Parabolic microphones, like the one to the left, were attached to tape recorders starting in the 1950s and increased the distance from which sounds could be captured.;xNLx;;xNLx;************;xNLx;This timeline focuses on the 1950s through the 1970s, but there are also some present-day reflections on tape recording--if you can find them!
Although magnetic tape recording was introduced with the unwieldy 1939 German magnetophone, 1950s' inventions brought tape recording to hobby status.
Billed as an international non-political network for sharing audio tapes, the network was founded in Texas and had members in 56 countries by 1959.
Called audio postcards, audio or voice letters, or voicespondence, these tapes provide an ethnographic look at intimacy.
Secretly recording & sharing audio tapes through kitchen parties was a way to share music & other cultural material outlawed by the Soviet government.
Fifth grade classes in Dallas, Texas, and Yorkshire, England, did tape exchanges to learn more about different school environments and local life. Specifically, the American students taped one of their folk music pageants and sent the tape to England. The British students then sent tapes back.
School clubs were organized across the US and guided by a regular column in a well-known recording magazine by national youth president Jerry Heisler.
The Dutch Society of Sound Hunters (NVG) had a list of values for recorders to follow that were in contrast to the marketing of the Philips company.
The majority of recordings that are accessible today come from British clubs that saw the tape recorder as more than a party toy.
The introduction of this cassette meant a drop in price but did not mark the end of reel-to-reel taping and tape clubs.
Ronald B. Ramsey, a young psychiatrist in California, created tapes of anti-war commentary that traveled through an underground network to Hanoi.
A tape exchange network was set up among 3 schools (in New Zealand, New Caledonia, and Taiwan) by the head of the French Dept. at an Auckland college.
Hear what one Australian and one American have to say about the glory days of tape-sponding and where we are heading with social networking.
We'd love to hear from you. Please send questions or feedback to the below email addresses.
Before contacting us, you may wish to visit our FAQs page which has lots of useful info on Tiki-Toki.
We can be contacted by email at: hello@tiki-toki.com.
You can also follow us on twitter at twitter.com/tiki_toki.
If you are having any problems with Tiki-Toki, please contact us as at: help@tiki-toki.com
Close