Interesting Things In Cases #2
It’s well over a year since I kicked off my ‘Interesting Things In Cases’ series - so it seems it’s high time I made a second episode.
https://youtu.be/QyVr9pMjZ1M
This was the first time I’ve got to use a machine like this. I have been curious as to how they operated and it turns out to be more complicated and clever than I’d imagined.
You might have noticed that the current title and thumbnail are the polar opposite of click-bait. I have intentions to keep things this way as an experiment to see what effect a cryptic video title combined with an uninviting thumbnail has on viewing figures. What could go wrong?
In the morning after a strong coffee or two, I hope to get right on to working on my next video.
I hope you’re all well, take care and enjoy the rest of your week.
Update: Snipped a second of a tape being played as it was mentioned in the comments that it was “Bad timing for the Dead Prez reference.” Now the reason I used that tape is because it was the one on the top of the pile next to me as I often use the Dead Prez track ‘Hip Hop’ as a bass test. I’m unaware of any recently deceased Presidents of any country - but I suppose there are plenty of ex Presidents around the world who aren’t getting any younger so it might end up being seen as inappropriate if any of those passed away on the same day a video about a cassette recorder goes live. Since I’d already moved the case and its contents to my locker I didn’t have any other footage of a music tape being played over the speaker I could use - so I just snipped off the first second where the artist name is more visible.
Comments (35)
Those intros are really something. I like them. Really creative.
The US ex president Trump isn't dead - someone shot at him and hit his right ear. Seems a bit of a stretch to relate the two things.
I noticed the record/playback head has lines across the full width, while many others don't. That's to reduce crosstalk, so that repeated re-recordings of the student track of the tape won't eventually bleed over onto the teacher track.
Really interesting video. The only cassette recorders I came across that could manipulate tracks independently were the 4 track recorders designed for true music recording and I helped a school friend with musical talents I do not possess record an album back in the 80's using a Tascam 244. Those machines ran at double speed with DBX noise reduction so sounded much better than normal cassette recorders ever could.
Have you thought of using the new A/B thumbnail testing feature in YouTube? It usually gives results in a couple of hours to show you which of three thumbnails are performing best.
I haven’t looked into it - do all three show at the same time but to different people?
This was a lovely video, fantastic story telling. Learning language is, in my experience, quite a bother and then you forget them if you don't use them.
Great video! Leads me to two thoughts. 1) Was there ever a Karaoke machine that allowed you to record you track with the music on to another tape so you could collect you masterpieces or at least critique your effort? and 2) Watching your well constructed videos in comparison the to motion sickness inducing videos some YouTubers create makes me appreciate your skills more. Even your Patreon food videos are shot better than a lot of what I see on YouTube. BTW, How did you do the tracking shot that opens the video? Human or machine assistance?
I think those twin tape Karaoke units I see for sale in Japan most likely offer the ability to record your wailing. Whenever anyone asks for YouTube newbie advice, I always say, 1 get some lights and 2 get a tripod. There are few things more frustrating than watching someone failing to do something one handed (like open a box) while they hold the recording camera in the other hand. The tracking shots were all done in editing, these were all originally static shots, way wider than they needed to be.
Nice to see some of my mother tongue in your video :-P. BTW: did you figure out what the index mark exactly records onto the tape? Is it a pilot tone? Another thing to consider: erasing a single channel on a stereo compact cassette is not part of the CC standard (different from reel to reel tape), in case of a mono tape, it would not properly erase the guard track between the two channels, and the old signal may leak back. It happens also if you try to erase/reuse a previously recorded 2-track tape on a 4-track reel to reel recorder... And always funny to see variations on the standard cassettes. When I was a student, I once did a summer job in typing out recorded interviews at home. For that, they borrowed me a tape player that you could rewind quickly by pressing a pedal to repeat a portion, nifty!
The index mark seemed to be a barely audible flutter - but when played in FF or Rew this would condense into a tone that the machine could recognise.
Been on a major binge of videos I have missed recently, so a new one is very much appreciated!
Great video and brought back some memories of using a system very much like this at school. We had to record our responses and then the teachers would mark our pronnunciations. I found it a soul destroying way to learn and always got the worst marks in the class. Do love the intro to the video, it was giving off a very Century 21 / ITC vibe. In fact I sort of mentally replaced the music you used with something more Barry Gray - the opening theme to UFO. If I had one niggle I'd have left justifed the "Interesting Things in Cases" title text for that complete retro look.
I’ll try to remember to re-do the text in the next episode in 2025.
Mac the Knife… thank you. That has made my day.
Very interesting; I didn't know that cassette recorders with two-track erase heads even existed! It's perhaps worth mentioning that Ralf "Dr DCC" previously worked for (or was the co-owner of) an international company that built language learning labs and installed equipment. Undoubtedly that's why he ran into this technological marvel. I reckon a language learning institute would own many suitcases like that, which would be loaned to students to take it home and practice.
I guess that Portastudio type devices must have had a four track erase head. I'd never thought about that before.
One of those language learner cassette recorders would be ideal for storing twice the usual amount of data on a ZX Spectrum tape. I'm pretty sure the MIC and EAR jacks on the Speccy are mono...
