Topic: What was your first recording device?

[bluenote2005]

Around 1979 or 1980 Sony had a portable cassette recorder with two built in mics. The unit was all black. It was just slight larger than the first Sony Walkman who's image is posted below. Anyone recall what model that was by Sony? It was a great unit. I used it up till 1993 when it just stopped working. I then moved on to mini discs until the digitial age took root.



I'm curious what others started out using.

[mfrench]

Kind of like this:


I had it as a new recorder when Don McLeans American Pie was on constant Number-1 hit radio play. I think i got it for my 10th B-Day, around 1969.  I set the mic up next to my 8-Ball AM radio (pool table ball style), and started rtying to capture a recording of American Pie from radio play on 93 KHJ am radio.
I went on to annoy Larry Carlton and Robben Ford with it at a club called Dantes around '76/'77, where I set it up on a table at stagelip-center. I also took a bunch of pictures with my rotating flash cube kodak camera that made LC blind everytime I took a picture.

[darby]

you're probably thinking about the Sony 300 or 310
I had a couple friends who used those in the late 70s and early 80s

I started out on a Panasonic mono deck (don't recall model #)... a couple of those tapes survived
then on to a cheap stereo recorder and mics a friend and I tried to use in 1981 (Aiwa?)... none of those tapes survived

in 1983 I bought my first one of these

after continued bad luck with those I went on to one of these in 1984


EDIT:
after reading moke's post I remembered dragging my parent's console stereo into the bedroom
and setting up their Montgomery Wards tape deck next to it in order to record Led Zeppelin on King Biscuit back in 1973
I also used to put the mic inside a pair of Koss headphones and record my albums that way because I had no jacks on my stereo

[Church-Audio]

My first recorder was a grundig I got at a flea market.. I set up my "recording studio" in the cold cellar in the basement. It was pretty cool I had a ceramic mic as well and some radio shack tape.. I thought it was the shit... I was about 9 years old. This is not the exact model I had but its pretty close. It had a magic eye vu meter

[mfrench]

My grandma had an old Wollensack (sp?) R2R deck, somewhat similar to that one, Chris. It was a "suitcase" style recorder. She used it to record herself singing in church, and as choir leader.  That is probably where I got the urge to record, most likely. She also used it to record family members, etc.

[Chuck]

Mine was a Panasonic 8-Track recorder* my father won in a sales promotion.
I used it to record insect noises and thunderstorms from our screened in porch in upstate New York in the 1970's.


* I can't find the exact one, but it was like this...

[Fatah Ruark (aka MIKE B)]

First show I recorded on something similar to this. Depeche Mode @ Giants Stadium 1990 ... I wasn't even aware of taping at that time, ie "Grateful Dead Style." I just figured it would be interesting to record it. I think I was recording things off the radio with this at the time, but putting it next to the speaker of my boombox.



In 1992 I upgraded to this:



I patched into other tapers rigs and the SBD with the PMD201 for about 5 years, and rarely ran the internal mic if no other tapers were around.

[rastasean]

When I was very little and growing up, I remember pretending I had some kind of recording device because I would interview my mom but we didn't get a tape recorder until years later. We finally got some sony microcassette one  and used it to record my great grandmother before she passed away.

[Church-Audio]

My grandma had an old Wollensack (sp?) R2R deck, somewhat similar to that one, Chris. It was a "suitcase" style recorder. She used it to record herself singing in church, and as choir leader.  That is probably where I got the urge to record, most likely. She also used it to record family members, etc.

I have 100's of reel to reel tapes from my grandfather he would record everything one of these days I will have to transfer everything over to cd or to a file onto a hard drive.There was something about the old reel to reel machines.

[runonce]

The first time I tried to record anything at a concert was Stevie Ray Vaughn at DAR Constitution Hall in DC - 1985.

I used a Sony Walkman with a built in Stereo mic...very similar to the model posted upthread.

I recorded for 30 seconds before I dropped the damn thing and scatted its batteries all over the balcony floor.

