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History of the Cassette Tape
Recorder
Music At the time of The Cassette Tape Recorder |
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It can be said that unlike earlier inventions the compact cassette system was designed for the car less and homeless. Reel to Reel tape players and LP players were designed like component systems for the home living room. They were large and bulky. The early talking machines were quite heavy. When the 4 and later 8 track tape systems came out they too were rather large. Tape cartridges would require a box the size of a bread basket rather than a bag or purse. The first popular use of 8track systems was in automobiles. With the explosion of the recording industry and the involvement of a younger generation of consumers the number of titles available boomed as prices went down. Consumers were less likely to be home owners or car owners and more likely to be students, teenagers and commuters in the big cities without cars. The cassette tape player could fit into a canvas bag or even large purse. The players could be carried from car into dorm room or apartment. With transistor technology these players also were able to achieve a high level of quality of sound. The "compact cassette," was patented in 1964 by the Philips Company. The system used high-quality BASF polyester 1/8-inch tape that ran at 1-7/8 ips; sold the next year in the U.S. with the Norelco Carry-Corder dictation machine. The demand for blank tape used for personal music recording was unanticipated by Philips. This lead to recording industry concerns that their copyrights would be violated by home recording. Such concerns blocked the successful marketing of high quality personal recording tape and digital audio on cassette. The invention was not widely known for a few years later. It was created for of convenience over reel-to-reel tape recorders. The first cassette tape formulations were lo-fi by today's standards. Norelco and Sony were early licensees of the patent.The the plastic case that virtually all cassettes are sold in was known as the "Norelco case." Mercury was one of the first record companies to offer a selection of 26 albums on the Philips cassette at a price of $5.95 each. It was not till 1984 that sales of cassette tapes exceeded those of LPs. One of the most important aspects of the cassette recorder was its portability. Due to the invention of the transistor these machines could be powered by batteries and miniaturized. At first the cassette recorder was expensive. Soon many other manufacturers entered competition for production including Asian companies which produced cut-rate models. At the end of the 60s these machines were very popular. Record companies tried to compete using the reel to reel tape but these were still more expensive than LPs. Cassette technology quickly evolved from that of a toy to becoming an important part of the home stereo system. The Dolby B noise reduction and "metal" tape were made just for the cassette. These innovations produced a sound quality which strongly competed with that of the LP. Yet it was portable. In 1978 the Walkman tape player was introduced combining high fidelity and portability. The "boom box" radio/tape player combination and the Walkman out competed the LP as the primary form of home music technology. This had occurred by 1990. Eventually the cassette was defeated by digital recording technology which appeared in 1990. Although digital cassette tapes were produced they were not popular and were soon overcome by CD technology. |
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| History of the Period
Events and trends |
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| Music at the time of
the Compact Cassette Recorder Top ten of 1984 The year the Compact Cassette Recorder displaced the LP in sales. 1984Like a Virgin-- Madonna
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| Activity -How many cds do you own? -Given that most cassette tapes held 12 song tracks how many cassette tapes would you have to own to still own the same number of songs. -8track tapes also held about 12 songs. How many 8 track tapes would you have to own? -Measure the dimensions of a cassette tape and an 8 track. -How big a box would you have to have to carry your collection if it was in 8track format? -How big a box would you have to carry your collection if it was in cassette format? -Ask a person who was a teenager prior to the development of the compact cassette the following questions: 1. Where did they listen to their favorite music? 2. How many records did they own? 3. Did they listen to their music more often via radio or on the recordings that they owned?
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Tour of My Cassette Recorder Player
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