On Wax/Off Wax - Building a Recorder Kit (early access)
In this video I assemble a Japanese educational kit that should be able to record on, and play recordings off, a wax cylinder.
If you want to see some of the other Gakken kits - their website is here: http://otonanokagaku.net/english/index.html
After making this video (it was shot a few weeks ago) I've already bought a couple of other Gakken products off ebay One of those is this kit http://otonanokagaku.net/english/products/gramophone/detail.html that can play normal vinyl records as well as etch a recording into the plastic coating of a CD-R.
I'll see how well this first one is received, before I decide whether to make a video about that kit or assemble it just for my own enjoyment.
P.S. I've stopped using Twitter recently and deleted it off all my devices - there's no one reason, I just found it was a time waster and my experience fluctuated between irritation, frustration and antagonism, very rarely venturing into enjoyment.
Every now and then I like to take a step back, look at how I spend my time and eliminate anything from my daily routine that I don't find fun and rewarding...so it had to go. The only reason I mention this is so you aren't wasting your own time sending me tweets, because I can't read them.
Patreon has a messaging function that works well. I get immediate notification of any messages received and I know these won't be from trolls, bots, spammers or psychopaths. I believe that youtube still auto-tweets my new video releases out, so it probably looks like I'm there...but I'm not.
Comments (29)
Interesting post, just ordered a Gakken kit from Adafruit.
Would using the goggle translate app help with the Japanese instructions? On the android version (and probably apple), you can use the camera to highlight the Japanese text and get an English translation.
I used it to clarify one sentence, but the rest was easy to follow using the pictures.
That was brilliant. Audio recording is my guilty pleasure and I'm pretty sure that Eddison had similar fidelity problems when he was inventing the cylinder. Now, we need to think of a practical use for wax shavings.
Before I watche the video, I just wanted to say that I coincidentally also completely stopped using twitter a short while ago. For pretty much the same reasons I think: There was nothing that really pushed it, but I found that it was just a time waster that rather tends to annoy me than being fun. (Apologies for the many edits if you can see them, I'm typing from the iPad and it's easy to hit enter instead of backspace.)
Your edits stay secret...just between you and your virtual keyboard. I do the same thing myself...I miss paragraphs. I found every single time I posted anything on twitter...however simple and self explanatory...e.g. 'here is a picture of an unusual object isn't it odd'. There would be at least half a dozen people who took it as an attack on their way of life and then another group who didn't understand it. Then someone who did understand it would re-tweet it, but without the context there would be a backlash from their followers. So I then tried posting things that were incredibly bland that no one on the planet could have an opinion on...but still I got the same reaction. Every time I posted or retweeted anything, it was a trigger to inviting a wave of negativity into my life. After a while I realised that the only way I could affect the experience with my own actions...would be to turn it off.
How an Edison cylinder phonograph normally sounds. :-) <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIo9Jlvx5fA" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIo9Jlvx5fA</a>
Ah, so the average length of the cylinders is the same as my sexual performances
I have one of there theremins. It didn't come with much of a mook.
I've seen that some of the kits were offered in two versions - with or without a 'mook'. I suppose some might not even have the option.
Thanks very much for yet another great video, I really enjoyed watching you wax lyrical, although obviously it doesn't hold a candle to my dictaphone.
Fortunately despite the less than stellar results I didn't let it get on my wick.
I really like the new outro with the clips from Your channel, while the Patreons are listed and the theme music is playing.
Interesting concept, poor execution... Great video. By the way Matt, really digging the new outro
Yes, I think the new outro is working well at the moment...and I can keep swapping out individual clips when something more interesting comes along.
Neat product.. Pity it doesn't work any better than that. I recently saw a commercially produced vintage wax cylinder for sale in a nearby antique shop. It had music on it. Of course I had nothing to play it on.
I think it 'should' work better but the adjustment needed to get it to work perfectly involved adjusting the height of the record and play heads by fractions of a millimetre...and I just couldn't get it right. The plastic cup version looks like it was changed to fix this issue with a completely re-engineered play and record head.
Have you tried the Google translate app for the iPad? Instead of entering text, you press the camera icon and hover over the writing and it overlays the words on the screen. Less than ideal and a touch fiddly but better than learning Japanese.
Yes I've used it a few times, you can see it in action in the VHD video. I could follow the pictures without too much difficulty, however the one bit that was slightly ambiguous was apparently also a bit vague in the official English instructions according to the one write up I saw.
Good Job with the video! The sound quality you got is what you would expect if you did a recording with the original wax cylinder. Also worth noting is that a friend has one of the Garkken cameras, it is as plastic as you would expect and fun to use.
I like the way that often their kits perform a function that can be used long after the kit has been completed.
Great video! Would love to see more videos of of these types of kits. It's funny you should say the magazine is more like a book - here in Japan these kinds of publications are referred to as "Mook"s (Magazine Book), I think it even said it on the cover of yours in the corner.
Occasionally I accidentally say something that's true. I suppose it's the law of averages...a stopped clock etc... I do wish these were available with an English version of the whole magazine/book here in the UK. I'd definitely subscribe. Much better than those...make a model car over the course of 200 issues for only £1500 magazines we get.
I really enjoyed this, not only for the entertainment factor (the playback sounded like Davros - lord of the Daleks!); but also because of its relative simply assembly and educational factor. I'll be purchasing some of these for my children. Thank you Matt. 👍
I've added a few links under the youtube video. Although the improved version with the plastic cup seems impossible to find nowadays.
Very interesting. I've seen these kits but never tried one. I'm also a professional Japanese translator, so I could probably be of some help with the directions if need be. Obviously it would depend on the length and so forth, but if you had a part that you were having particular trouble with, I could certainly help with that.
In the unlikely event I start a garage punk band, I'll call it "Troll, Bots, Spammers and Psychopaths" interesting kit, results are definitely not hifi, but fun to build and cool to look at.
Brilliant! Excellent video. Even though the end result may be a little bit dissapointing, but I think the kit is absolutely genius because of its design. The design goal has been obviously for the kit to be as cheap as possible and on the other hand, it needed to be relativly easy to assemble even for kids. I am impressed of this design in the first place but I think the kit also teaches younger people the principles of early audio recordings. Great video again, thank you so much - I love your channel, please keep on with it!
Haha, that's about the same quality like the original Edison rolls from days of yore. Very amusing concept! :D