Indeed, a creative use of the cassette as a language learning tool, even though I am glad that I never had to learn a language this way. Every now and then a cassette was played to the whole classroom to accompany a chapter in the textbook. Most of the time, however, I was exposed to the German accent of the respective teacher in class. Vis all ze side effects zat had. What helped me more than all the school lessons combined was ultimately access to the internet, watching films and series in the original language, reading English books and, of course, video portals such as YouTube. And the fact that documentation and teaching material in my line of work (software engineering) is mainly available in English. My English is still a bit off and always will be, but for most things I get by with it. I really enjoyed the video. I found the use of the Language Learner as a karaoke machine very creative. You also seem to have upped your vocal skills. Moving away from the Shatnerian spoken word technique towards more melodic sounds. Could that be another career opportunity?
After watching I must say that Mat didn't disappoint! Cool little item--like a lot of the gadgets he shows us here--especially the audio devices designed to assist people with audio deficiencies, such as hearing impaired or language impaired folks. Thanks Mat and also to Rolf (via Google Translate) I'll say "Thank you very much; Hartelijk dank; which for those learning French is: Merci Beaucoup! Ain't technology grand⁉️
Lovely video, that. But those mixed batteries, you're harshing my mellow, man.
I should have sorted them alphabetically?
Before I start watching, I just thought I'd say that I find the thumbnail very intriguing and it also gives off a cool vibe just from the look of it. Being in black and white and the typeface used is part of it, but also knowing what the series is about ahead of time heightens the anticipation. Also have to mention the "Mat Headroom" background 😉
On a semi-related note, I finally found the power supply for my Tascam 424 4-track cassette recorder. Now I can start transferring all my old band demos and rare live tapes You know I tried to give it away at a music store 20 years ago and the guy wouldn't take it because it was so obsolete? That was the day two fools met - they sell for around $500 now
That sounds like a fun task, I hope it’ll bring a few fond memories back.
This is reminding me of the Coober tape recorders we used at school in language classes (I took GCSE French and German and am still useless at both). I remember recording onto them for oral exams, but can't recall if they functioned like yours does. There's a later version with a CD, which must be playback only. https://www.specialvintage.nl/a-65233402/vintage-electronica/cassette-speler-coomber-393/#description
Showing they are a Jack of All Trades the Synchronised Swimming Club at the local swimming pool used to use a Coomber along with an underwater loudspeaker.
I did enjoy this as well. A unique means of use a simple cassette, student and teacher. i have seen unique audio systems that isolate audio to hear different instruments, but not something like this. Very cool.
• Thanks Ralf! 👍🏻 • Mat parle français; ooh la la! • My immediate (silly) thought after watching your demonstration was - where's my own custom Mat split-channel karaoke cassette? 😉 • This video reminds me of the 3M Sound Page device you featured a while back - I need to watch it again: https://youtu.be/kdfTuE9XHas • With cover art like this (https://ibb.co/MVr684v) what could the target audience of this Dutch>French translation course be? Badly disguised 19th Century time-traveling spies? • I enjoyed seeing this item, as well as Ander's Space cassette and your funky special effects clip. Very fun! I always enjoy your ongoing series videos - it keeps me expecting what's next. Take care 🤍
I would like to play Mat singing karaoke at my wedding and see if people are too polite to ask "who was the guy singing along to a midi track for your first dance?" We may have enough clips over the years to actually do about an hour of just mat singing as the soundtrack. But my fiancee says a wedding isn't a place to just do weird shit. Though she capitulated to my request to train a sheep to bring us the rings; the sheep is getting harness trained as we speak. But yeah gimme that custom Mat karaoke tape
I've said this before Matt, but I'm always so impressed with how this old tech can use imaginative ways to really carve out a special niche use. Sometimes in our massive digital world, it's taken for granted that you can pretty much achieve whatever you desire if you just throw enough technology at it. But in the past, they really had to think how they could get something like having a 'teacher' track on one channel that was permanent, and a student track on the other channel that could be recorded over. That's was brilliant. Speaking of brilliant, your "Mack the Knife." Actually, brilliant isn't quite the word I'd use. Thanks for a great video.
In the late 70s, every school in the Low Countries had a Language Laboratory, where the students were equipped with a headset in a kind of cubicle, or at that time: a separate microphone and headphones. The teacher could address the entire class through the system, but he or she could also listen to individual students and assess their progress. Perhaps the annoying thing was that as a student you didn't know if the teacher was listening in on you, so you could never relax by being silent for a while. These language labs have not been in use for very long. It was probably a terrible environment to work in for the teachers too and the - expensive - installations were soon abandoned again to gather dust. I think you should see this portable set in that zeitgeist: languages would now be taught and learned in a "scientific" way, in a laboratory-like environment with tapes and headphones. Thank you for bringing back memories of that time, for which even I was born a little too late, even as I am already in my sixties.
Very much the same in American high schools in the 80s. Headphones hanging from the ceiling and the central control at the teacher's desk. But our teacher "Madam Roy" eschewed such space-age flim-flam and just did things the old timey way of call and response and collective humiliation.
At the risk of my sanity I was hoping that you would do some karaoke with this, I should be careful what I wish for!
Very cool device and great, concise video; thanks.