
Take a trip through music history with Archive.org's Great 78 Project - cpeterso
https://opensource.com/article/17/9/great-78-project
======
DrScump
"First things first for younger readers: An audio record generally can be
defined as a flat, circular medium with a spiral groove cut into it to
modulate an audio signal."

When things like this warrant explanation, I feel old.

~~~
glenneroo
Is that description even necessary? For LaserDisc and cassettes I could
understand since they seem to have really disappeared, or at least you can't
buy them in shops AFAIK. Vinyl on the other hand hasn't died out, I still
regularly buy vinyl and I know many DJ's who still exclusively play vinyl.
There are numerous record players for sale, and numerous articles about
vinyl's resurgence in the last couple years. Sony[0] has even announced plans
to start producing vinyl again after 3 decades. Vinyl may not be as mainstream
as in the 70s but they are far from dead.

[0] [http://money.cnn.com/2017/06/30/news/sony-music-brings-
back-...](http://money.cnn.com/2017/06/30/news/sony-music-brings-back-vinyl-
records/index.html)

~~~
KGIII
Cassette tapes are having a minor resurgence. Well, I hope it is minor. I can
think of no good reason to use them today. Then again, I can think of no good
reason to use vinyl today either.

There are probably better articles, but this was the first one in my search
for a link:

[https://www.theverge.com/2017/1/23/14360162/cassette-tape-
sa...](https://www.theverge.com/2017/1/23/14360162/cassette-tape-sales-
increase-physical-music-2016)

So, yeah... Cassettes seemingly haven't quite disappeared.

~~~
rwmj
Matt from Techmoan did a couple of videos about how to make cassette tape
sound very good:

[http://www.techmoan.com/blog/2017/1/24/pre-recorded-
cassette...](http://www.techmoan.com/blog/2017/1/24/pre-recorded-cassettes-
can-sound-good-really.html) [http://www.techmoan.com/blog/2017/5/8/a-true-
tech-classic-th...](http://www.techmoan.com/blog/2017/5/8/a-true-tech-classic-
the-sony-tc-d5-field-recorder.html)

They're worth watching but to be honest it hasn't made me want to convert all
my music to tapes.

Edit: The link I was actually looking for is:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVoSQP2yUYA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVoSQP2yUYA)

~~~
KGIII
Neat, thanks. I remember the old 'metal' tapes as sounding better. I imagine
we could make them sound better with today's tech. Like you, I have no desire
to return to them.

No, I much prefer digital audio playback. I'm pretty happy with CDs, though I
typically burn them myself from quality files, if I use them at all. I'm more
likely to just use an MP3 player.

I was a performing stage musician for a long time and as a second income. I'd
like to think I know sound fairly well. I can, for example, appreciate a tube
amp. What I can't appreciate is why people are using things like vinyl and
cassette tapes. That just makes no sense to me, at least it doesn't when they
say it is for the quality of the results.

No, no... Give me a high quality digital version and I'm happy. The missus' ex
was an audiophile so she came equipped with a bunch of expensive gear and she
often prefers vinyl. I've listened to the current tech results and I am not
impressed. I'm happier with the digital files. I don't hear added 'warmth.' I
hear inconsistent playback and artifacts.

But, yeah, I don't have any reason to convert my music to cassette tapes. And
no, I don't want the album on vinyl.

~~~
mrob
>What I can't appreciate is why people are using things like vinyl and
cassette tapes.

It's like mechanical watches: an objectively inferior product that's appealing
because it's full of complicated moving parts.

~~~
KGIII
That is understandable, to some extent. Though, I never see that as the listed
reasoning. The closest that I see is that it's about the whole experience of
loading the record and examining the jacket and linear notes while listening.

Well, that and cassette players aren't really all that interesting - at least
not to me. A mechanical watch can be a thing of beauty. A cassette player
probably could be, but I haven't seen one that is.

Though that makes me wonder if someone would buy a cassette player that was
made so you can see the internal mechanisms in action and with the mechanical
pieces being milled from things like brass. An ornate mechanical cassette
player engineered for precision, if you will.

Anyhow, beauty and art is subjective - so I could understand someone finding
the mechanical workings of a cassette player to be interesting and enjoyable.
It may even be more enjoyable to someone who didn't live through those years
and has mostly been exposed to all digital devices. Though, I don't think I've
ever seen that as the justification.

Of course, they don't need to justify it for me. They can do what they want. I
just find it strange.

Though now I'm kind of curious about a precision made cassette player that has
exposed mechanical components. I bet someone would buy it.

------
SethMurphy
It always amazes me how short and limited our civilizations cultural memory
is. It's great this is being done, perhaps this generation of musicians will
find a new song in the archive to reinvent. This was done heavily in the 60's
for rock, especially with blues, but the lens they were searching through was
different, I am sure there are a lot of great songs that current listeners
could enjoy (probably with added bass) that were not reintroduced in the 60's.

------
rwmj
Also, how to download all the 78 rips at the archive.org:
[https://rwmj.wordpress.com/2017/08/14/downloading-all-
the-78...](https://rwmj.wordpress.com/2017/08/14/downloading-all-the-78rpm-
rips-at-the-internet-archive/)

(Don't actually do this, or if you do download some, give them a donation)

~~~
tenkabuto
Or someone could just put them all into a central torrent.

Edit: Why not provide a method of getting all the torrent files for the
associated songs then bulk adding to one's torrent program of choice?

------
Asparagirl
So much fascinating content here. For example, just listened to Josh White's
1942 "House of the Rising Sun"...

[https://archive.org/details/78_house-of-the-rising-
sun_josh-...](https://archive.org/details/78_house-of-the-rising-sun_josh-
white-and-his-guitar_gbia0001628b)

...except the lyrics are a biiiit different than the ones made famous by The
Animals in the 1960's. Though sung by a man, this older version of the song is
from the point of view of a woman forced into sex trafficking at a whorehouse,
warning her sister not to do the same. (The Animals' version was more about a
man gambling.)

~~~
voyager2
I thought this story had just been posted recently, but ls shows Feb 26 2017
House Of The Rising Sun - Josh White and his Guitar.mp3

Another "and his guitar" version, with animals lyrics.
[http://wizard.dynu.com/house_of_the_rising_sun.ogg](http://wizard.dynu.com/house_of_the_rising_sun.ogg)

