiniMoog, GSI Burn, ELX112Ps, SpaceStation, Assorted Weapons Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zxcvbnm098 Posted March 10, 2021 Share Posted March 10, 2021 The patent royalties Philips brought in from the cassette must have been staggering, to say nothing of the compact disc. I was always surprised that some of my high school friends chose the car 8 track systems over cassette. To me it was far superior and obviously so for cassette. And of course I had a 4 track cassette recorder when those came, to say nothing of spending hours making just the right running mix tape. What a great format it was... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MathOfInsects Posted March 10, 2021 Share Posted March 10, 2021 I assume they tried the pencil thing to see if they could bring him back? Quote Now out! "Mind the Gap," a 24-song album of new material. www.joshweinstein.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElmerJFudd Posted March 10, 2021 Share Posted March 10, 2021 A decade at least of wow and flutter, hiss, degradation, rewinding, crazy attempts to repair and comparatively poor quality consumer copies of music. But convenient as all hell. It wouldn"t be as easy to make a recording or a copy of a recording or broadcast for many years, right? It was like freedom. Bring your LPs in the car, capture the latest hit off AM/FM radio, record your band practice, boot leg a live concert (remember that episode of What"s Happening with the Doobie Brothers?). Most of my youth was spent in the cassette era. So thank you sir for the memories. Early hand held digital recorders sounded like crap and getting them over to PC was a chore. Mini Disc was expensive and never took off. CD burning was single copy until CD-R. Then some players could read them and others not. It wouldn"t be really convenient to make a recording again until smart phones. Although SD card recorders and those with built in storage were a major improvement. Quote Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mate stubb Posted March 11, 2021 Share Posted March 11, 2021 I had several high fi cassette decks that did a pretty good job of maximizing what you could get out of a cassette. I think I dropped at least $700 in the 1970s on a BIC T4M - triple heads, dual capstan, metal tape compatible, Dolby B noise reduction, dual speed, manual bias adjustment. It was flat out to 19 kHZ, pretty amazing for cassette. Quote Moe --- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Docbop Posted March 11, 2021 Share Posted March 11, 2021 The portable Sony cassette deck every musician in the 70's I knew had was one of these with the speed control. I had a silver one as most I remember were. That speed control was great for tuning to out of tune recordings and for transcribing. Sure beat scratching the hell out of records. Plus the built in mic was great for live recording of rehearsals or bands in concert. Cassettes were a handy think back in the 70's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reezekeys Posted March 11, 2021 Share Posted March 11, 2021 This brought me back to the best machine I ever owned, this Pioneer. Those deep blue fluorescent meters were pretty awesome! Ferrochrome and CrO2 tape, three heads for off-the tape monitoring, "soft touch" servo & logic transport controls, etc. It sounded damn good (as best I can remember anyway!). For grins I searched it on Ebay just now... I can relive my memories for the small sum of only.... $870!! Wow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reezekeys Posted March 11, 2021 Share Posted March 11, 2021 How could I forget the TDC-55? This little guy predated the Walkman. It recorded in mono but thanks to the handy "music-speech" selector switch it could handle punishing SPLs. I'm pretty sure I saved a bunch of tapes after our house fire â haven't see them in a while though. I used this recorder at the 1979 Berkeley Jazz Festival to record Joni Mitchell's Mingus band (Herbie, Jaco, Don Alias and Tony Williams), and Weather Report's set as well. I also caught Sarah Vaughan sitting in with the Andy Bey band at a small jazz club in Greenwich Village called Boomer's. And of course I have some embarrassing tapes of myself too. Thanks, Lou Ottens! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElmerJFudd Posted March 11, 2021 Share Posted March 11, 2021 [video:youtube] Quote Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzpiano88 Posted March 11, 2021 Share Posted March 11, 2021 I remember my roommate in college spent his GSL loan (Guaranteed Student Stereo Loan) on a really expensive Nakamichi cassette deck. It sounded almost as good as his LPs and he would record them to cassette to preserve the LP physically. He would drown out the college marching band practicing daily a block away in the afternoons with Captain Beefheart, Oingo Boingo, or King Crimson depending on the mood. Good memories. Quote J a z z P i a n o 8 8 -- Yamaha C7D Montage M8x | CP300 | CP4 | SK1-73 | OB6 | Seven K8.2 | 3300 | CPSv.3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerrythek Posted March 11, 2021 Share Posted March 11, 2021 I assume they tried the pencil thing to see if they could bring him back? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerrythek Posted March 11, 2021 Share Posted March 11, 2021 The portable Sony cassette deck every musician in the 70's I knew had was one of these with the speed control. I had a silver one as most I remember were. That speed control was great for tuning to out of tune recordings and for transcribing. Sure beat scratching the hell out of records. Plus the built in mic was great for live recording of rehearsals or bands in concert. Cassettes were a handy think back in the 70's. Wasn't Superscope a Marantz brand? Loved those decks back in the day... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProfD Posted March 11, 2021 Share Posted March 11, 2021 It was bootleg a live concert (remember that episode of What"s Happening with the Doobie Brothers?). Most of my youth was spent in the cassette era. So thank you sir for the memories. "I'm going to jail and all I've got to show for it is a fat kid eating popcorn." On the heels of vinyl, I also spent most of my youth listening and recording to cassette tapes. Had a blast with it. Thanks for the invention and RIP Mr. Ottens. Quote PD "The greatest thing you'll ever learn, is just to love and be loved in return."