The Reditune Background Music System
I wanted to get this video released on Patreon before the end of the weekend - and (as far as UK time goes) I’ve just about made it.
In the style of DVD extras - here’s (part of) a deleted scene just for Patrons.
This was taken out because it just went on far too long. It was originally six minutes and I was able to incorporate most of the information I covered in other ways throughout the video. This section is the only part that wasn't repeated elsewhere - it seemed a shame to just delete it.
Also just to let you know there will be a Patreon exclusive update posted in a day or two (I’ve already completed it) it’s almost an hour which is perhaps a bit too long for a monologue.
UPDATE: I've added the deleted Rediffusion History section to the very end of the video - I found I couldn't shoehorn it into the main body without things getting weird - so it's on the end as an extra for anyone who stays the course.
Comments (74)
Videos like this are is Techmoan at its best! An obscure format nobody cared about, but Techmoan _makes_ us care about it. Keep up the good work! When the cartridge was put in, I actually held my breath until it started playing!
any chance you could post some of the audio you recorded off of the reditune cartridges?
Unfortunately the rights to the Reditune music library are apparently now owned by a company called Media Music - so legally I can’t distribute them any more than I could share Thriller online - which is a big shame.
Would love to hear the "Bits & Pieces" cover
Here's a foreground music system. May be of interest? https://www.ebay.com/itm/AEI-FOREGROUND-MUSIC-MODEL-700-B-MUZAK-PLAYER-MADE-IN-SEATTLE-WA-W-4-track-Tape/183848098618?hash=item2ace335b3a:g:ZH4AAOSw~hNdA~j8
I think that would play the two Muzak tapes I own - but unfortunately they’re just classical. The machine is untested (which means definitely broken), expensive and will only ship to the US. So I think i’ll give it a miss but many thanks for sending me the link.
My only contact with Redifussion was when I had a job looking after one of the flight simulators they manufactured in the 80's, but I recall those sound systems and the strangled Hammond organ tones you got from them. Nicely built device, proper engineering and it still works today, impressive. Next question is how many people, when you release this one, tell you you should have replaced all the capacitors!
They’ll definitely be quite a few. Of course as always it doesn’t make sense for a device that works well and only had one job left to do - to appear in a video.
When I moved to Leicester in the early 90s I was surprised to see Rediffusion manhole covers, the remains of a defunct cable TV system. Some of the cables are still in place and look odd because, unlike telephone wires, they cross rooftops and go from house to house. A few years ago one came down and I reported it to Openreach as it was in danger of damaging their wires which it lay across. They taped it to the telegraph pole to prevent damage but it seems the old Rediffusion infrastructure is the responsibility of the local council.
I’ve got to wonder if any of their network could have been reutilised for data purposes - but then again there’s probably some very good reasons why that’s not a sensible idea.
Listening to that hammond organ music gives me the most intense sensory flashbacks to standing in the scorching sun on a concrete pier wanting to go home. I can't blame you at all for your dislike!
I just remember weird hotels that had a ballroom emanating that annoying constantly fading up and down Hammond sound - hotels that made the one in the Shining seem normal.
I'm sure several on here are familiar with the Transdiffusion guys. They've got a whole mini-site dedicated to the Associated-Rediffusion side of things... https://www.transdiffusion.org/tv/rediffusion/
I hadn’t seen that site - so I’ll have a good look around.
I wonder if anyone has put recordings of these old music systems online anywhere... I know there's one that streams music from the old recordings for a fee, I think that's the old Seeburg recordings.
There’s always someone somewhere who owns everything, and some of them go after their IP with ‘extreme prejudice’. Others seem like sleeping giants. It’s always a bit risky sharing something you know you don’t own the distribution rights for.
The Rediffusion extra at the end was interesting and reminds me of radio distribution in some hotel rooms from my childhood. From what I recall, the side table had a built-in speaker with two knobs, one to select one of around 5 channels and the second one for volume. It did make me wonder why they did that instead of just providing a radio to each room. Now that I saw the extra, those rooms were likely built several decades earlier when radios were bulky and expensive and thus used Rediffusion's approach, which I never heard of until this video.
I had really vague memories of the same thing from hotels in the '70s or '80s - probably the same ones with the Hammond organ music. If you do a google image search for rediffusion switchbox you'll see a few pictures that might jog more memories.
