Listening to metal and rock music has been one of the reasons why I continue to exist. It all started when I first held a cassette tape of “Guns N' Roses”. Yeah!! Put your hands in the air.
I’m going to leave GNR for now and will feature those rockstars in my coming articles. If you are writing stuff related to rock/metal music same as my interest then you can go ahead and feature AXL Rose, James LaBrie, Dave Mustaine, Kurt Cobain or Chris Cornell.
Speaking of cassette tapes or audio cassettes, I guess some Gen Z babies have ruined their mom’s favorite cassette record of Whitney Houston. (laughs) But the songs are immortal so it doesn't matter dear.
Sound recording is a very broad topic so I will tackle just few interesting facts about it.
With the existence of the internet, almost all information can be found in there. Just be careful of using those informations or you might encounter serious problem when it comes to copyright infringement.
Before audio cassettes were invented, its history was all about sound recording. A big thanks to Sir Thomas Edison for inventing the first sound recorder, the phonograph cylinder in 1877.
However in early history, the first device that can record sound that passes through air was the Phonautograph. Invented by Parisian inventor Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville in 1857. But this device was not capable of playing the recorded sound.
After the major breakthrough of the phonograph record, which were likened by the consumers for entertainment purposes, next was the gramophone record, or widely known as vinyl record or just vinyl. (see Emile Berliner)Recordings consist of songs, instrumental music or monologues were the reasons why such devices were mass produced by some manufacturers.
Tape recording originated in Germany in 1930. They use magnetic tape to record sound. The idea was the same as the previously mentioned devices for sound recording. Magnetic tape was revolutionizing music recording and radio broadcasting as well. So far the magnetic tape was highly recommended for recording analog sound because of its high fidelity when it comes to reproducing sounds particular to music.
(Reel-to-reel tape recorder photo credits to Nixdorf)
This is when Compact Cassette was born. Phillips developed and introduced compact cassettes in 1963. The idea was to create a much smaller and thinner tape. They also offered a machine to play and record the cassettes. Compact cassettes became popular when they were seriously used for entertainment purposes like musical use.
Sony introduced the Walkman in 1979. It was a portable cassette player that people can use to listen to their favorite music on the go. Remember Peter Quill? Yes, that was it.
(screengrab from the movie Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
The Walkman is almost the same as today's handheld device for playing and listening to music. The only difference is that we are now in a digital era where analog music records are converted almost all to digital.
There are varieties of tape recordings and not only music or audio can be recorded on tape, it can also include videos.
With the evolution of computers as it continuously innovated, almost all stuff is being digitized. So listening to music today in digital format is more enjoyable and convenient than listening to music from an audio cassette.
There are major differences between these audio devices that can play and record sound music. The size of the device, sound quality and battery that can sustain for long hours of music playing. These are only few of the differences.
Technology is always moving in advance and more devices are being invented, developed, modified and or innovated everyday that almost everything you personally need can be held in the palm of your hand.
*Photos are not mine but free to use in accordance with creative commons rules. Links are added to give credits to the rightful owner.
Forgive me of the title, it should be a history but I prefer to use the Walkman as it is a little catchy.
Thanks for reading. Ciao!
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Resources:
Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
Check out my previous time travel post:
I Went To The Future, Believe Me
