Tape Recorder Miami Coral Gables Florida

Tape Recorder Miami Coral Gables Florida

History of Audio Recorders

Tape Recorder Miami Coral Gables Florida

Tape Recorder Miami Coral Gables Florida

Telephone industry giant Western Electric had research laboratories (merged with the AT&T engineering department in 1925 to form Bell Telephone Laboratories) with material and human resources that no record company or independent inventor could match. They had the best microphone, a condenser type developed there in 1916 and greatly improved in 1922 and the best amplifiers and test equipment. They had already patented an electromagnetic recorder in 1918, and in the early 1920s, they decided to intensively apply their hardware and expertise to developing two state-of-the-art systems for electronically recording and reproducing sound: one that employed conventional discs and another that recorded optically on motion picture film. Their engineers pioneered the use of mechanical analogs of electrical circuits and developed a superior “rubber line” recorder for cutting the groove into the wax master in the disc recording system.

In the 1920s, Phonofilm and other early motion picture sound systems employed optical recording technology, in which the audio signal was graphically recorded on photographic film. The amplitude variations comprising the signal were used to modulate a light source which was imaged onto the moving film through a narrow slit, allowing the signal to be photographed as variations in the density or width of a “soundtrack”.

This period also saw several other historic developments including the introduction of the first practical magnetic sound recording system, the magnetic wire recorder, which was based on the work of Danish inventor Valdemar Poulsen. Magnetic wire recorders were effective, but the sound quality was poor, so between the wars they were primarily used for voice recording and marketed as business dictating machines. In 1924 a German engineer, Dr. Kurt Stille, developed the Poulsen wire recorder as a dictating machine. The following year, Ludwig Blattner began work that eventually produced the Blattnerphone, enhancing it to use steel tape instead of wire. The BBC started using Blattner Phones in 1930 to record radio programs. In 1933 radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi’s company purchased the rights to the Blattnerphone, and newly developed Marconi-Stille recorders were installed in the BBC’s Maida Vale Studios in March 1935. The tape used in Blattner Phones and Marconi-Stille recorders was the same material used to make razor blades, and not surprisingly the fearsome Marconi-Stille recorders were considered so dangerous that technicians had to operate them from another room for safety. Because of the high recording speeds required, they used enormous reels about one meter in diameter, and the thin tape frequently broke, sending jagged lengths of razor steel flying around the studio. The K1 Magnetophon was the first practical tape recorder, developed by AEG in Germany in 1935.

An important field of the invention during this period was the tape recorder. Magnetic tape recording uses an amplified electrical audio signal to generate analogous variations of the magnetic field produced by a tape head, which impresses corresponding variations of magnetization on the moving tape. In playback mode, the signal path is reversed, the tape head acting as a miniature electric generator as the varyingly magnetized tape passes over it. The original solid steel ribbon was replaced by a much more practical coated paper tape, but acetate soon replaced paper as the standard tape base. Acetate has fairly low tensile strength and if very thin it will snap easily, so it was in turn eventually superseded by polyester. This technology, the basis for almost all commercial recording from the 1950s to the 1980s, was developed in the 1930s by German audio engineers who also rediscovered the principle of AC biasing (first used in the 1920s for wire recorders), which dramatically improved the frequency response of tape recordings. The technology was further improved just after World War II by American audio engineer John T. Mullin with backing from Bing Crosby Enterprises. Mullin’s pioneering recorders were modifications of captured German recorders. In the late 1940s, the Ampex company produced the first tape recorders commercially available in the US.

