Tape recording in the 30's

[Alastair Reynolds]

http://www.btinternet.com/~roger.beckwith/bh/tapes/ms.htm
http://www.btinternet.com/~roger.beckwith/bh/tapes/blattner.htm
60ips, steel tape, "portable recording"

the rest of the site is amazing
http://www.btinternet.com/~roger.beckwith/bh/menu.htm

[waitup]

Great photos! Thanks for the link

[chris p]

They could be edited, each joint being soldered or welded, though when there were about a dozen edits in a tape it was scrapped because of the increased risk of damage to the head pole pieces caused by the lapped joints.

The frequency response was +/-2dB from 100Hz-6kHz and a signal to noise ratio of 35dB or better could be achieved.

We who live in the age of the DAW salute you. I LOVE the idea of editing audio using an arc welder.

[Chinagraf]

"That's not a takeup spool....THIS is a takeup spool.."

[Roy]

Awesome photos!! What a machine!! And does anyone go to work in a studio in a suit these days???

[Ben M]

And does anyone go to work in a studio in suit these days???

I've done it once but felt a bit silly. Maybe lab coats could be the official Trockers uniform. Hold on that's even daggier.

I reckon between the 2 tension pulley's, the wipe, the reservoir and the feed pulley there would've been a fair bit of wobble (taking azimuth and zenith to a new level). How bout the many rooms and engineers to make this happen - Wow!
It's tough enough with my Roland 301.

Cool link Alastair, thanks. This is gold!

[rick]

the broadcast house link is the gold mine i have been meadering through it for years
i have also read a large coffee book a friend has devoted to that institution
they just dont make em like that anymore

this is the british empire at its technical peak !

it all looks down hill after the war in comparison

i love the idea that they just built it as well as any man could do , and they had up to date interior designers working along side the tech boffins
so it all looks like it belongs together ... form and function