Cassette Fact Of The Day!

I started sharing small cassette facts daily with friends, however I've decided to take this to the general internet!

Askbox open for cassette-related questions/requests only!

(More info under the cut)

Sometime next week, I'll return to posting cassette facts, however this blog will no longer solely consist of facts. I've been thinking about having this blog be a long-term thing, and I figured that there definitely aren't enough facts about cassettes that would make this blog last for more than a few years.

I'm going to be highlighting any recent releases on cassette/relating to cassettes, as some artists have been releasing their music on cassette and I'd like to show that the medium is truly not dead ^^ (I'll be taking requests on this since I can't keep track of every musician ever! If a band or artist you like releases anything on cassette, feel free to share it in my askbox/dms)

VCRs typically have three different recording modes: Standard Play, Long Play, and Extended Play/Super Long Play.

Standard Play is exactly how it sounds. In this mode, the tape is played at its regular speed (for example, if you were to record on a T-180 tape, you would have 180 minutes of recording time.)

Type III cassette tapes (also known as ferrichrome tapes) were introduced in 1973 to be a combination of Type I (ferric oxide) and Type II (chromium dioxide) tapes. These tapes were double-layered, having both a ferric base and a chromium pigment coating.

These tapes were an attempt to solve the issues that its predecessors had: Type I tapes had a weak treble definition, while Type II tapes had a weak bass definition. By combining both coatings, this would fix the issues of both tape types. However, another problem would arise.

The compact cassette was originally created for dictation, though we now know it as an analog music format.

Pre-recorded musicassettes were released in 1965 (1966 in the U.S.), however the quality of the first compact cassette players were not created for the purpose of playing music. This would inspire the Advent Corporation to create the first high-fidelity tape player/recorder in 1971, shifting the image of the compact cassette.

The first ever cassingle released worldwide was C·30 C·60 C·90 Go by Bow Wow Wow in 1980. The first cassingle released in the U.S. was Vacation by the Go-Go's in 1982.

Like the compact cassette, VHS tapes are magnetic. The tape itself is a half-inch wide Mylar tape coated in oxides/metals.

It's loaded into the spools through an M-loading system: the tape is pulled out of the shell, guided up the system via rollers and posts, and wrapped around a head drum before being guided back to the shell where it is wound into a reel. This system forms an M shape, which is where the technique gets its name!

Cassettes tend to come with a long card strip. It usually features album artwork/photos, lyrics, writing credits, etc. This card has multiple different names based on the shape it takes:

A J-card is the name of the card when it is bent into a "J" shape. It can have (at the very least) 3 panels, however I've seen as many as 9 panels on a J-card. The maximum number of panels a J-card could have is infinite (Or at least, however many will fit in the norelco case!).

The front side containing the album art is the longest, with the spine and back panel being smaller. The panels that are folded in are around the same size as the front panel, thought they're slightly smaller to allow them to fit in the case.

A U-card is the name of the card when it's bent into a "U" shape. Like the J-card, it can have as many panels as needed.

The front and back panels are the same size, with the back panels having two holes to account for the posts of the Norelco case.

O-cards are the only cards that don't get inserted in Norelco cases. They completely wrap around the cassette and form a rectangular "O".

Magnetic tape recording had already existed before the creation of the compact cassette through the use of reel-to-reel tape machines.

In 1928, Fritz Pfleumer patented his invention of a magnetic tape strip that could be used as an alternative to wire recording. This tape was made of a thin paper coated in ferric oxide powder, and used lacquer as glue.

Pfleumer's invention would later be used by a German electronics company called AEG to build the Magnetophon K1. This would be the world's first practical tape recorder, and would later be brought to the U.S. and inspire the creation of many more tape machines.

The tape machine was not only used by radio programs, but also airlines and factories. It was even used in the home; about 1 million households in the U.S. owned a tape machine in 1953.

Over the years, recording engineers would make the size of the magnetic tape smaller and smaller, which eventually led to the creation of 1/8-inch tape by Phillips in 1962. This is the tape size that can be seen in compact cassettes today.

(sources under the cut)