music – Room 7609

40 years later: reflections on 1981 – pop music’s greatest year?

Was 1981 pop music’s greatest ever year? There’s no doubt for me – it absolutely was! Débuts from several of the decade’s biggest names, Eurovision Winners and a novelty No.1, 1981 had it all.

Record Store Day 2021 – crooked queuing

Why vinyl is more than the sum of its parts. “Record Store Day” 2021 and queuing for 2 hours to buy a black plastic disc. Independent record shops and teenage memories…

“Electronics & Music Maker” – archiving a demo cassette from 1982

“Electronics & Music Maker” (E&MM) was a magazine aimed at home/hobby music makers that started in the early 1980s and was produced as an offshoot of the mighty Maplin electronic component distribution empire. The idea was that it would promote more sales and engagement with Maplin’s component business through projects & DIY features based aroundContinue reading ““Electronics & Music Maker” – archiving a demo cassette from 1982″

A Life-long Love Affair with “Compact Cassette”

I was saddened to learn of the passing of Lou Ottens, a Dutch Engineer credited with inventing the humble cassette tape format whilst working at Philips in the 1960s. Crucially Philips had the foresight to licence the format and it quickly became the de-facto standard for consumer audio recording. It made me reflect on justContinue reading “A Life-long Love Affair with “Compact Cassette””

Technics RS-B665 Cassette Deck Remote Control

Cassette deck with lid removed showing internal electronics

Creating a remote control for a 1990s tape-deck using raspberry pi, python, node-red and some relays. Features minimal hardware hacking of the tape deck itself… 😉

Replacing the white LED stylus target light on Audio-Technica AT-LP120X

I recently bought a new turntable, the Audio-Technica AT-LP120XUSB. I wanted direct drive, decent mid-range quality (didn’t need the absolute highest spec due to my ageing & damaged hearing – I blame the school discos of the 1980s, and Roni Size gigs 😦 ) and USB built-in so I could hook up recording/streaming devices. IContinue reading “Replacing the white LED stylus target light on Audio-Technica AT-LP120X”