that’s right, git all up in that shit MOTHAFUKKA
Ahem. From RADIO-ELECTRONICS circa 1950 comes this piece on a forgotten cul-de-sac of audio production, the ‘magnetic-transfer-field’ method of duplicating analog audiotape. WTF? Read on and learn, dudes (VIA is there a lady? Do any women read this nonsense? if so, pls speak up thanks).
DOWNLOAD: MagneticTapeDupe1950
I was in Marin county this past weekend and I met some pretty interesting folks at the yard-sales. First, a dude who made a lot of the DigiRack presets in protools, and hours later, a very old fellow who used to build bridges+road by day and then service musical equipment by night. Hooked me up with some amazing ancient tech-data books. fascinating sorta shit/sorta folks that I don’t seem to find too often out here East. Anyhow… point is… there are so, so, so many weird little roads of audio-production that have not been traveled by plug-in designers… so many paths still unexplored digitally. Every weird dead-end of commercial audio production awaits a potential rebirth in the plug-in age… Via: someone make a magnetic-transfer-field simulator already?
8 replies on “An Absurd Tape Duplication Scheme c. 1950”
Not that crazy. Same principle as used for contact printing of motion picture release prints. That method worked very well, and was the de facto means of duplication for 70+ years. In theory, under the right circumstances, should work for mag tracks as well.
Some people read this who don’t respond to the hail “dudes”. Suggestions: “people”, “readers”, “audio history enthusiasts”, “y’all”.
ahh got it. via J Lebowski / IE ‘not a term anyone would self-apply’
will keep this in mind
c.
Ha. Thanks for your consideration of us non-Duderinos, Chris. (And thanks for the fascinating ongoing history lessons!)
My experience (having worked with a number of audio enthusiasts who are women) has been that acknowledging the possibility that they might exist (or, at least, not assuming that they don’t exist) goes a long way toward making them feel welcomed. (And also avoiding the word “lady” which some consider derogatory.)
my literary voice is perhaps an acquired taste. thanks for the suggestion.
“That’s no lady, that’s my wife!”
The question of why women are not into this stuff is one that many ask. They just aren’t.
I’ve known female electronic engineers. They were quite competent, but if something didn’t pertain to their job or to some specific purpose they had to accomplish, they were not particularly interested. That’s the province of nerds, who are almost all male.
Vive le difference.
I’m a lady. I’m a nerd. We’re out here!
nice one Angie! and you do wire transfers! welcome. c.