Can you play cassettes?

[oscillik]

Just wanted to see how many of you have the ability to play cassettes. It's a StrawPoll topic, as I'm trying not to limit this just to WATMM

 

I'm trying to figure out if my assumption that not many people have a cassette deck is accurate or I'm just fucking wrong.

[Herr Jan]

Yes. Voted.

Good second question would be wether people actually use them though.

[QQQ]

i voted No and I'm not a robot

[doublename]

No tape decks here. 

Edited May 2, 2017 by doublename

[xox]

what's a cassette?

[juiceciuj]

i voted No and I'm not a robot

[oscillik]

Yes. Voted.

 

Good second question would be wether people actually use them though.

 

damn, yeah that is a good second question. But the current one is still useful in trying to see if I'm full of shit for thinking that most people can't play them

[Silent Member]

what's a cassette?

Cassettes are a percussion instrument (idiophone), used in Kalo, Moorish,[1] Ottoman, ancient Roman, Italian, Spanish, Sephardic, Swiss, and Portuguese music. The instrument consists of a pair of concave shells joined on one edge by a string. They are held in the hand and used to produce clicks for rhythmic accents or a ripping or rattling sound consisting of a rapid series of clicks. They are traditionally made of hardwood (chestnut; Spanish: castaño),[2] although fibreglass is becoming increasingly popular.

 

In practice a player usually uses two pairs of cassettes. One pair is held in each hand, with the string hooked over the thumb and the cassettes resting on the palm with the fingers bent over to support the other side. Each pair will make a sound of a slightly different pitch.

 

The origins of the instrument are not known. The practice of clicking hand-held sticks together to accompany dancing is ancient, and was practiced by both the Greeks and the Egyptians. In more modern times, the bones and spoons used in Minstrel show and jug band music can also be considered forms of the cassette.

Edited May 2, 2017 by Gocab

[Braintree]

Nope.

[zkom]

Probably depends highly on the demographic. Like my parents, grandparents, etc and older people in general still have them thanks to being so ubiquitous in the 80s and 90s and even early 2000s. My father still has 4-5 devices that can play cassettes. In the audiophile and music enthusiast scene they are more a kind of curiosity and hipster thing, I guess?

 

I have two: a Walkman from the 80s and a cassette player designed for language classes with a playback speed control. Neither of them I actually paid any money for.

[Schlitze]

Ditched the cassette deck last year, not being used at all really and takes up quite a lot of space, i just need minimal size receiver + cd / usb / Bluetooth / dab and all that shit and i'm fine. the tape decks gotta go. No room for nostalgia.

[oscillik]

In the audiophile and music enthusiast scene they are more a kind of curiosity and hipster thing, I guess?

 

see, this is what I've assumed for a while too. It's always seemed like a niche thing within this kind of community.

[QBLA]

I do.

[Scary Window]

I'm all about tapes!

[auxien]

WTF U THINK, BITCH?

[WeAreOceans]

Nope. Drives me nuts when an artist does a cassette only release. Then again I have a turntable and I'm sure there are some CD/computer only folk who get annoyed at vinyl exclusive releases. Never got quite the tape resurgence thing anyway.

[Bechuga]

Had about all I can tape with cassettes

[prdctvsm]

yes i play tapes

 

[Leon Sumbitches]

I play tapes on the reg, either in a little crappy boombox in the kitchen while cooking/doing dishes or on a decentish Nakamichi deck for proper listening. I've never actually paid any money for tapes though, just fill up loads of old blank tapes with whatever takes my fancy off Youtube. Lots of great albums there, in full, for free, and it's a bit of fun for a sad fuck like myself. 

 

My dad's got a tape deck still hooked up, not sure how often he uses it though.

[Ivan Ooze]

i used to love tapes and i can still play em but it's different times now, fuck em

[purlieu]

Been playing tapes regularly for years. Took a break late '90s - late '00s, but since I discovered a ton of awesome tape labels around that point I've been purchasing again. OPN put out tons of early stuff on tape, back when there were all these cool synth tapes coming out seemingly every week.

So many good tape labels (Tranquility, Hooker Vision, Digitalis Ltd etc.) shut down around 2013/2014, and with a slightly bigger and, yes, hipstery resurgence, plus a lot of subpar vaporwave tapes and extortionate US shipping these days, I tend to buy far fewer than I used to.

 

Some intriguing stats from Discogs, though. Cassette new releases documented:

2015: 17,641

2016: 17,720

2017 so far: 4,271

 

They reached a low in 2006, with only 3,331 listed. The list is obviously incomplete (I'm always finding gaps on Discogs), but it gives an idea of how niche they are as a format.

Edited May 2, 2017 by purlieu

[purlieu]

see, this is what I've assumed for a while too. It's always seemed like a niche thing within this kind of community.

 

Not necessarily. (edit: I suppose it depends what you mean by 'this kind of community'). They've generally been the format of choice for noise, dark ambient, black metal, industrial and so on - they never really went away. And these days there are some fairly big releases on tape. The new Slowdive album is coming out on cassette. Yeezus by Kanye West, Madvillain by Madvillain, both on tape. You can buy Prince and Eminem tapes from Urban Outfitters.

 

I think a lot of people do still buy them without playing them, though. It happens a lot in the vaporwave scene, which is particularly annoying as the tapes are really fucking limited most of the time. You end up with people who'd actually play them not able to because they sold out, and the actual tapes sitting on someone's shelf never getting listened to.

Edited May 2, 2017 by purlieu

[ignatius]

i have a cassette deck.. not sure if it works. i'll have to hook it up and see if it works which may be too much effort 

[purlieu]

Quick browse on Discogs brings up recent tapes by The 1975, Lana Del Ray and My Chemical Romance.

[oscillik]

 

see, this is what I've assumed for a while too. It's always seemed like a niche thing within this kind of community.

 

Not necessarily. (edit: I suppose it depends what you mean by 'this kind of community'). They've generally been the format of choice for noise, dark ambient, black metal, industrial and so on - they never really went away. And these days there are some fairly big releases on tape. The new Slowdive album is coming out on cassette. Yeezus by Kanye West, Madvillain by Madvillain, both on tape. You can buy Prince and Eminem tapes from Urban Outfitters.

 

I think a lot of people do still buy them without playing them, though. It happens a lot in the vaporwave scene, which is particularly annoying as the tapes are really fucking limited most of the time. You end up with people who'd actually play them not able to because they sold out, and the actual tapes sitting on someone's shelf never getting listened to.

 

Yeah, this along with the discussion in the other thread has been an eye opener for me, as I had always assumed the majority of people don't have the means to listen.

 

I definitely agree with you about people buying up limited releases and then letting them gather dust. Can't fucking stand that. I've got rare stuff that I play, I see absolutely no point in letting it go to waste as a conversation piece sitting on a shelf.