Found a box of mix tapes from high school in my parents' basement yesterday

I popped one in the ancient cassette deck I still keep around and the first song was a scratchy recording of a local band my friend paid $50 to record at a studio that's now a mattress store. Made me miss the sound of actual tape hiss and the effort it took to make a mixtape for someone.

2 comments

2 Comments

charles_price12d ago

You ever try digitizing those tapes before they degrade completely? I learned the hard way that magnetic tape doesn't last forever, had a few breakup mixtapes turn to muffled sludge after sitting in a hot closet for 15 years. Best move I made was buying a cheap USB cassette capture deck from Amazon for like 30 bucks, lets you pull the audio straight into your computer as MP3s. That way you can save the raw hissy recordings before the tape itself gives out, and you can still share a few of those local band tracks online to see if anyone remembers them. Just make sure your cassette deck's head is clean, a q-tip and some rubbing alcohol makes a huge difference in how clear the playback sounds.

jenkins.wade12d ago

Oh man, I feel that. The hiss and the hunt for the perfect track order was half the fun, you won't get that back from a playlist.