BGM Cassette Systems

Mat, I know you've said that you wouldn't upload this tape due to copyright issues, but dangit, I really wish you could. Anyways, love the vids, hope the trip is going well!

Your newly acquired skill in creating AEI cassettes could be gainfully employed creating replicas of those Beatles tapes. Clearly, these would be 'backups' for individuals who already own the originals, but don;t want to wear them out playing them for their Beatle-loving buddies during those 4 hour long soirees...

Great video, Mat! Love the whiteboard section too; especially the fact that it wouldn't clean up well. The fact that you did not re-do it, or deleted the section where it got a little messy is testament to your style on YT. Loved it.

That AEI tape is archive.org worthy! Preserve a part of the past (that we really ought to forget) :P

Please upload that sweet sweet background music!!! Its amazing!

Hey Techmoan, would you be willing to upload the AEI music tape online because I can’t seem to find it anywhere else.

https://www.20k.org/episodes/muzak-y72yp I actually just listened to this podcast about BGM in public spaces yesterday! I would recommend to anyone interested in learning more about the application of this device.

That was excellent, Mat. Loved the way you went 'the extra mile' to create your own cassette. :-)

When I was 19 I worked the overnight shift for a huge finance company who specialized in retail credit. I worked in the computer room which still used keypunch cards and data tapes. At night the offices were pretty quiet, but the music coming out of ceiling speakers, was set for the regular daytime buzz, which meant it was loud at night. We were subjected to the same taped pablum every night, to the point where we knew what song would play and when. The absolutely worst song had to be “Little Green Apples.” Whoever recorded it apparently had never heard Indianapolis pronounced, because they sang it as IndianaPOLis. After a few weeks we taped cardboard over the ceiling speakers.

Great video. I didn't know these existed. But as soon as I saw the description I had already guessed that they used the 4 tracks much like a 4-track cassette recorder like the one I showed in a video a while back. I didn't guess that they had slowed it down by 33%, though. I would imagine that being in mono and playing back 33% slower wouldn't affect the audio quality much since most supermarkets or whatever would simply have mono speakers in the ceilings anyway playing at a low volume and usually in places where the acoustics are terrible anyway.

Is it possible to wiew your patreon exclusive directly in YouTube, or do i have to go to patreon and use links

Is it possible to get patreon uppdates directly in YouTube

For a time I was an install/maintenance engineer for BGM systems. Replacing expensive rental Redifon (Redifusion) BGM machines - who had a superb library of non-PPL Music - for carp almost domestic replacements, which included 8-track cartridge players which were nothing but trouble. I was told the speed difference was a security measure to prevent standard cassettes being used in the machine and vice versa. The blown bulbs you mentioned I recall were part of the auto reverse system, causing a track switch when the clear leader arrived - this is why there was one on each side of the head block. Much of this music from Rediffusion has been released on CD for collectors who love ‘Supermarket’ Music - I have a couple and it’s odd hearing these nondescript tracks again. The switch from the large format tape systems to compact cassette was ultimately a failure as it had a very limited lifespan when compared to the original formats which often lasted more than 10 years.

Dammit, now I have to watch "Dunkirk" again.

In 1996 I had to work in Folkestone for a company selling bus data collection systems, I know, right? But I was stuck for a week in a hotel that was built around a defunct church that possibly dated back to Cromwell. Anyway, my enduring memory was every morning at breakfast, on my toast I'd smear some Irish butter with my Scottish blackberry jam, all the while listening to that one song from the movie Top Gun, "Take my breath away". And that jam did just that. Every morning. Same song. Same toast. Same jam. It was like Groundhog day.

Interesting machines, especially the first one for me. Now that you have it, you're probably thinking the same thing as me - can it be modified to play proper stereo?

Gaaah I also remember the tape that played until the oxide wore off. Thanks for this one. Enlightening as always.