A typical Compact Cassette

Tape Recorder Miami Coral Gables Florida

Tape Recorder Miami Coral Gables Florida

Magnetic tape brought about sweeping changes in both radio and the recording industry. The sound could be recorded, erased and re-recorded on the same tape many times, sounds could be duplicated from tape to tape with only minor loss of quality, and recordings could now be very precisely edited by physically cutting the tape and rejoining it. Within a few years of the introduction of the first commercial tape recorder—the Ampex 200 model, launched in 1948—American musician-inventor Les Paul had invented the first multitrack tape recorder, ushering in another technical revolution in the recording industry. Tape made possible the first sound recordings totally created by electronic means, opening the way for the bold sonic experiments of the Musique Concrète school and avant-garde composers like Karlheinz Stockhausen, which in turn led to the innovative pop music recordings of artists such as Frank Zappa, The Beatles, and The Beach Boys.

The practice of audio recording has changed considerably over the years as technology has advanced. Choosing the right audio recorder depends largely on the user’s individual preferences and needs. This guide is designed to provide readers with clear information about the main types of audio recorders. It also describes the advantages, disadvantages, and applications of each type. Digital recorders allow uploads and are very small and compact, but these devices are more expensive. Analog recorders are well suited for those on a budget, but buyers should be aware that their sound quality is inferior, and these devices make it necessary to acquire the appropriately sized cassette. Smartphone apps that act as audio recorders are convenient and inexpensive, but they have limited features.

This guide also considers the unique needs of various users who regularly rely on audio recorders, including private investigators, students, administrators and secretaries, authors, reporters, and transcriptionists. Digital audio recorders are very versatile and are suited to a wide range of users, particularly students, authors, private investigators, and administrators. Analog audio recorders are often selected by authors, students, those on a budget, and those unfamiliar with digital technology. Audio recording software is typically more aligned with the needs of transcriptionists, authors, or tech-savvy individuals who want vocal system control. Audio recording apps are another appropriate option for authors, students, and those who do not want to spend a lot of money on a more complex audio recording device.

Magnetic recording is a backbone technology of the electronic age. It is a fundamental way for permanently storing information. In the audio realm, magnetic tape (in the form of compact cassettes) is a popular way of distributing music. People either buy tapes pre-recorded with the material, or make their own tapes from CDs. In the video realm, the videotape is used widely both in the broadcast industry and at home to store material for later viewing on VCRs. In the computer realm, magnetic recording is used on floppy disks, hard disks and magnetic tape as the main method for data storage.

Here we will focus on cassette tapes and tape recorders, but the same technology applies to any form of magnetic recording. You will learn that the reason why magnetic recording is so popular is because it an easy and inexpensive technology with good medium-term (10 to 20 years) storage characteristics.  Tape Recorder Miami Beach Coral Gables Florida.

The Tape

There are two parts to any audio magnetic recording system: the recorder itself (which also acts as the playback device) and the tape it uses as the storage medium.

The tape itself is actually very simple. It consists of a thin plastic base material, and bonded to this base is a coating of ferric oxide powder. The oxide is normally mixed with a binder to attach it to the plastic, and it also includes some sort of dry lubricant to avoid wearing out the recorder.  Tape Recorder Miami Beach Coral Gables Florida.

Iron oxide (FeO) is the red rust we commonly see. Ferric oxide (Fe2O3) is another oxide of iron. Maghemite or gamma ferric oxide are common names for the substance.

This oxide is a ferromagnetic material, meaning that if you expose it to a magnetic field it is permanently magnetized by the field. That ability gives magnetic tape two of its most appealing features:

  • You can record anything you want instantly and the tape will remember what you recorded for playback at any time.
  • You can erase the tape and record something else on it anytime you like.
  • These two features are what make tapes and disks so popular — they are instant and they are easily changed.

Audio tapes have gone through several format changes over the years.

The original format was not tape at all but actually was a thin steel wire. The wire recorder was invented in 1900 by Valdemar Poulsen.

German engineers perfected the first tape recorders using oxide tapes in the 1930s. Tapes originally appeared in a reel-to-reel format. See this page for a picture of an early reel-to-reel recorder.  Tape Recorder Miami Beach Coral Gables Florida.

Reel-to-reel tapes were common until the compact cassette or “cassette tape” took hold of the market. The cassette was patented in 1964 and eventually beat out 8-track tapes and reel-to-reel to become the dominant tape format in the audio industry.