Next I moved on to a Panasonic Jambox that had 2 1/8 in mic inputs - perfect for my new realistic stereo mic.

[Gutbucket]

Used my dad's R2R Teac (similar to the above) for recording LPs and radio stuff at home, as well as simulcast concerts off the radio in the 70's and early 80's.  I remember recording a couple 'final' Who concerts that way.  At some point I figured out how to hook a couple cheap dynamic microphones into it and record my own homemade 'radio shows' with local neighborhood talent, in stereo!  We even hauled the next door neighbor's ping pong table over to my house and put a mic at either end of the table to replicate the classic stereo demo recording thing.   We then put the speakers at each end of the table and listend with our eyes closed from the other side of the room to check how real it sounded.  We had big plans for making soundtracks for our stop action super-8 movies but never got that far.

Before that I lusted for what seems like a year for a battery powered portable mono cassette deck that sat on a shelf in my granparent's closet.  They eventually gave it to me for my birthday sometime in the early 70's.  Pretty much the same as M0ke.  Can't remember the make, but it was wide with a built-in handle and had plastic wood grain side pannels.  The cheap microphone made the most fantastic massive explosion noise when blown into and had a switch on it that simply turned the tape transport motor on and off while recording.  The intertia of the trasport would take a half second or so to slow to a stop or get back up to speed, making what I thought was a super cool pitch sweep effect if you got the timing just right.

[SnowRide]

[Gutbucket]

I remember a friend had one of these in highschool, which I never used but thought it was the coolest-

..in 1983 I bought my first one of these

And remember lusting over this in college, which is what I really wanted, but was out of my grasp at the time-

after continued bad luck with those I went on to one of these in 1984

Instead, I had a cheap recording Walkman type deck with FM radio (not Sony, but can't remember the make) that I'd carry around and use as my car radio/tape player.  I got a second one and soldered up a cable that let me go off to the park with my guitar and record a track, then play it back while overdubbing another part to the other Walkman.  Horrible tape noise and sonics, especially after a couple bounces, but doing that out of a book bag in the park was pretty sweet.

..I also used to put the mic inside a pair of Koss headphones and record my albums that way because I had no jacks on my stereo

  Before I got a hold of the cheap dynamic mics to use with my dad's R2R I'd use an old pair of Koss or Sony headphones as microphones.

In 1986 I bought a used Yamaha MT44D four track cassette / mixer which I still have in a closet with a valise full of old college era 4-track project tapes-


and mixied them down to a Yamaha K720 cassette deck which I bought new while working at a stereo shop and dearly loved.  Great machine.  Many, many hours of refining perfect mix-tape song order transitions were spent with that one. 

[Since85]

That device picture in the first message is a sony TCS-350 I believe, as I used one in 1985, until I had the $ to get a PMD-420.

[page]

First recorder was an Aiwa AMF70 or similar model from them around 2000 or 2001. When that started to have problems, I "upgraded" to a Sony MZ-R500 which did sound and work better. That lasted until 2003 or 4 when it died shortly after a BBKing concert. I used to loan out my stealth gear to some of the locals so they could tape stuff at the county fair or demos of their garage hobby.

[Gil]

Sony WMD3. Treated me well.

[rhinowing]

used this thing for like two shows...i found it in my friend's basement


then I got an r-09 for christmas

[acidjack]

Aiwa HSJS215, with a tie-clip stereo mic, in 1995.

Followed a year later by a WMD6C.  That thing sounded nice but it sure wasn't little!

[StuStu]

Nak 550 cassette recorder.

[rjp]

First recorder (early 1970s): a Realtone cassette recorder exactly like this.
Later, my dad dragged out an old Magnecord monaural reel-to-reel unit; it was built for home use, with transport and preamp in a single unit. The preamp had a magic eye level indicator, but there was also a VU meter mounted on top of the case. It was essentially an M30, but in a fancy hardwood case. This article has a picture of an M30 (scroll down a ways).
Then, for Christmas (1976?), I got a Technics 263AU. I made a lot of mix tapes with it, and then eventually with my dad's Aiwa F-990U (one sweet deck in its day).

