From: The Cassette Mythos, Autonomedia 1990
There can be no doubt that cassettes as a medium of exchange are as important to music culture as notebook paper is to school chums. What is in question--and an issue hotly debated in some circles--is the limitations of cassettes when processed through other media--particularly radio. Some technologies marry more easily than others, and however unpopular it may be to utter horrible truths, the fact is that for programmers doing "strait" live radio, cassettes are a difficult and ungainly format, however excellent and accessible they may be for recording music live and at home.
The most dedicated programmer of independent/obscure music knows that there are difficulties with cassettes on live radio. Although some packaging can at times be troublesome, there is really only one problem with cassettes:
Cueing. This is how the programmer prepares the instruments of the trade; loosely speaking, it is involved in the process of searching for, selecting, and "setting up" a recorded piece. Music on records is not simply an auditory event in the behind-the-scenes world of radio. It is also very visual. Songs are literally looked for. You can usually judge the length of a piece by its width and the spacing of the grooves, the name of a piece by counting bands (and comparing that to the list of titles), and sometimes even get a rough idea of the sound by the pattern in the grooves (synth beats look very different from ambient hums). You can tell when a piece will end within seconds of the actual event by sight and this can be very important to the programmer who plays so much new stuff that intimate familiarity is not always possible. When lack of intimacy is an issue, it is also possible to find that piece-you-heard-the-other-day-but-don't-know-which-one-it-is by skipping through twenty cuts in a matter of a dozen seconds or so. You can also skip through an entirely unfamiliar record on the spot if you have a mind to play something just fresh in. Finally, the actual cueing involves finding the beginning of the segment you want to play (which isn't necessarily always the beginning of a piece). You do this by finding the general place visually first, and only then do you listen for the exact spot. Now let's take cassettes (you see what I'm building up to). The pieces are virtually invisible. Finding that unfamiliar piece can take several minutes! Looking for a requested song in the far corners of your large station music library while playing a taped piece with an unknown ending might demand a quick dash back (a little too late) to the controls. Or else you might have to keep a list of "things to do when the tape is over." And you might as well forget about "skipping through" a new tape to find something to play while you're programming. Fast-forwarding isn't really very fast at all when you're busy with phones and logging and listening and finding and...There is really only one solution to these problems: Packaging. Since cassettes are inherently so non-visual, the printed word can go a long way in aiding programmers willing to play them. Description is important. Information on the lengths and titles, and perhaps even briefs on the sound of each piece (instruments used, etc.) can help the search process. Just as important as providing this information is ensuring that it stays with the cassette. Inserts with info should be neat and fit squarely into the case (hard plastic is best for library storage). Info on the tape itself is also useful (like the title of tape, musicians, and song titles when possible).
Some cassette decks are self-cueing (and many radio stations have these), but when they are, they rely on gaps in between pieces to read each as a separate entity. Four-second gaps of silence is a minimum safe bet. To maximize exposure of the music on a tape, we strongly recommend that the recordings fill the tape on both sides from end to end as nearly as possible. Some musicians have opted to present several short tapes for airplay with a single piece recorded on both sides, or a selection of a few songs, rather than a full length with several pieces recorded on it. This solves most cueing problems.
Unfortunately, what it doesn't solve is the fact that you simply can't get a "big" clear sound from cassette recorders, primarily because of the size of the tape and the machines. There's only so much sound that can be encoded onto an eighth of an inch. Many radio stations seem uncomfortable with widely varying sound qualities (I love variation myself--P.S.), creating some additional fear and skepticism when deciding whether or not to play that cassette at the last minute. Solutions? Use as much direct-in recording of instruments as is possible to maintain your sound. Eliminate as much background noise as possible to maintain your sound. Don't overdrive your recorder, of course. Don't high-speed dupe your radio promo copies. Record them direct from your master, if possible.
OK, so now let's crack our knuckles and get into the really neat part about cassettes. There is really only one neat thing about cassettes:
IMMEDIACY. Let's face it, the best, most cool thing about cassettes is that you can move them from location to location. You can record things and build on them in the privacy of your own home, on the streets, while jamming, at gatherings, from other media sources, and then you can send them to your friends, through mail networks, swap them, sell them, play them at gigs, at parties, on your radio show. And on and on. They are an incredible means for a huge two-way and multi-path exchange and interaction. All that stuff about the global village is embodied in the medium of cassettes. They are an important (previously missing) link in the human network. They are wonderful and they work because they provide a mode for people to enjoy each other's music/sound expressions in a leisurely, relaxed fashion.
Radio tends to demand an intensity from cassettes that isn't their best natural feature. Cassettes on radio ("art" radio, experimental radio) have their greatest potential when used as cassettes rather than as substitute "cheap" records. It is for this reason that the artist-produced pre-recorded cassette will never "come into its own" on radio. It is also for this reason that cassettes should be given serious consideration by radio programmers truly concerned with alternatives.
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