Some thoughts on S2G and the young cassette revivalists headed this way...

As the so called revival gathers momentum, I think its fair to say that we could see a slew of new, very young members hitting the forum in search of answers.

My question is, what can we do to help them, as forums can be a minefield the new members, especially as they trawl through countless posts looking for one salient answer.

Perhaps a well written FAQ and glossary?

Whilst many of us lived through tape, many are coming to it for either purist reasons, or are just part of the zeitgeist. Either way, it would behoove us as a community to not only welcome them with open arms, but also give them a good solid starting block to feed their enquiring minds.

It could also go some way to helping ensure that they avoid mistakes, which could turn them off tape as quick as they were turned on.

 

I think the best thing to do is not to patronised and rubbish their choices, everybody has to start from somewhere and we all make mistakes along the way.

One other forum I go on when people come along and say they just bought a Crosley turntable, people turn up their noses and put them down. Not the way to encourage a new comer to join your hobby, if the cheap stuff gets them in and they become interested they will naturally want to find better down the line.

 

Mistakes are necessary in the progress of self-awareness -- provided that they're not fatal, of course. I agree in full with TooCooL4's advice, very sensible and I daresay "natural" in more than one way

 

I think Hugo did a very good job here and the Walkman Archive... The youngsters can already find lots of info About buying and recording... I do not believe in pampering in General .... If a new member bought rubbisch, i think the best way to help is saying so in a friendly way... A way i am sure the members are aware of....

 

Why am I here ?
Who was first - chicken or egg ?
Do gophers eat peanuts ?

 

...sorry folks: GREAT IDEA !!!

 

I agree completely. On the subject of turntables I enjoyed this video which scientifically proves that one can get a perfectly good turntable (undoubtably better than anything my parents had) for £100.



On the subject of boomboxes I was in Curry's at the weekend and saw Sony still make one.

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/audio-.../sony-cfd-s70-boombox-black-10146258-pdt.html

Again I wonder how it compares to the Amstrads etc many people had in the 1980s.

It would be great if someone could recommend a Walkman / Personal Cassette worth having that you can buy new with a Guarantee. After all that is one very nice feature a Crosley comes with.

Alternatively, what is the most reliable second hand unit available (although we shouldn't shout that too loud until we have all bought one

 

Why hello there

 

I seem to be the first person my friends come to when they think of getting into vinyl, and as soon as they say "well, I like the look of those Crosley Cruisers" (which they always do), I point out to them that they can buy a cracking turntable on the used market for the same money which is 'genuine' retro, sounds fantastic (with a little maintenance, which I usually end up doing), and will actually last. Usually they listen!

The Pioneer PL-990 was my first turntable and I loved it to bits, but it can't compete with the other turntables I've since laid my hands on. The main bugbear for me was that there was no counterweight adjustment for the tracking force, or anti-skating feature. One thing I've noticed is that people who are new to vinyl generally don't realise that vinyl's sound deteriorates if the record is not clean - most people don't realise that a little cleaning on an old record can make a huge difference to the sound quality. I learned from my mistakes, you could say!

My first walkman was a Sony WM-35, and it's still my favourite walkman for a number of reasons I won't bother going into. I was given it by a friend for my 14th birthday if I remember correctly. I've also noticed that most 'trendy' teens who buy walkmans buy the ones that were cheap when new that look very 80s because they look cool - very rarely do they care about the actual sound quality because to them they're just a fashion gimmick. I collect walkmans and 'boxes because I appreciate the engineering that went into them, and I like working on them because they are generally much more serviceable than today's devices. I think it would be a good idea to have a sticky on the theory of tape players and what makes a quality walkman sound good, just to give newbies an idea of what's going on. Just my two cents worth.

Henry (17 years old for reference )

 

Henry, you just made my day. Most of us here are mid lifers that remember Walkmans first time round. It's great and refreshing to see a post millennial not only getting in on the act, but doing so for ALL the right reasons.

Hoping you'll stick around and be very active in the discussions.

 

Thank you, doublecee I've become very fond of S2G over the last few years, so I don't see myself disappearing any time soon! Hopefully I will be more active from July onward once I've got my A-Level exams over with.

Henry

 

Definitely agree with this. If the Walkman stops working, the chances are it just needs a belt replacing but if your phone/ipod breaks, it could be anything....