After that... nothing, until I got my LS-10.

[DSatz]

Norelco Carry-Corder 150 as a teenager, which I used like a "Walkman" although it had no headphone output--so I played it softly and carried it with its speaker next to my ear! When I started live concert recording around the age of 20, an Advent 201 cassette deck.

[SmokinJoe]

I remember a Craig tape recorder, mono, built in mic, it was probably early 70's, played with it as a kid.  Held it up to the radio, so you could record our favorite songs an AT40.

The first "live show" I recorded was some bar band with a stereo boom box in the early 80's.

On our honeymoon in 1986 I had that boom box, and we were staying at an uncle's camp on the lake in Maine (think "Golden Pond" movie).  I recorded the loons on the pond one night, and played it back the next night.  They came racing over, and were furious, thinking my recording was another pair of loons on their pond.

[Gutbucket]

Great loon story. Evening/night birds seem to know how to take best advantage of sonic contrast.. like coyotes and wolves.

[doodee]

Sony WMD3. Treated me well.

Wasn't my first, but was definitely the first decent quality recorder I owned. Would have to say I was treated pretty well also. She's actually still in my possession.

My grandfather was a really great banjo player and made regular treks up to out of the way spots in the Blue Ridge mountains to play with friends on various front porches. I remember teaching him (with what basic knowledge I had) how to record in the field. He actually ended up buying a D3 as well. Still have his masters.

[doodee]

Kind of like this:


I had it as a new recorder when Don McLeans American Pie was on constant Number-1 hit radio play. I think i got it for my 10th B-Day, around 1969.  I set the mic up next to my 8-Ball AM radio (pool table ball style), and started rtying to capture a recording of American Pie from radio play on 93 KHJ am radio.

This is just too funny - my story exactly except I was trying to record CCR's "Fortunate Son" to my shoebox recorder from my brilliant orange Panasonic ball radio.

[StuStu]

^^^I had one of those Panasonic balls as well. I'd forgotten all about it.

[Belexes]

Sony WMD3. Treated me well.

Same for me.  Wanted the D6, but didn't have the $$.

[F.O.Bean]

Crappy microcassette recorder 4th row DFC for Phish Star Lake '97. In Dec '97 I bought a Sony TCD-D8 DAT

[Teen Wolf Blitzer]

April 1993.  Denon DTR-80p.  I jumped right into dat.  Never did cassette.  And I still have it.  I can't part with it.  Yet I sold my DAP1 10 years ago.  lol

[dlh]

Probably around 1965, similar to this.
Didn't even have capstan drive.  Tape speed increased as take-up spool filled.
Anyone start with a wire recorder?

[Sunday Driver]

I only started taping in early 2005, but my first two recorders were cassette recorders. The first was a Sony voice recorder, which broke after one use. The tape of course sounds like utter crap. I didn't know anything yet about portable mini disc, DAT, or flash recorders at that point, but thankfully I found out soon enough.

[tim in jersey]

Some sort of mid-70's RatShack cassette recorder.

First real rig: 480's>Denecke PS-2>Oade-mod SBM-1>D8 circa '98 or '99.

I remember setting it up X-Y 90* in my driveway the night it arrived and recording traffic as it passed by. I was particularly amazed and blown away by the stereo seperation and panning of a Harley accelrating hard L>R through the stereo field.

I've been hooked ever since.

[live2496]

I had an earlier model to this (around 1977) but I don't recall what it was.  I think that one had mono mic only.
Here is a link to a TCS-300. http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/images/I012/10252789.aspx

My first home deck was a TEAC A-170. http://www.vintagecassette.com/Teac/A-170
I put a lot of hours on that one. I liked in particular the toggle switch that switched between mic/line. I could make some pretty sharp edits with it. Better than pressing stop if you wanted to stop recording at a certain spot. Switch it over to mic with the slider set to zero and let the tape roll for a few seconds extra.

