tapes & records – perfectionists devoted to imperfection
Many of us like to listen to music on our smartphones these days, but some of us can still fondly remember the slighty hissy sound from cassette tapes.
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The last two decades have seen a striking decline in the quality of sound and listening experience. Compressed music, MP3s and streaming, have diminished the quality and flattened the emotion. Marketing gimmicks and convenience now take the place of excellence.
The Distortion of Sound is an eye-opening exposé of the current state of sound starring Linkin Park, Slash, Quincy Jones and more. This documentary will open your ears and inspire you to reach for richer, more soul-stirring musical experiences.
The Distortion of Sound Documentary
cassette, vinyl, records, cassette culture, hiss, groove, tape hiss, groove noise, cassette, hissandgroove, hiss and groove
Stefan Sagmeister is graphic designer and typographer that made album covers for many famous musicians. He co-founded Sagmeister & Walsh Inc. a design firm based in New York.
Here´s the man himself telling the story from playing in obscure prog rock bands to designing covers for Lou Reed, OK Go, The Rolling Stones, David Byrne, Jay Z, Aerosmith and Pat Metheny.
cassette, vinyl, records, cassette culture, hiss, groove, tape hiss, groove noise, cassette, hissandgroove, hiss and groove
Is the design of album covers important?
Who are the people who create the vinyl and cassette covers?
Can we go so far saying that people buy records because of their look?
What makes an album cover become iconic?
These are just a few question for a future debate.
and more…
cassette, vinyl, records, cassette culture, hiss, groove, tape hiss, groove noise, cassette, hissandgroove, hiss and groove
Growing up in the 1970s, Bucks Burnett never even owned an eight-track tape: When his parents purchased their first post-LP stereo console, they went straight for a cassette player. “They were visionaries,” he says.
But that hasn’t stopped Burnett from becoming the eight-track’s most vocal champion, amassing an incredible collection of Stereo 8 cartridges, and opening the world’s first museum devoted entirely to the format. Located in the Deep Ellum neighborhood of Dallas, Texas, Burnett’s original Eight Track Museum opened in 2011, offering visitors a peek at an often overlooked medium plus an archive of every audio recording format created since the earliest wax cylinders of the late 1800s. In October of 2012, the second outpost of Burnett’s homage to the 8-track opened at the Orphic Gallery in Roxbury, New York, expanding the reach of his crusade for lesser known forms of audio recording.
Burnett’s obsession with Stereo 8 tapes began after a chance encounter at a garage sale in the ’80s, and he’s never looked back. The quirky vibe of each Eight Track Museum is perfectly matched by Burnett’s outsized personality (when the Oxford English Dictionary decided to remove the entry for “Cassette Tape” in 2011, Burnett retaliated by banning the dictionary from his museum). During the ’80s, Burnett befriended such music world notables as the ukelele-playing Tiny Tim, as well as Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth, the founding members of the Talking Heads who went on to create Tom Tom Club in 1981. Among others, each of these stars is a part of Burnett’s unfinished documentary on the 8-track tape, called “Spinal Tape,” which is expected to be completed in 2013.
cassette, vinyl, records, cassette culture, hiss, groove, tape hiss, groove noise, cassette, hissandgroove, hiss and groove
A short movie that shows the vinyl creating process in about 8 minutes. We think this is one of the best videos to show how our LPs and maxis are made out of little black pellets. Pure eye candy for every vinyl lover.
The movie shows Pallas Records in Germany, one of the last vinyl manufactories there.
cassette, vinyl, records, cassette culture, hiss, groove, tape hiss, groove noise, cassette, hissandgroove, hiss and groove
Yes, some of you already had the chance to view this video, but it’s absolutely breathtaking for all of you who did not watch and feel it, yet. Paul Mawhinney, founder of Record-Rama in Pittsburgh, Pennsilvania is the owner of the worlds largest record collection. It contains about 3 Million vinyl records from the last decades and was valued at 50 Million $. As the record store was closed in 2008 and his health was of great concern, Paul tried to sell all the records, again. The collection went for sale on eBay in March 2008 but did not end in a sale…
The most current plans for The Archive were enacted by William Vanden Dries. Vanden Dries, decided to do something to save the collection by forming a non-profit organization, The Audio Preservation Fund, with the intent to open a museum, online database, and shop under the name The Worlds Greatest Music Collection, while expanding the collection via both donations of records by individuals and by incorporating other major record collections from around the world.
Paul is still working on archiving his records to the database every day.
cassette, vinyl, records, cassette culture, hiss, groove, tape hiss, groove noise, cassette, hissandgroove, hiss and groove
Short documentary about the love of vinyl records and their manufacturing process. 16 minutes, recorded over 6 weeks, travelling through Germany, Switzerland, Austria and the UK.
“For The Record exposes a number of notions about why vinyl is such an indelible medium and how it continues to remain popular in the the face of opposing format change.” Must see!
Featuring: Dr Dub, Vinylium, Vinylrecorder.com, Audiowerker, MY45 vinylpress, Centraldubs, Duophonic, Metropolis Studios, The Vinyl Factory and Dub Studio. For The Record is an ongoing research project exploring the world of vinyl.
cassette, vinyl, records, cassette culture, hiss, groove, tape hiss, groove noise, cassette, hissandgroove, hiss and groove
Artist Evan Holm uses vinyl in his projects a lot. He built this stunning art installation combining nature elements like water and wood covered with moss. The spinning turntable creates a huge whirl in the black inked water basin.
“There will be a time when all tracings of human culture will dissolve back into the soil under the slow crush of the unfolding universe. The pool, black and depthless, represents loss, represents mystery and represents the collective subconscious of the human race. By placing these records underneath the dark and obscure surface of the pool, I am enacting a small moment of remorse towards this loss. In the end however this is an optimistic sculpture, for just after that moment of submergence. Tone, melody and ultimately song is pulled back out of the pool, past the veil of the subconscious, out from under the crush of time, and back into a living and breathing realm. When I perform with this sculpture, I am honoring and celebrating all the musicians, all the artists that have helped to build our human culture.” Evan Holm
The making of
cassette, vinyl, records, cassette culture, hiss, groove, tape hiss, groove noise, cassette, hissandgroove, hiss and groove
Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska sixth studio album was recorded on a Portastudio 144 cassette 4 track. The tracks were originally intended as demos of songs to be recorded with the E Street Band.
“I got a little Teac four-track cassette machine, and I said, I’m gonna record these songs, and if they sound good with just me doin’ ’em, then I’ll teach ’em to the band.” Bruce Springsteen
However, he and the producers felt that the essence present on the home tapes was lacking in the band performance, and so they decided to release the demo version as the final release.
“It’s amazing that it got there, ’cause I was carryin’ that cassette around with me in my pocket without a case for a couple of week, just draggin’ it around. Finally, we realized, “Uh-oh, that’s the album.” Bruce Springsteen
In 1989, Nebraska was ranked 43rd on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 100 greatest albums of the 1980s
cassette, vinyl, records, cassette culture, hiss, groove, tape hiss, groove noise, cassette, hissandgroove, hiss and groove
On Record Store Day 2015 the best-selling release was a cassette!!! Metallica’s “No Life Til Leather” is a replica of the demo tape that would eventually get them their first record contract.
Cassette tapes are here to stay. Great way for bands and labels to put out an analogue release that is way cheaper than a the vinyl production.
Probably we’ll see more cassette-only releases…
cassette, vinyl, records, cassette culture, hiss, groove, tape hiss, groove noise, cassette, hissandgroove, hiss and groove