Walkman chic

never seen a minidisc last more than a year or two. they are completely worthless, and well in line with the fact that sony makes attractive design object products that are compelete shit on the insides...

I got a Rio Chiba ($60) recently for subway needs...cheap, expandable to 1Gig (who really needs more?), a little slow transfers, but worth every penny. did the walkman thing for the past two years.

john eden said:

Zang Tuum Tumb were KINGS of the cassingle.

(He says, talking to himself).

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I hear you - those FGTH cassette singles were the first music I ever purchased I think, not having yet got a turntable by that point (apart from the fisher price of course) the artwork was lavish for tape

Personally I can't wait for 80's nostalgia to end. Do we really have to return to battery-guzzling machines and tapes that get warped in the sun for the sake of fashion? I'll take my 10,000 songs in my pocket over that any day, while my dusty box of REM cassettes collects dusts in the basement

Last year when I was among the employed and went to work on the bus every morning, because of abject poverty I dug out my old walkman to listen to on the journey. As I hadn't used it since I was about 16 (circa 1995) all the tapes dated from back then too. Cue much uncomfortable musical nostalgia as 'Toys for Boys' by Marion and other such forgotten 'gems' performed a more than respectable job of reminding me exactly how I felt as a 16 year old. It was quite a fun game all in all though, the lack of inlay cards or description on the tapes turning it into a musical tombola... 'which formative moment am I going to be thrust back to tonight, Matthew?'

mind_philip said:

Last year when I was among the employed and went to work on the bus every morning, because of abject poverty I dug out my old walkman to listen to on the journey. As I hadn't used it since I was about 16 (circa 1995) all the tapes dated from back then too. Cue much uncomfortable musical nostalgia as 'Toys for Boys' by Marion and other such forgotten 'gems' performed a more than respectable job of reminding me exactly how I felt as a 16 year old. It was quite a fun game all in all though, the lack of inlay cards or description on the tapes turning it into a musical tombola... 'which formative moment am I going to be thrust back to tonight, Matthew?'

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That sounds mad. I think a lot of people's tapes do hark back to a particular era cos most people gave up on them when CDs arrived. Gutterbreakz did a few blog entries about unearthing tapes, didn't he?

I remember being a in a squat once where they had a pile of tapes in the middle of the room with no labels on - they just stuck a random tape on when the current one had finished. Hippies.

I like the way this thread has become as much about emotional responses as technological pros and cons/

I think what CD-Rs can't replicate is the ability to capture sound and allow instant replay. Sure tape gets chewed up and mangled, but then CD-Rs skip, get warped, tend to fuck up more frequently than factory pressed CDs, etc. Last year I listened to some Thin Lizzy tapes (all originals) from the 70s which my sister had bought as a teenager, and they all played fine.

Undeniably, there's still plenty of people who aren't benefiting from digital recording, either because they can't afford it or shy away from it, seeing it as too much hassle to install and operate. Which, unfortunately, means that for every new artist who cropped up 3 or 4 years ago, saturating mp3.com with their product and praising this 'revolutionary' new way of reaching a broader public than before, there'd be umpteen others struggling with 'outdated' means of production who'd never be heard. It's easy for people to slag a waste culture that demands constant mobile phone upgrades and the ditching of perfectly functioning computers, but even so, tapes have long been a stigma. Recently, I've been trying to make a tape to tape copy of a reggae cassette for a member on here, and have found it just as hard to borrow a machine as I did when I started buying Cds (I didn't have a CD player at first, and had to get someone to tape them for me).

It also seems that tapes would be preferable for those wishing to conduct experiments with cut-ups and even ritual music. Obviously , this isn't limited to tapes. One really interesting post I read on 'Dubversion' blog concerned putting various images into some sort of sonic programme, and producing odd noises that varied from JPEG to JPEG. But in cases like this, where digital finesse is not that necessary compared to the essence of capturing the moment, tapes win hand down.

I think we're effectively skipping a generation when it comes to home recording. standalone CD burners were never that big, really, for the reasons you mention - it was never as spontaneous as whacking in a tape and hitting record.

but there are already portable products out there, like the i-river, which can record audio straight to disk, and this kind of technology is only going to get cheaper. affordable, straighforward digital audio recording will soon be available to many more people, whether it be in the form of software or standalone hardware devices.

imagine if there were a big red button in itunes which you could press to record whatever signal you have playing through your computer - radio streams or external signals plugged into an input jack, for example. such programs exist, of course, but I think there needs to be some kind of integration with apps like itunes, so you don't have to go through the process of recording, moving the file, then converting to MP3.

most lovely ztt cassette single,
power of love frankie goes to hollywood. single in a wee cardboard box covered in hearts, impossible to get the cassette box back in afterwards, lovely snowy building on the cover, the power of love, and then them talking sweary bollocks.ace!
http://www.frankie-say.co.uk/mycollection80casssingle.htm

*frankie computer game oh my gosh!

ps anyone have that record by pete shelley, rushen production xl1 which had a zxspectrum game. you had to tape it off the vinyl onto a cassette and sync it up with the record

I've been up on this for a year! Written whilst temping in downtown Boston corporate offices:

Quick Fashion Note
Friday, June 11th, 2004
In reaction to the ubiquitous slim+trim mp3 players all over corporate America, I’ve taken to wearing an absurdly large tape/FM walkman on my belt. It makes me feel cyberpunk. Do this.

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stevienixed said:

Whatever. I never much cared for a minidisc. Have one which is gathering dust somewhere in the attic. Everyone I know who has a minidisc has had his/her minidisc break down at least once.

