THE AGE OF CASSETTE TAPES
Looking back on when I got a cool Cassette Player for X-Mas in 1965, I was suddenly hooked on cassettes…still to this very day!
Lou Ottens
The Compact Cassette, which was called a cassette tape, was invented by Lou Ottens and his team at the Dutch company Philips and released in August 1963.
When the cassette tape came on the scene, it was revolutionary for this reason. Not only were your favorite audio tracks available, but you could create your own mixtape to give to a friend or a sweetheart. It was the ultimate act of love because it took time to plan the playlist and record the tracks. There wasn’t simply an “add to playlist” button like we have today.
On its initial release, the cassette tape was chunky and had low sound quality. Its purpose was for recording voices and dictation, but it soon took a turn for the better. The technology improved very quickly and soon it became the go-to method for recording because of its high quality and features such as noise reduction and the development of new tape formats.
The cassette tape was one of the first technologies that allowed us to share music and recordings on a much wider scale. Today, we may think of cassette tapes as retro and vintage artifacts from funkier, groovier days; but this wonderful invention helped society progress to some of the best technologies that have ever come into existence.
As time went on, the cassette was accompanied by two major tape playing innovations: the boombox and the Sony Walkman.
When Sony’s Walkman came onto the scene, this made Philips’ cassette tape success skyrocket. The Walkman gave people of all ages the ability to listen to their favorite music on the go - no more waiting for the car or for your stereo at home. People could now go about their everyday routine pumping a daily soundtrack into their ears. These two inventions went hand in hand … or make that hand in ear.
Although Philips was in competition at the time with other companies, facing pressure from Sony, the decision to license the invention for free allowed it to emerge as a leader. Soon, cassette tapes were mass produced everywhere in Hanover, Germany by 1965, the cassette tapes had pre-recorded content and became mainstream in the U.S in 1966. By 1968, over 2.4 million players had been sold.
The Compact Cassette really hit its peak in the 1980’s, but was quickly surpassed in the 90’s by compact disc (CD) sales. By the early 2000’s, cassette tapes had become almost nonexistent, with more album releases occurring solely on vinyl or CD. Similar to how the VHS tape went the wayside to the much more sophisticated DVD.
Take a look around…today, we are witnessing a slight comeback of the cassette tape. Whether it’s a hipster thing or a nostalgia thing, cassette tapes are making a small comeback. Even some of the biggest artists in the industry are releasing albums on cassette, along with the usual formats of CD and vinyl.
(Article: Dave Thompson for Goldmine Magazine)
"It really was the most versatile home listening and recording system ever. Press one button, and you had music. Press two, and you could record it. At home, on the beach, in the car, on the train, even walking down the road, the cassette tape revolutionized the manner in which we consume - and share - music.
Long before CDs, cassettes offered a more convenient way to listen to music. And they (sometimes) gave us bonus tracks as well. Long before MP3s, they let us mix up our music for on-the-go variety. Long before a lot of the so-called miracles that digital sound dropped upon us, cassettes had already done it.
You want an album that doesn’t skip or scratch? Play a cassette. You want to make a mix for a loved one of all your favorite songs? Make a cassette. You want to relive a gig over and over? Bring your cassette. You want not to spend a couple of hundred bucks on a thumbnail-sized player that the dog will probably swallow tomorrow? Buy a cassette.
Between 1980 and 1995 at the bare minimum, the cassette was as sacred a nostalgic touchstone as vinyl is for the generations that came before.
The strange thing about cassettes is, they really don’t sound bad. Not as bad as popular mythology would have you believe, and sometimes an awful lot better as well. True, problematic sonics were one of the key issues with the old pre-Dolby tapes — and even later, in some cases. But in general, and certainly by the early 1970s, store-bought, pre-recorded new release cassettes generally sounded as good as the equipment you played them on — much like vinyl, in fact. And, with care, they were just as durable as records — “care” meaning not touching the tape itself with your fingers, not storing tapes next to a radiator, giving your player the occasional clean — the usual, common sense stuff."
Why 1980s Tape Tech Is Still Making Noise in Our Digital World
(By Lisa Hix)
"By the early ’80s, a full-fledged postal network of musicians and artists who recorded and traded original cassette works had spread around the globe. It’s the more niche genres that have taken to the current cassette revival, including psychedelic pop, experimental noise, black metal, garage punk, hardcore punk, and avant-garde experimentalism.
At first it was baffling that millennial music lovers are embracing the cassette tape, as new indie cassette labels are popping up all over the country. Over the last decade, the retro format has gotten so hip that an annual event called Cassette Store Day launched in 2013 and big-name artists like the Flaming Lips, They Might Be Giants, Animal Collective, Madvillain, and Karen O have put out limited-edition tape-only releases for the celebration. With all the digital music you could dream about available at a click and new records being pressed on high-quality vinyl to provide analog warmth, why would you want to get tangled up with tape?
