I get distracted far too easily. I haven't bought it, but I have read up on it. Maybe I'll try making audio recordings on tape at some point.
Have any of you ever made a sound recording (groove) on tape?
I would be interested to know how you did it
Perhaps many people are familiar with this device, but I don't think so. I didn't know it, although I'm always digging around in this area. And the idea is brilliant. Back then you could only record a few minutes on vinyl and with this tape you could record four hours! It reminds me of my youth, when the first Walkmans came onto the market and it was possible to take music on cassette with you on the go. Cassettes in the Walkman and cassettes in the car. In the car, that was the only way to play your own wish list. Theoretically, there were car record players, but they only existed in theory, nobody really used them (where should you store the records? On a sunny beach in the boot at 80°C).
I probably didn't know the device because it was only on the market for a relatively short time and that was before I was born.
The function is like this: An audio groove (like on a record) was cut on an endless tape many metres long. The groove started on the far left and after one revolution of the tape (many metres further) the groove slowly moved to the right and the groove could be continued to the right of the first groove. Thus the groove slowly but surely moved to the right to the right end and up to 6 grooves per millimetre of belt width could be arranged. In this way, up to 80 grooves were created and the tape ran and ran.
On small cassettes, 60 and 120 minutes of playing time were achieved. Large tapes could run for 4 hours.
Images Source: Elektronik Museum Tettnag
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Images Source: Wikipedia
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The Tefifon was developed by Dr Karl Daniel in the 1930s and produced and marketed by the German company Tefi (Tonband-Fabrik Eger, owned by Ludwig Karl Strauß) from the 1940s onwards.
History of the Tefifon:
Invention: Dr Karl Daniel began developing the Tefifon in the 1930s.
Market launch: The market launch took place in the 1940s.
Market presence: The Tefifon was on the market until the 1960s, but became less and less important in the 1950s as magnetic tape technology and the vinyl record became more popular and further developed.
Stereo Tefifon:
Yes, there was also a stereo Tefifon. Tefi later launched a stereo version of the Tefifon to meet the growing consumer demand for better sound quality and stereo playback. However, these models were less common and were not widely used due to strong competition from other playback technologies such as magnetic tape (tape cassettes) and stereo discs.
The Tefifon had some specific advantages and disadvantages compared to the gramophone record:
Advantages of the Tefifon:
- Longer playing time: the Tefifon could play back significantly longer recordings than conventional records. Some Tefi cassettes offered up to 4 hours of playing time, which was far longer than the maximum playing time of a record.
- Robustness: Tefi tapes were more robust and less susceptible to mechanical damage, such as scratches or breakages, which often occur with vinyl records.
- Compact cassettes: The cassette shape made the tapes easier and safer to handle and store compared to the larger and more fragile vinyl records.
Disadvantages of the Tefifon:
- Limited availability: the Tefifon was a niche product and never really caught on. As a result, there was a limited choice of music and recordings compared to vinyl records. Even then, there were exclusive contracts in the music industry and the best-known artists already had record contracts. This meant that no ‘interesting’ artists could be found on Tefifon cassettes.
- Lower sound quality: The sound quality of the Tefifon was often not as good as that of records. The fidelity and frequency range could not keep up with high-quality records.
- Mechanical complexity: The Tefifon system was mechanically more complex and more susceptible to faults and wear than the simple scanning system of records.
- Limited playback devices: While record players were widely available and standardised, there were only a few manufacturers and models of Tefifon players, making availability and replacement difficult.
- Production and duplication process: As with music drums, the production of music tapes was simple, but duplication was much more complex than with records!
The Tefifon and its technology were protected by various patents. The most important patents were held by Dr Karl Daniel and the Tefi company. Here are some details of relevant patents:
GB528763A • 1940-11-06 • KARL DANIEL Improvements in sound record bands
GB767918A • 1957-02-06 • KARL DANIEL Improvements in or relating to sound-carriers in the form of an endless tape recorded for mechanical reproduction
GB523851A • 1940-07-24 • KARL DANIEL Improvements in mechanical sound recording and reproduction
GB532028A • 1941-01-16 • KARL DANIEL Improved apparatus for cutting sound records on sound tapes
GB500671A • 1939-02-14 • KARL DANIEL Method of duplicating endless band sound records
DE1020805B • 1957-12-12 • DANIEL TEFI APPARATEBAU Cassette for endless, tape-like sound carriers
Greetings from Austria
Thomas