[bonghitwillie]

ghetto blaster aka boom box. 

[leehookem]

My first was a JB3 in 2004.  Loved that thing.

[raymonda]

I used tons of crap to record albums and radio during the 70's but I'll assume the OP was referring to concert recorders.

In 1982, for $200.00, I bought this Sony Walkman WMR2 for the sole purpose of recording concerts. I used it for 4 shows and quickly bought a D6. The internal mics overloaded quickly and the line in recording was automatic, which meant that the recording volume increased with softer passages. Also, since the mics were directly coupled to the body it had a high noise floor. The frequency response was limited to mostly the mid frequencies, meaning that it was bandwidth limited and recordings sounded hard and, well, like crap. The D6 gave me the oportunity to get real on location quality.

In 1984 I got a D5. In 1989 I bought Panasonic SV250 which was replaced under warranty with a SV 255. In 1996 I got a Sony D10 PII and used it until I went to laptop recording in 2005, which I currently use for multi-tracking. A few years ago I bought a M-Audio MII as a bit bucket, which works extremely well for 2 track recordings.

[splumer]

First was a Voice of Music reel-to-reel that was my grandfather's. He bought it to record radio commercials for his leather tannery back in the '50s. I used it to record stuff off the radio, first with a mic (that had awful handling noise. Even as a kid I recognized it.), then later I cracked open my radio and ran a cable with alligator clips from the speaker terminals to the line-in on the recorder. I remember it sounding fantastic, but time tends to blur such things. Here it is:



The case was wood. It had vacuum tubes and weighed about 50 pounds. When I actually started taping shows, I started with a WM-D3 that I still have. Great little unit. Then I graduated to digital:



The Aiwa AM-F70 minidisc. Great features on that little sucker. Also still have it. It was my stealth recorder until just recently. I now use a PMD660 as my main unit.

[Teen Age Riot]

I had a JVC cassette deck in the mid 90's which I used to record stuff from the radio.
The first portable was a Sony MZ-R30 minidisc in 1999.

[adrianf74]

Love the thread.

Used an AIWA recorder with lav clip mic (had AGC) for the first few shows I did.  Dropped $400 and bought a WM-D3 and recorded about 30 shows.  Bought a TCD-D7 ($1000 back in' 94) via grey market means because they retailed for $1500 + tax in Canada.  Recorded about 40 shows with it before having a major accident with it (got drop-kicked in a mosh pit) and a friend gave me his old WM-D3 when he bought a TCD-D8.  Retired between '98 and '02 when I picked up a Sharp MT-877 (with adjustable recording levels) and used that through '05 when I retired.   Became a little active in '08 when I bought my R09 and just replaced that with a PCM-M10 last month.

Mics... AIWA Lav > Sony Lav > Sony ECM-907 > Core Sound Binaurals > AIWA stereo lav ... retirement ... Giant Squid Audio Lab Omni's > Sound Professionals CMC-8 (AT-933/c) > Church Audio CAFS-OMNI with CA-14/o and /c.

[notlance]

The first recorder I used a lot (but did not own) was a Ferrograph Series 7.  My high school owned it and I did all the recording for them for four years starting in 1971.  That was one heavy SOB, about 55 lbs, and I’d carry it up a set of almost vertical steps (more like a ladder) to the light/sound booth in the auditorium to record every concert.  It had ¼ track heads, which was really stupid, so I tried to talk the school into buying some ½ track heads and letting me put them in; they never went for it.  I would have bought the heads myself but I was constantly broke in HS.  Maybe that’s why I buy too much gear now.

The school did have a pair of Neumann KM84s which was extremely cool of them.  I used to hang them from the catwalk in front of the stage in something resembling ORTF.  The school must have bought them about 3 years after they first came out because they were there when I got to HS.  I’d kill to have those mics now.

This was, of course, way before the internet, so I used to spend time at the local university library trying to find out as much as I could about recording.  The library subscribed to the Journal of the AES but most of the issues were missing and I only understood about 10% of what I did read.  I was a nerd before the word was invented.

