Gadget hacks and single tracks
The first gadget hacks I remember doing were when I was a young kid. My brother and I used to record our voices…and silliness…on an Aiwa or Daiwa tape reel-to-reel recorder we got for Christmas one year. And that might have been a Christmas that helped shape the course of my creative life.
Gadget hacks in the days of cap guns.
Combine a sleep-deprived night with a bevy of boxes and bouquets under a tree with trimmings and lights…and what do you have? Yeah, an excited boy or girl who can’t wait to see if they got that Xbox or iPad or new laser tag set.
When I was growing up, the BB gun and chatty dolls were possibilities. But the Xbox, iPad, and laser tag would have only been found in the imagination. Maybe as a science fiction TV show. And the most high tech gift I remember getting was a do-it-yourself diode transistor radiokit. My brother and I marveled, for hours and hours, at how something we could build ourselves would transmit radio stations from far away places.
But, wait! I remember a very special gift one year. My brother and I got a portable reel-to-reel recorder. If I remember correctly it was an Aiwa or Daiwa model…similar to the one in the picture.
Boys being boys we couldn’t just hit the record button and do plain ol’ boring voice recordings. No, we had to do things like put our finger on the spool to slow it down during the recording…then laugh at our chipmunk voices in the playback.
This was our first peek into the wonderful world of recording…
…way before walkmans and way, way before iPods and iPhones and iPads.
But, in this day of gadgetry within the reach of just about anyone, I think the mystique of electronic experimentation is diminished. Back then we had to “see what it can do”. Nowadays we just expect it to do fantastic stuff with the tap of a thumb or finger.
Don’t get me wrong…I like it both ways. And that’s why I’d better quit writing this blog post on my MacBook. Because I gotta go see what everybody can get me, for Christmas, on Amazon this year.
Stay tuned,
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