Yes, store music on repeat _IS_ maddening. I spent an hour (daughters) in the Muji store at the new Hudson Yard's mall in New York City. Their soundtrack consisted of precisely _TWO_ (yes, just 2) weirdly Scandinavian (not Japanese)-sounding songs that are off-putting on first listen let alone 20th listen. I now regret not trying to Shazam the songs, but imagine listening to a crappier SpongeBob SquarePants theme song. On repeat. I asked the cashier how he tolerates it. His answer, "I just tune it out". But I suspect he likely murders kittens on his off days.

Can confirm, from my four years on a supermarket checkout, that a single tape played over and over on the speakers, will indeed drive you insane. At least we only got it for one month a year - it was a tape of all the Christmas hits you'd expect. After about a day, you'd know exactly which song was coming next; after three weeks, you'd think: gaaaah.... just step away from the synthesiser, McCartney. Anyway, another great video Mat, many thanks.

Another fun video. 👍

Thanks Mat, I really enjoyed this video. I'm going to be honest and say a big well done. You ticked all the boxes for me. You showed the insides going round, what happens when you press the buttons. I was wondering how you was going to make a new tape and you explained it. You were not over technical or patronising. Give yourself a pat on the back. Best wishes.

Perhaps they chose +33% to get four hours so they could sell a new improved six hour version as a future upgrade. Steve Jobs used to talk about this with Apple, intentionally holding back features so they could sell the next model.

In my early twenties I worked for Superdrug, and usually they'd have instore radio via satellite. Due to planning permission, we weren't allowed a dish up, so they gave us this four hour tape... which we had for MONTHS. Oddly, the only track I recall from it was "Apron Strings" by Everything But The Girl! Anyway, getting sick of this, I offered to make my own tape, probably breaking several laws, and slot the official adverts in between each track. I only recall it being 90 minutes, and it played on their system fine, but it was a nice change. I knew the tape was going to run out, so I put "Out Of Time" by Chris Farlowe on as the last track, and let it cut off. No-one got the joke!

BTW, if you're looking for a tech video, I've made my first on the history of Ford SYNC (in car entertainment system). As I worked for the Microsoft team that created it, I wanted to get the history from the people who made it before it was lost. https://youtu.be/jCIJW3LbDOc

Always an interesting video. This one was great! Thanks!

Nice video - it seems like you had the photo slides synced with each measure of the music! I'm pretty sure I have some AEI Fidelipac 4-track tapes that are about twice the size of normal 4-track/8-track carts. AEI must have been a fairly successful company - didn't they make cart machines for radio stations too?

It's Vaporwave! :o

Congratulations on your achievement on your AEI ProPac 4+ certification ;-)

Excellent video. You did some new things which I really enjoyed. Firstly you played some music without interruption to break up the video which is great (especially since that music really reminded me of every Japanese Cyberpunk Visual Novel game ever made. Ever played Policenauts?). I understand you would do this more often if it wasn't for the terrible content matches you must have to deal with (which I honestly do worry will eventually ruin your future audio content, which happens to be your best content by far) but I'm sure you are sick of worrying about that. I also loved that you left in the genuine laugh you had at the whiteboard, as it was a moment everyone would laugh at. Made the video feel more human. Also I know the chance of you getting that other expensive slowspeed tape machine is pretty low but hopefully one day. Sleep well Matt.

You found another unusual format for us: Bravo! Some thirty-five years ago I had a BIC cassette deck, model T3. This company (British Industries Corp.) also fiddled with cassette speeds but (not being Nakamichi) they ran the tape at double speed so as to improve frequency response range and s/n ratio. A 90 minute cassette thus would hold 22.5 minutes recorded audio per side, running at 3.75 ips. The tapes sounded very good; the T3 offered Dolby B and hiss was nearly inaudible. Unfortunately, those tapes are now orphans because when the T3 went to the boneyard in the sky, the audio on those double-speed tapes can only be recovered via Audacity.

I believe the "100 V" terminals are for Public Address-type systems that carry the audio superimposed on 100 V ac. Also, 4 hours of that music would KILL ME.

I'm so glad the video about it wasn't four hours long! ^_^ Always interesting topics, keep it flowing! :D

They later moved to weird locked CDs that I tried to read a few time and had no luck.