So, that extra bit was really interesting; particularly the familiar company name "Radio Rentals". I never realised it was because they rented radios - or was it just me 😱
That one may just be you - but then again I've had plenty of 'now you mention it - it's obvious' moments. Although some things are staring you in the face and you don't pick up on it - like Shell Petrol ...of course the name comes from the fact they started out selling sea shells. https://www.shell.com/about-us/our-heritage/our-company-history.html - or the Yamaha Logo that's made up of three tuning forks....
Thanks for redoing the "deleted scene" - very interesting! Pretty sure the French term for rebroadcasting is rediffusion ... At any rate - wow! Not living over on your side of the pond, this was new information for me. Of course, it very closely matches cable TV except that they appeared to only be sending audio and not RF signals. In North America cable TV is sometimes referred to as "CATV" where the CA isn't for cable, it's for "community antenna". Someone would put up a tall tower to get those distant stations, then rediffuse(!) the signal to his neighbors over coaxial cable. Heck, we even had a guy a couple streets over when I was a kid that was doing that for his neighbors (late 60s/early 70s until an ice storm took his tower down).
Hi Mat. Great video I also enjoyed the extra vid info to. May be because I'm tired but didn't fully get how the tape being twisted works. Glad u in better health
It's not the easiest thing to explain so I didn't really try too hard, as the last time I talked about a tape that was a mobius strip - I just got lots of comments arguing that I was wrong or it was impossible. So I thought well it doesn't matter - just let it go. It is what it is - and it's not worth worrying about.
Great vid as per usual, however (oh, the dreaded however) an increasing pet hate of mine on YouTube is YouTubers putting background music on their vids, presumably in hopes of giving their vids easy amateur "atmosphere", it is just very annoying. Now I fully realise that you wanted to give a "clever" listen of the music to your viewers, but I have to say still annoying! Is this the first time I've "constructively" criticised the God that is Techmoan, what have I done!
I knew if I made a video about background music but didn't play anything other than a few seconds here and there then 102% of the comments would be about the lack of music. So I thought well let's play the BGM as BGM. It's a decision I'm happy with and would do again. It's intended to be a humorous knowing nod to the subject and a demonstration of the effects both positive and negative of background music. I promise though in videos that aren't about background music there will be no background music..as I’m not a fan of it in videos either.
I know you said this music wasn’t as enjoyable as the Seeburg library — but if you made available digital archives of these cartridges, I think that’d be great! I love hearing music that never falls on ears anymore, it’s as if you’ve discovered a time capsule of sorts.
Obligatory Red Dwarf "Reggie Wilson" reference...
I had to look that up - I only saw Season 1, and that was when it first aired.
The deleted scene about Redif's history was actually my favorite part of the video! As someone who had no background knowledge on the company, if you happen to mention Rediffusion in a future video you might want to cut in this 3min section because most viewers should find it fascinating.
I've ended up adding it onto the end now, it's an interesting bit of history, but doesn't really fit in the main body of the video.
Thanks for the video Mat. I see the Moans do get out the house. Best wishes.
That bit was so hard to do (with such mediocre results) that they'll be staying at home for the foreseeable.
Continuing to corner the market in coverage of background music systems, I see. You have my hard approval for this👍 Oh and I guessed 1964 and 8 hours of playback at the start. Way off, haha.
The game was rigged from the start. I mean background music - massive carts, of course that'll be hours and hours of music. Well that's what I assumed.
man I was so close on the year! I guessed 1958!, awesome vid!
I originally guess 1961, the cartridge label style is either late 50s or early 60s
Great video!
Thanks old chap.
I nailed the year (1957), but I was way off the with length (4 hours). Here's hoping the YouTube copyright trolls don't content match that background music, Mat! :P
I guessed 4 hours as well - but then again I didn't think it would be late 50s - especially when the Seeburg came out in 1959 - everything is just a touch mixed up. Even the Museum of Obsolete media entry states that the TP1 used Fidelipacs. So all of this is a weird UK bit of undocumented history.
Hey Mat, that was a really great video! I liked the pace of it and the background music. I also really liked your application of the Puppets in an integrated skit vs a skit at the end. I know you did that test to see how many people listen to the skit at the end - it's my hunch that you figured that not many people did so, and I know how hard it is to come up with funny ideas. But this integrated skit stuff is a great idea. Like when you first used the puppets in the Ring doorbell review of a few years back. I thought the history of the Redifusion company was really interesting - one of the reasons I've really gotten to like Technology Connections is that he goes into the business realities of the subjects of the videos. I have to say that I thought his recent series on the CED was an advance on what your video did a few years back, though the 2nd video was weaker than the 1st. I do agree it would be difficult to integrate it into your fast paced video. I did get the sense you've been aware of the short attention spans of viewers these days, you're in a tough spot! I'm not sure what I'd do and I think you're doing just as well as anyone else.