Cassette lovers, old and new, assert that tapes have something that online music lacks—a tactile physical presence. The benefits of cassettes haven’t changed: They’re cheap to make, pocket-sized and lightweight, and easy to mail. Cassette tapes still offer do-it-yourself musicians, who otherwise couldn’t afford to press a vinyl record, an affordable way to make an analog album they can hold their hands. And music lovers willing to make the effort to find a tape deck can amass a physical collection of underground music without breaking the bank, as new tapes go for $6.50 max, whereas CDs sell for as much as $15 and vinyl LPs can go for $20 or more."
HOW LONG DO CASSETTES LAST?
(Article by Dillon Wallace)
It seems like just yesterday people were walking down the streets rocking out to their Walkman. Only that wasn’t yesterday, that was 30 years ago and that technology has long been obsolete.
But that shouldn’t be a reason to just let your favorite stash of cassette mix tapes, underground hip-hop artists, record label-less indie groups and home recordings go to waste. Yet, if you fail to digitize your old cassette tapes soon, there won’t be a side B to flip to.
That’s right, the cassette tapes of your youth have been slowly degrading over the last several decades and there’s nothing you can do to stop it – only prolong it. Because whether you like it or not, 30 years is the average life of a cassette tape.
But what exactly contributes to that cassette 30-year lifespan?
PENS & PENCILS ARE YOUR BEST FRIENDS
If the playback speed of your cassette player is compromised by a draining battery, it should come as no surprise that rewinding or forwarding the tape to the next song consumes power just the same.
What takes a fraction of a second on your phone could take as long as the song itself on a cassette player. Why? If your batteries don’t have enough energy to move the sprockets fast enough for playback, they certainly won’t be able to skip songs quickly.
This is when you become your cassette player’s motor. Just insert the non-writing tip of a regular Bic Crystal pen or a classic No. 2 pencil into one of the cassette’s spools and start rapidly moving your wrist in circles like you’re using one of those spinning noisemakers, letting the centrifugal force balance the cartridge on the pen as you spin it. Back in the day, this was a great way to save battery power for precious music playback.
TAPE THICKNESS
Did you know that the longer the tape length (90 and 120 minutes) the thinner the actual tape? It makes sense if you think about it, after all they had to make it fit within the tape deck, but the thinner the tape, the more susceptible to breaking.
TAPE COATING
Some of the earlier cassette tapes released used chromium dioxide as a coating. Now that may not mean much to you, but to your tapes it means lesser durability. It’s why tapes released later started using magnetite, cobalt-absorbed iron oxide, or ferric oxide and cobalt as a replacement, an effort to increase longevity.
UNDER PRESSURE
More than likely, those beloved mix tapes from your first crush and your home recordings weren’t recorded on the highest quality of tape. After all, if it worked at the time why would teenage your worry about more expensive tapes? Well, turns out that the pressure pads on lower quality tapes tend to deteriorate or fall off much earlier than those premium cassettes.
DOUBLE SIDED TROUBLE
Attention all tapes with a side B, you’re at a higher risk of early deterioration. Yep, it turns out that tapes recorded on both sides may not last as long as single-sided recordings because of potential bleed-through from the magnetic fields.
PENS & PENCILS ARE YOUR BEST FRIENDS
If the playback speed of your cassette player is compromised by a draining battery, it should come as no surprise that rewinding or forwarding the tape to the next song consumes power just the same.
What takes a fraction of a second on your phone could take as long as the song itself on a cassette player. Why? If your batteries don’t have enough energy to move the sprockets fast enough for playback, they certainly won’t be able to skip songs quickly.
This is when you become your cassette player’s motor. Just insert the non-writing tip of a regular Bic Crystal pen or a classic No. 2 pencil into one of the cassette’s spools and start rapidly moving your wrist in circles like you’re using one of those spinning noisemakers, letting the centrifugal force balance the cartridge on the pen as you spin it. Back in the day, this was a great way to save battery power for precious music playback.
CASSETTE LIFE SUPPORT
There’s no easy way to say it, but your tapes are fading and will eventually die out. But there are some things you can do to prolong their life.
Controlled storage – make sure your tapes are constantly stored between 50 – 70º F with 20-40% relative humidity for the best possible storage atmosphere.
Be kind, rewind – fast forward and then rewind each tape before storing for best tape position on the inside spools.
Vertical storage – storing your tapes upright will help prevent damage to the edges of the tape media
Play them – play your tapes annually to prevent any layers of tape from sticking together, hence ruining playback.
Lastly, the best option – the only option, really – for preserving your past playlists, is to digitize them. This will ensure that your tunes stick with you forever, long after the life of your tape has come and gone.
Cassettes: How did I ever live without them? And why would I even want to? I used to get a full album on each side!