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I've had no problems with mine, and I've had it for years now... and it was even bought second hand. Well, the remote broke when I stepped on it, but no problems except for that. Still use my walkman as well.

hamarplazt said:

I've had no problems with mine, and I've had it for years now... and it was even bought second hand. Well, the remote broke when I stepped on it, but no problems except for that. Still use my walkman as well.

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is it a sharp one, the sharp ones are better than the sony ones,
i liked mine, had a stereo mic for it which was amazing and i used to record stuff, i'm interested in getting a hi-mini disc but no one i know has used one and i don't know if they are any good.

i listen to a lot of tapes mostly in my car. dont know if this is chic. lately i've been into Pet Shop Boys Actually, Monk Chants and an accidental dub version of <i>janet.</i>

mms said:

is it a sharp one, the sharp ones are better than the sony ones.

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It's a sony.

Showing that I am once again totally out of step I just recently got a minidisc so that I could record my mixes and stop listening to tapes in my car. I wonder why minidisc never got off the ground. They've been around since 1992 and are still the best portable music solution. You can record easily from any source and the media is cheap and rewritable.

I always preferred tapes to CD's for random mixes. It's that lack of ability to easily fast forward, the fact that if you take it out and put it back in you resume at the same spot and the disposability (re-recordability) of tapes that made them suited for that. There's a slightly mysterious element to them.

hint said:

so very "now" (that's what I call music)

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That is amazing! Fantastic!!

I was big, big into my tape Walkmen up until about this time last year, when i finally managed to kill a bargain basement mid-range Sony one. I don't know what it is, but i can just destroy these things without even trying; hence i'm shit scared of getting an Ipod, i mean what happens when you break one of those? It shatters into those little safety glass pebbles? Implodes? Sues You?

Having spent about 10 years solid plugged in i thought i was going to go nuts without protable music, but actually i find i just listen to everything else. And i mean listen as if i was listening to music... maybe i'd have done this anyway, but it feels like i've just programmed myself.

Mind this has it's drawbacks as the kids round here have taken to playing Happy Hardcore MP3s on their phones, without headphones. I wouldn't be so bad if the sound wasn't so goddamn tinny; all the bass is absorbed in the grasp of their hand. The audiophile in me just doesn’t get it – even they can’t be enjoying this sound, can they?

The only reason vinyl wasn't scrapped altogether in 1987 ...

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A good vinyl pressing played on my half-decent deck sounds better than CD
in my ears. We are talking normal "What Hifi" type of kit - not "Audiophile".

One of those heavyweight hi-fi magazines recently did some testing -
vinyl versus SACD and DVD-audio (the new "super CD" formats).
Vinyl still came out tops.

CD/MP3 - sure more convenient and portable and all that. And good enough. But not better.
Much like photography - digital cameras are good
enough and very convenient, but analogue ones are still better.

HowStuffWorks has some simple stuff on this -
http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/question487.htm

Do we really have to return to battery-guzzling machines

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The exact reason I have never bought a laptop. A computer with 2 hours battery life?
What's the point?

ps anyone have that record by pete shelley, rushen production xl1 which had a zxspectrum game. you had to tape it off the vinyl onto a cassette and sync it up with the record

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XL-1. Sure - I can tape it from vinyl to MiniDisc to MP3 and send it to you so you can convert from MP3 to
casette to play it on your Spectrum ... ;-)

MiniDiscs - still have two working Panasonic MDs. The problem with the first one was the remote
cable, wear and tear (it would have to be military spec to not be worn out).
The second one is still going strong though after 3 years of heavy use (although I do have one of
these white things I carry iRound now - but I absolutely refuse to wear those white headphones.).

Also on MD - I reckon they might be very good for "field recordings" - much like DAT in the olden days.
A couple of times lately (last seeing Moebius/Roedelius) I wish I was that guy in the movie "Diva".
I met a guy at Fabric (the Norwegian gig, not the grime-do) who
said that his "private MD recording" of Molvær live was much better than "Streamer", MP3 recordings are still crap from what I read compared to MD.

Sony basically killed the MD format themselves, a useless corporation - bound to get even
worse with their new Welsh chairman. Not because he is Welsh, just because he comes
from the content division (read DRM) - not the electronics division within Sony ...

I've been happily using a sony minidisc player for the last 3.5yrs with no problems and I never had a walkman that lasted as long. It's a good format but it was introduced too close to CD to take off in the pre-recorded market.

Minidisc was essential to the development of carioca funk, according to DJ Marlboro. All the brazilians used to use it as it was a simple, cheap, good quality recording method that allowed producers to pass their stuff to DJs. Only stopped using it recently when the cost of cd burners dropped, apparently.

The only reason I stopped using mine is it takes too long to record all the stuff you want to listen to. Other than that, it was superior to the iPod in every way (smaller too, and doesn't pause irritatingly whenever you jiggle the headphone jack).

Minidisc love

Been using my Sony minidisc for about 3 or 4 years now. Still running good (and I'd like to see the first iPod battery that lasts that long ), but I think the heads need a clean (anyone know how to do this?). I've got loads of stuff on discs, and since it's audio rather than digital transfer, you can cunningly get around every DRM regulation on the planet using just a simple phono cable

I'll be very pissed off when they become redundant though - I spent months transferring my tape collection to MD when my cassette deck died.

russian precussion

http://soundresearch.narod.ru/engcassettedj.htm

a russian cassette dj with mixes!