I first got into cassettes when I was about 3/4. I went to a kids club at my local community centre and every few weeks they would give us all cassettes with various songs to listen to, my mum lent me her Sony WM-BF44 which I played them on. Both of my parents worked full time so when I got back from school, I would listen to the cassettes while the babysitter watched TV. But then cassettes suddenly lost popularity so the Walkman got put in a draw (and stayed there for the next 15 years) and I listened to CDs instead.

In 2011, 'Super 8' was released and there was a scene where a gas station employee could be heard listening to Blondie's 'Heart of Glass' (My favourite song, I'm a huge Blondie fan) on a Sony TPS-L2. After that, I became more interested in 70's/80's music and technology (I almost exclusively listen to 80's music now). My grandmother kept a couple of walkman's in the room I slept in at her house, I looked around various shops for Blondie cassettes but I was never successful, I couldn't buy any from ebay because I was 13 and didn't have a bank account.

Unfortunately, my gran passed away in January this year and the walkmans from my room there were given to me (Sony WM-EX194 and an unknown model) which renewed my interest in cassettes. I've bought quite a few new ones and recorded some of my own on my Sony TC-K570 deck. I've got a TPS-L2 now too which is currently being serviced in London.

So, (if you'll forgive the life story) that's how I got into Walkmans and cassettes!

 

That's a great story. It's nice to know that I'm not the lone tapehead teenager! I first became interested in cassettes when I discovered my Dad's old cassette deck (Sony TC-K555, cracking piece of kit) hidden away in a cupboard when I was about 12. I was fascinated by the concept of being able to record whatever I wanted onto something I could hold in my hand, rather than look at on a screen. I wish I could afford a TPS-L2. Damn you, Guardians of the Galaxy!

I too saw Super 8 when it came out - I collect vintage cameras, so it was a really interesting film for me.

Henry

 

Interesting that someone so young is into Blondie and other 80s music.
When I was a teenager, being an electronics enthusiasts my best friend and I considered Guitars to be old hat and were into synthesists like Tomita, Vangelis and Jean Michel Jarre. When bands like Blondie appeared using synthesisers I got into them as well.

While I am not going start slagging off modern artists, I do wonder if everything that can be done musically has already been done. The last real musically innovative song that sounded like nothing before it that I can think of was Cher - Believe.

Something I saw a few years ago and have found for you is a video of Chris Stein explaining "How Blondie Created Heart of Glass".

http://diffuser.fm/blondie-heart-of-glass/

A couple of years earlier it would have been impossible to create such a song. The technology just didn't exist. Of course technology is no use without the musical talent to use it.

 

70s and 80s music makes up the bulk of my collection - I play piano and synth, so about 80% of my music features synth. Vangelis and Jean Michel Jarre? Yes please!

I agree that most modern music is uninspired crap, but it has its moments. I can't stand 99% off the stuff they play on BBC Radio 1.

Henry

 

The big difference today is that nowadays just about anyone can afford a synthesizer. I have things like the free Yamaha softsynth on my Ipod touch.

Back in the 1970s synthesists used to list the equipment they used on their albums for people to drool over. I think the last people who did that were The Human League on Dare. The list wasn't particularly long and included a Casio VL1 (VL Tone),

Back in 1983 when I finished college I treated myself to a Casio MT65 which cost £150. The CT405 (same sounds but full size keys) was out of my price range ay about £245. A few years ago I did get a CT405 as a collect only on Ebay for about £20. The most I have paid for a synth is £300 and that includes a Roland JP8000 and Korg Radias

To make sure that we don't go completely off topic I will repeat my often told story of how expensive things like boomboxes were in the early 1980s. They really were the equivalent price of buying something like a MacBook today, and of course there was no second hand market as they had only just come out[/QUOTE]

 

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I've got quite a few software synths (mainly plugins for Logic Pro, my main digital audio workstation, rather than standalone apps), but I much prefer using hardware synths because it makes it a lot easier to tweak controls when they're physically in front of you. My main hardware synth is a Novation Mininova, primarily because it is small enough to fit in my rucksack, despite being a fully fledged virtual analog synth. I also have a Casio CT403 and a Siel PX-Jr which I use when I need nice cheesy 70s/80s sounds.

Dare is my favourite Human League album, followed by Crash.

Henry

 

Thanks for that video, I've just seen both versions of the Roland 'CompuRhythm' Chris Stein mentions on eBay, they're not cheap though...

Yeah, most of it sounds the same to me, I can't believe people actually enjoy listening to all of this modern trash.

There are a few exceptions though, like 'Pompeii' by Bastille which I think sounds quite good, I also like a few songs by Coldplay and Imagine Dragons (might have to record them onto a cassette!).