[John Willett]

My first was the Tandberg 3321X:-



Not being able to afford a Revox or Ferrograph I went for the Tandberg.  The sound quality was about equal, though.  The Cross-field head gave excellent noise figures and the unit was cheaper due to the mechanical transport control and the smaller 7" reels - I researched this a lot before buying it.  Half-track stereo - of course.

My first cassette was the Nakamichi 550 (1978 I think):-



(I could not afford a cassette and a Uher, so I bought the best portable cassette on the market).

I upgraded the open-reel to the Teac A3321-2T, modified to IEC EQ (1979 maybe):-



And was one of the very first into digital recording with the Sony PCM-F1 system in 1982:-



(and it still looks good).

DAT era - my first was the HHB 1 Pro portable "brick":-



I then soon went for a pair of Fostex D-10:-



(you could do pretty accurate edits with a pair of these as they had a buffer memory and instant start with one unit controlling the other in the editing mode)  I think these retailed for over £2,000 each in the early 1990's when I bought them, equivalent to about 3-months wages at the time - I still can't fathom how I managed to afford them!

I then added a 24-bit DAT (Tascam DA-45HR, running the tape at double speed):-



24/96 - and I then went for the first 24-bit portable, the Fostex FR-2:-



This was upgraded a few years ago and I now use the Nagra VI:-


Click on the thumbnail to see the full sized picture

This last picture is my actual rig, complete with a pair of Neumann DMI-2P digital microphone interfaces.

And I still have all these recorders, with the exception of the Fostex FR-2, which I sold when I upgraded to the Nagra VI.

Phew!

[goodcooker]

I recorded stuff with a boom box as a kid and did board patches with my home cassette deck when I was in a band in high school but my first concert recorder was one of these

[Gutbucket]

Digging that Sony PCM-F1 system, John. Awesome stuff in '82!
Always wondered about those, but never used or saw one. 
Any comments about your experience with its use and sound?

Also cool to see those Neumann DMI-2P in your current Nagra rig.

Fun thread.

[John Willett]

Digging that Sony PCM-F1 system, John. Awesome stuff in '82!
Always wondered about those, but never used or saw one. 
Any comments about your experience with its use and sound?

I loved the PCM-F1 and it was my main recorder for over 10 years until DAT got established.

I had 1 x PCM-F1 and 2 x F-1 Betamax recorders.  You could go from one to the other through a single converter to build up tracks.  As it was all digital (even doing multiple D/A and A/D conversions) it was very much quieter than analogue tape which added 3dB of hiss on every pass.  "Music Week" in the UK did a write-up of me in 1984 (March 24 issue) as being the first to release an album I recorded doing digital overdubbing in this way.

I later added a couple of C9 transports and HHB's "CLUE" editing system - this was before the days of computer editing as we know it.  CLUE used a 5" floppy disk and a dedicated computer to control the two C9 Betamax units for editing.  I got the CLUE in 1992 if I remember correctly.

The PCM-F1 used emphasis and, in many ways, sounded better than DAT; but you had to be careful with record levels as the high frequencies were boosted on record.

Also cool to see those Neumann DMI-2P in your current Nagra rig.

Yes - very nice units.  I can record four digital mics at once into the Nagra, as well as four analogue ones (or one Soundfield mic.) at the same time.

Fun thread.

Agreed - great fun.  It's interesting to see how people started.  I am of the rusty plastic and razor blade era. 

[Gutbucket]

Great to hear your PCM-F1 tales, and pioneering digital track bouncings, thanks.

