Saturday, February 04, 2012

Sounds of the 60s

Way back in the 1960s I would be barricaded in my room with Alan Freeman's Top 20 Show playing on a transistor radio. With copies of NME and Record Mirror on the floor, I knew roughly when the tracks I wanted would be coming up and sat patiently with the reel-to-reel tape recorder on pause and a microphone placed in the best place to pick up the sound with as little interference as was feasible with this very basic kit.

Here's the 40-odd years on version. Funny how it's much as it used to be. Total Recorder software replaces the reel-to-reel and some bits and pieces inside my PC that have names but not names I can tell you replace the microphone. The radio is BBC's iPlayer with its playlist to give me an idea of what comes when. It's nice, though, to be able to try again if I miss the start of something as editing the mp3 file is a damn sight easier than snipping bits of tape out and joining them together again with Selotape.


Just as amateur but at least someone coming in doesn't wreck the recording!