If you look inside a compact cassette, you will find that it is a fairly simple device. There are two spools and the long piece of tape, two rollers and two halves of a plastic outer shell with various holes and cutouts to hook the cassette into the drive. There is also a small felt pad that acts as a backstop for the record/playback head in the tape player. In a 90-minute cassette, the tape is 443 feet (135 meters) long.

The Tape Recorder

The simplest tape recorders are very simple indeed, and everything from a Walkman to a high-end audiophile deck embodies that fundamental simplicity.

The basic idea involves an electromagnet that applies a magnetic flux to the oxide on the tape. The oxide permanently “remembers” the flux it sees. A tape recorder’s record head is a very small, circular electromagnet with a small gap in it.

Laws regarding audio recording

In Miami or Coral gables, recording someone falls under the two-party consent rule in which both parties (the one filming and the one being filmed) understands and consents to the recording.

It is actually a felony if you record someone without their knowledge so you should be sure to understand the laws surrounding surveillance and voyeurism. You can be filmed in situations that you knowingly give up privacy like banks and retail stores. This law protects you in other areas such as your own home or even in public if your privacy has been breached. For example, just because you’re in public doesn’t mean someone can videotape under your skirt or record a private phone conversation between you and a spouse. You want to know the law and how it can protect you.

 Tape Recorder Miami Beach Coral Gables Florida.

Tape Recorder Miami Beach Coral Gables Florida.

Under Florida law, in most circumstances all parties to the call must consent to the recording of the call in order to make it legal to record the call. This type of restrictive law is sometimes referred to as a “two-party consent” law but in reality, Florida has an “all-party consent” law in place. Chapter 934 of the Florida Statutes governs the Security of Communications and Surveillance Operations within the State of Florida. Florida Statute § 934.03 is the State of Florida’s primary wiretapping law, which governs the interception and disclosure of wire, oral, or electronic communications. Florida Statute § 934.03(1) lists what acts are illegal, including but not limited to the use of any electronic device to intercept an oral communication or phone call. If you violate the statute, you are committing a crime. Pursuant to Florida Statute § 934.03(4), the crime could be a third-degree felony, which is usually punishable by up to five years in state prison. In addition to the criminal penalties for illegally recording a call, you may also be liable for civil fines and penalties pursuant to Florida Statute § 934.10.  Tape Recorder Miami Beach Coral Gables Florida.

So how can you avoid committing a crime if you want to record a call in Miami or Coral Gables city? Within Florida Statute § 934.03, there are many exceptions to the prohibition of recording or “intercepting” calls. Most of the exceptions are contained within Florida Statute § 934.03(2). Of particular importance is Florida Statute § 934.03(2)(d) which provides as follows: “it is lawful under this section and ss. 934.04 – 934.09 for a person to intercept a wire, oral, or electronic communication when all parties to the communication have given prior consent to such interception.” So in the case of a debt collector calling you, as long as you advise the person who calls you that you are also going to record the call and that by continuing to remain on the call they are consenting to the recording, the call can be recorded legally. Tape Recorder Miami Beach Coral Gables Florida.

Under both Florida and federal law, in Miami and also Coral Gables it is almost always illegal to record a phone call or private conversation if you are not a party to that call or private conversation. It should be also noted that at this time under Florida law, law enforcement officers are also exempt from the prohibitions laid out in Florida Statute § 934.03(1).

CONTACT US

305.542.4600 

  [email protected]  / [email protected]

 Spy Store Miami & Spy Shop Miami

Miami Beach  Miami Gardens  Aventura • Coral Gables •  Doral   Hialeah  Hialeah Gardens • Homestead • Kendall • Key Biscayne  Miami • Miami Lakes • North Miami  North Miami Beach • Opa-Locka  Palmetto Bay • Pinecrest  Pinecrest / Monroe Couty  South Miami • Miami Beach