I spliced bits of ferrous oxide with razor and tape, but did most audio editing bouncing deck to deck, building hiss.  Did far more extensive editing of super 8 film, with a little editing block and adhesive tape splices with little spocket holes.  Some 3 minute films had so many splices they required larger reels to hold the resulting bulkier spool.  One fun trick was figuring out how to shoot reverse-time sequences on a standard super-8 camera. Barring fancy cameras that could run short segments of film the reverse direction through the camera, the standard 16mm zero-budget filmaker trick was filming with the camera upside down for the shot, then cutting the film and flipping the segment vertically (thus reversing the time-line and making the world upright again), then turning the film segment 180 degrees to keep the emulsion side on the correct side of the reel and to return things on the left to screen left and things right to screen right, before splicing it back in.  Problem with that was that all 8mm and super-8 film had sprocket holes only along one side, making the second flip impossible.  I found I could omit the second flip, let the world go mirror image left to right and allow the emulsion end up on the wrong side.  The resulting film was more fragile and went ever so slightly out of projection focus during the edit due to the thickness of the film backing, but was fantastic fun to pull off sucessfully.

[cybergaloot]

Something along the lines of this but not as nice and certainly not a brand name. It was the '60s and I remember trying for a week to record my sister's copy of Sgt. Pepper to it without my friends making noise (wookies even then!). I had a Realistic 8 track recorder, various cassette recorders and a Docoder Reel to Reel (still have it, weighs a ton!). But my first taper recorder was a Zoom H2 which I still have in the collection and which works much better than the detractors would have you believe, especially when you use an external preamp and mics.

[owainturner]

Almost ashamed to admit it but my first device was this;


(I'm very new to the game!)

I use to record gigs from internals until I came across this board, now I'm onto CA gear and M10...

I have to say the Sony Walkman in the fist post is absolutely gorgeous, they don't make devices like that anymore.

[yawnfactory]

so no one had one of these in their pocket?

[fandelive]

There are also plenty of vintage recorders videos made by die-hard collectors on YouTube !!!
Just follow the link below : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hp1qOHWna4E

[biker]

I had a rounded plastic cassette recorder like the one here: http://etsy-vintage.blogspot.com/2010/03/vintage-panasonic-portable-cassette.html but I could have sworn it was stereo. First concert I taped was Styx in Pekin IL when I was about 14. I found the tapes! Styx was 9/29/1977 and then I caught a Queen show at the Checkerdome in St Louis on Thanksgiving Day - 11/25/1978. Smuggled it in under my coat. I was hanging out after the Styx show as my Dad wasn't going to pick me up until later when I stumbled across John Panozzo. Managed to talk to him about drumming for a few minutes, all the while terrified the recorder would fall out and I'd be busted!

Ram Jam opened for Styx and I caught Black Betty on tape at the end of their set.

My Dad went with me to the Queen show, and I remember the entire row in front of us was smoking it up. I tried to inhale as much as possible without being noticed, but I doubt I fooled him any!

[doodee]

I had a rounded plastic cassette recorder like the one here: http://etsy-vintage.blogspot.com/2010/03/vintage-panasonic-portable-cassette.html but I could have sworn it was stereo. First concert I taped was Styx in Pekin IL when I was about 14. I found the tapes! Styx was 9/29/1977 and then I caught a Queen show at the Checkerdome in St Louis on Thanksgiving Day - 11/25/1978. Smuggled it in under my coat. I was hanging out after the Styx show as my Dad wasn't going to pick me up until later when I stumbled across John Panozzo. Managed to talk to him about drumming for a few minutes, all the while terrified the recorder would fall out and I'd be busted!

Ram Jam opened for Styx and I caught Black Betty on tape at the end of their set.

My Dad went with me to the Queen show, and I remember the entire row in front of us was smoking it up. I tried to inhale as much as possible without being noticed, but I doubt I fooled him any!

Added bonus - the rare Pickwick blank cassette sighting.

[TNJazz]

You need to transfer those if you haven't already, just for nostalgia's sake.

[MSTaper]

I had a couple of small reel-to-reel recorders when I was a kid but never recorded any music with them. I did record a Heart concert in Huntsville, Ala., in the mid to late 1970s with a single mic cassette recorder that's still lying around somewhere. The recording was not that good but I'd love to find the tape. I taped a local punk band with it as well, then didn't get truly into "taping" until 2007 when I bought an R-09, which I still use. I primarily use the Fostex FR-2LE now.

MSTaper