Now that the topic has dithered down to dithering(Which is as it should be...), and it is late, I did want to say a few more words about "tape". Seems us old guys have some of the young folks almost convinced that "tape" is "the way to go"! And 2" tape the ONLY REEL way to go!!! Sort've like there was no music made after the Beatles, or whatever... Anyway, let me chat with the youngsters for a minute, ey..?
Kids, listen - settle down, calm yourselves... Uh! Shush! OK. Tonight, before bed, let's talk about "tape" being "better", as opposed to doing your recording with your computer. I'm sorry, but, well, I'm not really sorry, I wouldn't trade my PC for all the old, rusty, 2" tape machines left in the world. Anyway, the "tape thing", even if, somehow, it was better..? I'm afraid, is ... well... OK, here it is. Cover up...
The 2" tape point is moot.
The tape, period, point, is moot. Moot? Ahhh... doesn't matter.
LOOK AROUND KIDS, CHECK YOUR MAGAZINES, LOOK THROUGH YOUR CATALOGS, GO ON THE INTERNET, ASK YOUR BROTHER WHO WORKS AT THE BEST BUY --
THERE AIN'T NO TAPE MACHINES AND THERE AIN'T NO TAPE.
I KNOW you've heard alot about this and... but... no. No. ...Even assuming you DID have a tape machine(You might find one at a flea market, when we make you go along?) AND some tape(Maybe a couple of old "falling apart boxes" of Scotch Highlander will come with it? ...Um... just a mid-range brand of tape. Not exactly Grand Master, ha. No, nothing to do with sorcery, or the wizard-kid, dear, just marketing.)... Anyway, there is no one around to fix the machines anymore, dears. Yes, I've told you before, in the old days there were people who fixed things. Everything didn't just get thrown away when it broke - uh-huh! Believe it or not! Anyhow. All the old engineers are living in Florida, and ah, well, most of them don't really want to play with this old stuff anymore - they all have computers, or they have, sadly, ah... um... died. Even if you read an old book on how to maintain such machines, yourself, there are no parts available for them. So, no more tape - Story over. Goodnight..!
More..? You need more?? OK, it's getting awfully late, and your Mom'll be mad if I keep you up, but... OK. A little more about "tape".
Even 30 years ago(Yeah, when your Mom was your age!). Anyway, even 30 years ago, only the fewest of the few used 2" tape(Yeah, like the Stones! Yes, Mr. Jagger really did look old during the football game, didn't he, sweety. Well, he is old! Ha, Ha... Yes, maybe he lives in Florida? Oh, you guys...). Anyway, yes, only people like the Rolling Stones, recorded on 2" tape, running at 30ips, of course(Otherwise why bother?). 30 ips? Ahh, really fast! No, Mr. Jagger didn't record really fast - well, sometimes - no, the tape went round and round really fast... Honestly honey, some of this stuff is gonna' be hard to explain and we don't have much... Yes, OK, on with the story. ANY-way! The tape, alone, even 30 years ago, cost a couple of hundred bucks a reel!!! Yes! As much as your brothers, stupid, sneakers! And "A REEL" lasted only 15 minutes at 30ips! AND, the folks that DID use it USED A REEL ONCE!!! RIGHT! "The best" people used a reel of recording tape only ONCE! Yep, just like if your brother wore his sneakers ONCE, then threw 'em in the closet, never to be worn again! Well... running recording tape "past" the heads on a tape machine is exactly like "riding the brakes" while driving your car(Like when we're following your Grandma, in her car, when she's driving down the street? Ya'know how her bright red tail lights always seem to be on? Yep. And Grandpa has to pay out alot of cash to keep ... well... let's move-on, dears... Anyway, the tape recording process, itself, quickly ruins "the best" of recording tape - and, unfortunately, "the best" recording tape was last made in the 1970's. Yes, the whole thing does sound stupid, ha, ha, but, it's the best they could do at the time. Of course the studios, in which these machines appeared, were "the best", too!!! We're talking here, kids, 30 years ago, a MILLION DOLLAR FACILITY!!! A million dollars may not sound like much, today, but, in the 1970's it was alot of money. Of course, to do less -- a 1/4" 4 track format, or a 1/2 inch 8 track format, or even a 1" 16 track format wasn't considered "the best"(Though a 1" 8 track format was "pretty spiffy"! hehhehheh...), today though, the little church on the corner uses 56 tracks for it's hour-per-week service, so, what good would an 8 track tape recorder be today..? Ah, well... Oh yes, later on, after the demise of the tape machine, one brave and wise company did come up with a pretty neat-o method of trying to "replicate" the "sound of tape", while still using the "new-fangled" computer. Uh-huh! Sort've like trying to make your Toyota Camry "sound" like a Ford Model A. The Model A? It was a really old, difficult to maintain, very innefficient car - that for years after they were gone, "the old folks" would still claim it "was the best car ever!" - and, ya'know, they may have been right, but, YOU have to live NOW, NOT like grandma and grandpa did. This is as it should be. Anyway, this company gathered up as many of the best old tape machines they could find(Or at least they gathered up the best machines they could find that were also, conveniently, the highest selling brand, at the time, in the US, where this company was..IS!). Anyway, they reasoned(May not have been "their" idea, actually, but, hey...) that if one recorded using the computer, mixed all the tracks down to just two(For stereo), than sort've "ran it over here to the corner", via cable, to where the old(Now beautifuly remanufactuered!) tape machine was, and ran the sound through the machine(A 1/2" 2-track, by the way! Didn't see many - if any - of these babies in the old days! Was no need for them then.), actually going to the extra step of recording, AGAIN, TO TAPE, THEN, believe it or not(!), they then play this tape back-INTO the computer! And, kids, there are people who say that this makes "the sound" just like it used to be, when the old guys were just kids, like you are now. Wonderful, huh? ...Yes, alright... complete crapola, hahaha - you got me! Ha, Ha, Ha...ahhh, you guys are smart... But, we all had a good laugh, huh! Sort've like putting an old Holley 4-barrel carburator on your Mom's Camry, ON PURPOSE, huh? HA, HA, HA..! What's a carb--- well, ehhh... forget that one... Anyway, lots of people with more money than, ahh, shall we say... time left on earth? - yes, I mean they're old, bought into this and so did some of the young people! Does your Grandpa have a corvette? Does he ever drive it over 55? Does he drive it at all? Ha Ha... Ah, old people... they are a scream... IS tape better? Who knows, who cares? Even if it was, there ain't no more tape...
Goodnight... sleep tight...
No, tommorow night we'll talk about tubes - right "valves", heh, heh... very good! - valves... oh, yes... or film cameras... whichever... Goodnight... I love you, too... No, no .mp3 players tonight, too late. Goodnight...
No, I'm going down to try to figure out how to fix Grandpa's turntable, you know he still has hundreds of records. Yes, dear, they do sound bad, yeek! But, ya'know, Grandpa doesn't hear that well anymore anyway... "What? What? hahahaha...
Goodnight... Lights out... Yes, I love you too.