--E. Ahbez "Nature Boy" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KuruPrionz Posted March 11, 2021 Share Posted March 11, 2021 In my closet there is a Tascam Portastudio 424 mkII. The bass player left it here on semi-permanent loan. It works well, by far one of the better 4 track cassette studios with XLR inputs. I've been buying NOS cassettes at thrift stores. So far I've got 3 Maxell XLII, 1 TDK CD Power, 1 TDK SA 90, 3 Radio Shack HD-90 and 4 TDK D90 cassettes, all unused in original wrappers. One of these days I'll pull out the Tascam and fire it up. I used to have a Tascam 234 rack mount Portastudio and a 6 channel Tapco mixer, that was a fun little studio. I learned a lot working within the limits of a simple system like that. 4 tracks means you need collaborators if you are going to make a big sound. We are lucky to have such fantastic tools to work with now but a reminder of times gone by might be fun too. Quote It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mauriziodececco Posted March 11, 2021 Share Posted March 11, 2021 When i was in high school i financed the construction of my electronic instruments by repairing, between others, the portable Phillips cassette recorders; i got the service manual and i becamevquite good at it; for the other brands, the worse rubbish wasvthe Sanyo cassette recorders, a confused mass of wires. The german Grundig was a work of art and order Quote Nord Wave 2, Nord Electro 6D 61,, Rameau upright, Hammond Pro44H Melodica. Too many Arturia, NI and AAS plugins http://www.barbogio.org/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stoken6 Posted March 11, 2021 Share Posted March 11, 2021 I had several high fi cassette decks that did a pretty good job of maximizing what you could get out of a cassette. I think I dropped at least $700 in the 1970s on a BIC T4M - triple heads, dual capstan, metal tape compatible, Dolby B noise reduction, dual speed, manual bias adjustment. It was flat out to 19 kHZ, pretty amazing for cassette. The industrial design on that thing is something else - just beautiful. Cheers, Mike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muad’Dib Posted March 11, 2021 Share Posted March 11, 2021 Now a days, some people are using cassette tapes, for tape loops. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markay Posted March 11, 2021 Share Posted March 11, 2021 Now a days, some people are using cassette tapes, for tape loops. Only because the then unwanted artifacts of wow and flutter are now considered to be a special feature of analogue. Just like vinyl lovers figure that snap, crackle and pop surface noise adds a musical dimension that is missing from digital. Quote A misguided plumber attempting to entertain | MainStage 3 | Axiom 61 2nd Gen | Pianoteq | B5 | XK3c | EV ZLX 12P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muad’Dib Posted March 11, 2021 Share Posted March 11, 2021 Now a days, some people are using cassette tapes, for tape loops. Only because the then unwanted artifacts of wow and flutter are now considered to be a special feature of analogue. Just like vinyl lovers figure that snap, crackle and pop surface noise adds a musical dimension that is missing from digital. Ah! But of course! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miden Posted March 11, 2021 Share Posted March 11, 2021 In my closet there is a Tascam Portastudio 424 mkII. The bass player left it here on semi-permanent loan. It works well, by far one of the better 4 track cassette studios with XLR inputs. I've been buying NOS cassettes at thrift stores. So far I've got 3 Maxell XLII, 1 TDK CD Power, 1 TDK SA 90, 3 Radio Shack HD-90 and 4 TDK D90 cassettes, all unused in original wrappers. One of these days I'll pull out the Tascam and fire it up. I used to have a Tascam 234 rack mount Portastudio and a 6 channel Tapco mixer, that was a fun little studio. I learned a lot working within the limits of a simple system like that. 4 tracks means you need collaborators if you are going to make a big sound. We are lucky to have such fantastic tools to work with now but a reminder of times gone by might be fun too. Ahhh, the Portastudio - how many hits were first created on one of those! Quote There is no luck - luck is simply the confluence of circumstance and co-incidence... Time is the final arbiter for all things Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Docbop Posted March 11, 2021 Share Posted March 11, 2021 Wasn't Superscope a Marantz brand? Loved those decks back in the day... Yes, you are right I was looking for the Sony which was silver not black and that came up in the search. Marantz was a big name back then, probably my favorite stereo was a setup I had with a Marantz integrated amp (not a receiver). It lasted me over 20 years and until the power transistors died on one side. Finding replacement parts was a hard I just just gave to a repair guy I know to use for spare parts. That Marantz amp and my Pioneer half-track reel to reel were the heart of my system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Schmieder Posted March 11, 2021 Share Posted March 11, 2021 How strange: I thought I read his obit a month or two ago. Maybe it was a "death watch" article if he was in poor health. Anyway, he had a huge impact that is felt way beyond the analog age, as his notions transcended the specific medium of tape itself. Quote Eugenio Upright, 60th Anniversary P-Bass, USA Geddy Lee J-Bass, Yamaha BBP35, D'angelico SS Bari, EXL1, Select Strat, 70th Anniversary Esquire, LP 57, Eastman T486, T64, Ibanez PM2, Hammond XK4, Moog Voyager Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Schmieder Posted March 11, 2021 Share Posted March 11, 2021 For many of us, cassettes were how we recorded and reviewed every rehearsal, song idea, gig, etc. Whether in two-track mode or using multi-track Fostex, Tascam, or Alesis recorders. Quote Eugenio Upright, 60th Anniversary P-Bass, USA Geddy Lee J-Bass, Yamaha BBP35, D'angelico SS Bari, EXL1, Select Strat, 70th Anniversary Esquire, LP 57, Eastman T486, T64, Ibanez PM2, Hammond XK4, Moog Voyager Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baldwin Funster Posted March 11, 2021 Share Posted March 11, 2021 Rumors are that he got munched by his car stereo. Yeah I know, kind of a repeat of the pencil thing. Quote FunMachine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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