I can see that the average percent of a video that gets watched is under 40% - and by far the most successful video I've had for ages was under 6 minutes long. Funnily enough the average retention (watch time percent) on that one was 66% - so that was still way too long for some. I think Max Headroom had it right with blipverts.
Would gladly have listened to the whole of your Redifussion history monologue Mat - if its in a separate video those who want to can listen and those that don't won't have to :)
That was the only part from it that still made sense - the rest was covered in the video, things about the length of the carts, the four track system etc - the video was reworked, but that meant this short history part had nowhere left to go.
Also - the Rediffusion bit! Please release that on a low-content week when you need a break. :) I bet folks would be into it.
Okay, maybe a little cheeky but how about releasing the recordings you took from the Reditunes to us patreons? I think it would be really interesting to have a gander... :)
I’ll see if there’s something I can do without opening myself up to problems.
Awesomeeeee. Thanks for this.
Brilliant, using Reditunes' own music as the background track for this video. If YouTube pulls a "content match" I'd be very surprised. Thanks for this one; I enjoyed seeing the rapid evolution of cart-based systems that started right here.
That was interesting. I've never heard of a Mobius loop being used with tape before. That means both sides of the tape must be magnetically coated. The back of the endless loop tapes is usually coated with graphite so the tape slips on itself as it winds to the centre. The coating on that tape must be a compromise between ferrous oxide and graphite I guess. Really odd! You do find us some strange things, Mat. As for the history lesson, I didn't know anything about the start of Rediffusion. Personally I would always be happy to have those pieces in the main video, but I can understand why you might think it better to leave them out. You can always post them for us! :-)
8-track tape was THE format in cars in USA in the 1960's & 1970's, and it use the same mobius strip loop.
Wow it was a completely different world back then! Great vid!
The history part was very interesting. I never knew the origins of Rediffusion, as you say to me it was a place you rented your telly. Fascinating they redistributed radio. I would love more history like this in your videos.
I agree with what others are saying; I think you should put that piece back in. The "where it came from" always makes the thing so much more interesting. 3 minutes for a little history lesson isn't long at all.
I’ll see what I can do in the morning.
I was a small decade off with the introduction, but I was really way off with the length! Funny that a couple of years can make such a difference. Nice touch of putting the muppets in the middle of the video (reminded me a bit of Statler and Waldorf for some reason).
I am working, so can't watch right now, but, I want to say, an hour long video of you would beat most anything on terrestrial / satellite / cable.
After you do a video about the upgraded Reditune system, it seems to me that you will have then covered every music recording format that ever existed. I can't imagine there being much more--but maybe my imagination is quite limited. Anyway, I find these BMS videos at least as interesting, if not more so, than the "normal" music systems you showcase here.
Amazing that the tape player still works after 50+ years without having to do any restoration other than cleaning the head.
Did you record all of the tapes? Of course (see my nickname ;-)) I'm particularly interested in the ones that say "Hammond Organ" ;-)
I’ve put those to the back of the queue - but when I’ve done them, I’ll be in touch.
Another great video. The background music is maybe a little too high for my taste. I really need to concentrate to hear and get the content - but is probably just me and my bad hearing :) :)
Agreed, the background music while you talk was just a touch too high.
Thank you for the puppet interlude!
yes, the best videos always have puppet appearances, the Ring doorbell was a classic!!
If you ever decide to start replacing capacitors on some of this older stuff to get it working much more impressively, this would be a very easy one to start with, due to access, as they copied the Fender guitar amp in-line component style, that had recently come out by that time. On this unit, you only have 12 of them to replace, all very easy to get to (the black, orange, yellow, and bright blue components).
I think the part you cut out, may be more interesting than the main video!
I’ll see if there’s some way to shoe-horn it back in. I’ll need to have a sleep on it.
how many audio systems exist in the world ?? :-)
"No it's not, I live in a bungalow!"
"286"
Ironically, I didn't care for the background music through the show but the stuff at the end (replacing the standard music) was pretty catchy.
anyone else getting "Sorry, we couldn’t find that page" on the vimeo link?
Give it another go - I think I got something wrong originally.