I would love to connect with anyone else who was taping on cassette or reel to reel in the era using good gear. I am mostly nterested in rock (I suppose "classic rock") artists. Not so much the Dead or jam bands.
Because the gear was expensive, a lot of early tapers were hi-fi enthusiasts so I figure there could be some lurking here.
But many of our recordings were of that era where tape binders were hydoscopic.
TDK Audia and Scotch professional were just awful in that regard. Once the deed was done my big TASCAM didn't have the horsepower to drag that tape across the heads.
Baking tape gave you a single shot at it, frequently with diminished frequency response.
Back then I was working in a stereo store and I bought a top of the line Sony portable cassette recorder with Dolby B noise reduction. It had a built in stereo mike. I remember taking it to many Jethro Tull concerts, Led Zeppelin, Alice Cooper, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, The Who to name a few. I recorded "Dark Side Of The Moon" at The Music Hall in Boston. I don't think the album was even out yet!
The quality wasn't bad for the day and I had a decent stereo, It was a Kenwood 80wpc integrated amp, Kenwood tuner, Rectilinear III speakers, Teac Cassette deck and an Empire 598 (Troubadour) turntable with a Shure V15 cartridge. I bought an SAE equalizer and was able to fill out the frequency's on the recording that were rather thin.
Stupidly, I got out of the hobby in the early 80's and got into salt water fish instead. I got back into audio in 1987 and haven't looked back. How I wish I kept all those recordings that were on cassette tapes. I wish I had kept that system, It really made great sounds and would probably be worth a few bucks today.
I had an Akai reel as well as a Kenwood cassette. I still use my reel, which is now a Technics 2 track.
At that time, an Empire turntable, and a V15 cartridge was the thing, they were some really beautiful TT's.
Since I'm into jazz, I can't help you with the music, although I've been giving cassettes away by the dozens. I'm sure there is someone like me who no longer has any use for very well recorded and good sounding cassettes, who would gladly share their love of rock with you.
Stereo5, what happened to the master tapes you made? You said you got out of the hobby but did you give them away?
Tomcy6 and Slikric3000, I am familiar with tradersden and archive.org, and there is a wealth of good stuff there. I am specifically trying to find some tapers who may not have moved to the digital realm yet.
Cyclontronguy, you are right about the tape binder issues. Interestingly, cassettes of '70s have typically held up better than some brands of reels. You have fewer shedding and sticking tape issues though I have baked a cassette along the way, though far more often reels. You do often need to reshell cassettes to get the best playback.
I gave away all the tapes when I sold the Teac deck. If I remember, the guy was going to use a bulk eraser and record over them. I had a Sony DAT recorder in the early 90's and made maybe 20 tapes with it. I didn't use it for over 15 years, and when I powered it up to sell on Audiogon, it didn't work. It went to the recycle plant and the tapes were all frozen as well!!! They went into the trash.
Well aware of Wolfgang's Vault, thanks. I am specifically looking for folks on Audiogon who may have recorded concerts themselves and still have the tapes.
Butterking - once I joined forces with my friend, we did all the taping on his Nak. He had the masters, I the first generations. But I mostly listen to livemusicarchive for shows thesedays. I gave away many of my tapes.
Just giving this thread a bump in hopes of finding any Audiogoners who recorded concerts themselves back in the day (or even did a lot of taping off the radio) and still have the tapes. Interested mostly in rock artists 1970-90.
I used to tape off the radio a lot on cassette. I'd have to dig through boxes to find any of it. Funny you mention it because my local brick and mortar is trying to get me back into cassette as I have a player in my SUV. He's made me some amazing tapes lately. He's got a room with a huge display or working Nakamishi gear ( not for sale) where we listen to cassette and reel to reel. It's a blast.
I had (still have) a Tandberg reel machine and two Beyer M500 (ribbon) microphones. I have a recording of (classical guitarist) Sharon Isbin playing in Dallas ca. '77. I have a box of tapes of Beto y los Fairlanes, a local Austin band, from around '78. Also some lesser-known guitarists and bands. Nothing earthshaking.
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