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For far more years than I imagined it would take, I've been trying to find a way to play (and digitize) the little collection of monaural reel-to-reel tapes I made in my childhood. Until you try, you've no idea how hard it is to find a simple vintage tape recorder like this nowadays that's still in full working condition!
That's my whole collection of tapes in front. The Sony reels were recorded with a tape recorder that my parents gave me for 'graduation' from grade school in 1966. (I still have it, of course, but it hasn't worked since I was in high school, and there's no way to get it repaired anymore.) IIRC, the big Sony reels are me playing the piano, and the smaller Sony reels are music I recorded off-air from my clock radio with a microphone. ("Boss Radio 93 KHJ!") One is the top 10 songs of the 'Boss 300' of 1966 – a tape I listened to endlessly before I got my own record player the following year.
The non-Sony reels are the ones I'm most looking forward to, though. The little ones I made with my best friend, Richard Rudolph, when we were both 9 or 10. Rich was a natural comedian even at that age, and one of these tapes has comedy lines by Rich that I can still play back in my head on cue to this day. I can't wait to hear the original recordings again!
But the real treasures might be on the oldest reels at right. They are ones that were recorded on a huge, ancient tape recorder that opera star John Charles Thomas gave to my mother before I was even born. I don't remember for certain what's on those tapes, but I am pretty sure they are recordings of my mother, singing in her glorious operatic soprano voice. Those are the ones I'll be digitizing first. Those tapes are close to 70 years old, and given the fragility of the media, I may only get one chance to capture the recordings on them. I'm excited by what I might discover!
That's my whole collection of tapes in front. The Sony reels were recorded with a tape recorder that my parents gave me for 'graduation' from grade school in 1966. (I still have it, of course, but it hasn't worked since I was in high school, and there's no way to get it repaired anymore.) IIRC, the big Sony reels are me playing the piano, and the smaller Sony reels are music I recorded off-air from my clock radio with a microphone. ("Boss Radio 93 KHJ!") One is the top 10 songs of the 'Boss 300' of 1966 – a tape I listened to endlessly before I got my own record player the following year.
The non-Sony reels are the ones I'm most looking forward to, though. The little ones I made with my best friend, Richard Rudolph, when we were both 9 or 10. Rich was a natural comedian even at that age, and one of these tapes has comedy lines by Rich that I can still play back in my head on cue to this day. I can't wait to hear the original recordings again!
But the real treasures might be on the oldest reels at right. They are ones that were recorded on a huge, ancient tape recorder that opera star John Charles Thomas gave to my mother before I was even born. I don't remember for certain what's on those tapes, but I am pretty sure they are recordings of my mother, singing in her glorious operatic soprano voice. Those are the ones I'll be digitizing first. Those tapes are close to 70 years old, and given the fragility of the media, I may only get one chance to capture the recordings on them. I'm excited by what I might discover!
