Tapesponding

[Dave Anderson]

It is fascinating and very encouraging to see so many members of this site who take pride in their old reel to reel and cassette machines. Once the recorders have been restored to their former glory what do you do with them? Well, one possibility is tapesponding.

Back in the days when some of these tape machines were new you could find advertisements in the classifieds of tape recording and hi-fi magazines for tapesponding clubs.

Basically the idea is simple. You record a message on a tape and send it to your tapespondent. He or she listens and then records a reply which is in turn sent back to you through the post. The same tape is used and is sent back and forth as often as you like. It can be great fun and friendships have formed which last for years.

Anyone wishing to get involved can contact the Chatterbox Recording Club. This non-profit making organisation will supply a directory of members, four printed magazines a year and the opportunity to take the sound magazine. Their website is at www.eastbournelife.co.uk/chatterbox

Dave

[Roger13]

Hi Dave.

Amazing, I didn't know people still did this. Echoes of better times! I'll check out the website.

Cheers,
Roger.

[G0MEM Michael]

I also didn't know people still did this. I thought it was all MP3sponding these days.

"Tape recording is like a one sided telephone call, but as tapes are sent out through the post all over the world, is cheaper than a telephone call."

...hmmm.. For me it costs around 20 RMB(£2 GBP) to send a cassette sized package from China to the UK. SkypeOut phone calls to the UK are around the cost of a local UK phone call.

[paulsherwin]

I very much doubt if buying a tape and posting it is cheaper than even a conventional international phone call today.

However, back when phone calls cost a lot more it was common practice for people in the UK to exchange tapes with relatives in Australia, despite the air mail costs. This probably peaked in the 70s when cassette technology made this cheaper and simpler.

[brenellic2000]

... yes, and tape makers produced special 3" tapes in cardboard mailing boxes for this very purpose! It was surprising how much one could get in the tape. Mail to the Antipodies is still 'next day' by air-mail which, in this 'snail-mail' age, is most impressive.

Barry

[ben]

I have uploaded a number of these (reel, cassette) to my found tapes archive if anybody is curious!
(The reel section is at present awaiting an update, as I have lot more taped correspondance now passed to mp3. watch this space)

[Dave Anderson]

Thank you to everyone for their comments. Just to focus on the costs of tapesponding for a moment. Firstly, I did not write the introduction to tapesponding on the CRC website and some may well argue the cost of a phone call nowadays is indeed much cheaper than posting a tape.

I have never considered this to be an expensive hobby. Most of my tapespondent contacts are UK-based. The costs are minimal.

However, I think this is missing the point. I don't compare tapesponding to using the phone. I enjoy using my tape recorders (not just for tapesponding, by the way). Receiving a tape through the post from a good friend gives me a little buzz of excitement. I want to hear his news. I want to listen to the programme of sounds my tape friend has put together for me. I hear his voice in high quality sound (certainly clearer than the telephone) and can sense his mood and emotions from the recording. Also, the tape can be played at a time that is convenient to me.

How many times when having a one-to-one conversation with a friend (either face to face or by telephone) do you come away thinking "I never managed to get my point across". With tapesponding you have a better chance because it is a one-way conversation. There is less chance of interruptions, digression onto another topic or losing your train of thought. Also you can correct any little slip-ups on the tape before posting it.

Of course the hobby is not for everyone and I don't expect an 'avalanche' of new members as a result of this thread but it is something that still goes on and gives pleasure to a few recording enthusiasts. Why not give it a go?

Dave

[Big Band Heaven]

It sounds like a brilliant idea and not one I have come accross myself before. As I am about to embark on a big adventure myself - moving to New Zealand - and would love to correspond with someone and share my experiences good and bad! I am tempted to join so that I can do this. Thank you for bringing it to my attention.

[murphyv310]

Originally Posted by Big Band Heaven

moving to New Zealand.

Lucky man!
Good luck with the move (wish it was me)

[reelguy]

I used to belong to "World wide tape talk", and the "Voicespondence club"s plus a couple of other tapesponding contacts. great fun, Used to send music and chat on tape to all sorts of people in various parts of the world. Really great fun. This was using reel to reel tapes. 3" upto 7" . Also sent out round robin tapes whereby a tape say 7" was divided into approx 6 segments and posted round the world , Each recipient adding their contribution to the tape. So maybe three or four months later you would get the tape back with contributions from all over the world....New York,Hawaia,Norway, California,New Zealand,Germany etc...I did join the Chatterbox club but it was mainly cassette based and I was not an enthusiast of cassettes then...
It was great fun at the time { 60s } but I don't think it will take off again unfortunately......However .
Regards , Peter W...... Reelguy. Reminiscing ?

[Roger13]

Hi.

Reference Dave's post #7 I couldn't agree more. I'm very articulate on paper but get totally messed up in conversation - one reason why I hate using the telephone. I am forever waffling and then realising after I hang up that I failed to make several points, often the very reason I made the call in the first place! Senility just keeps a'comin...

With a recorded message you have time to consider what you're going to say, which can only make it a more rewarding experience for the recipient. And if you can include some music etc then all the better.

I'm getting quite keen on this idea.

Cheers,
Roger.

[Dave Anderson]

Hi

Re: Peter's post (reelguy). Yes, I remember the Voicespondence Club of America and was myself a member in the 1970's. Quite a big club that one and their publications always looked very professional. I was also in World Wide Tape Talk run by Charlie Towers in Harrow, Middlesex. In fact I still have a few WWTT club magazines and my original tapestation card.

As you say, round robin tapes are another aspect of the tapesponding hobby. Instead of a one-to-one exchange you send a tape (or tapes) to a small circle of friends. Each has their own 'segment' of the tape. The 'discussion' circulates around the group until eventually reaching the original sender who can hear all of the previous contributions before adding his own and sending it round again. They still exist as far as I'm aware. Usually specialising in one discussion topic or one type of music. It's an opportunity to hear several people at one sitting.

You say you don't think tapesponding will take off again. I've been predicting the end of tapesponding for the last 20 years but it never happens! Of course, you're right. The popularity will never be the same as in the 60's and 70's. Tape recording was a relatively new thing for amateurs. The availability of plenty machines, both reel to reel and cassette, helped stimulate interest in tape correspondence clubs. However, having said that, the Chatterbox Recording Club has been going now for over 40 years. For the small faithful core of members the hobby of tapesponding has never really gone away.

Dave

[RODALCO]

Originally Posted by Big Band Heaven

It sounds like a brilliant idea and not one I have come accross myself before. As I am about to embark on a big adventure myself - moving to New Zealand - and would love to correspond with someone and share my experiences good and bad! I am tempted to join so that I can do this. Thank you for bringing it to my attention.

Done that 22 years ago with no regrets.
Drop me a PM to remain on topic
Regards
Raymond

[paulsouth]

Hello, I am pleased to see Chas Towers remembered. I used to type out all the labels for the mailings, and help Chas put them all together. I still use my WWTT number as my email address so I must be some sort of tapesponding anorak.

Regards
Paul Bailey
WWTT 925

[Dave Anderson]

Hello Paul, I was a member of WWTT (Worldwide Tapetalk) for a few years. Your membership number is a lot earlier than mine. I still have some old copies of Sound Advice (the club magazine) which I enjoy looking at from time to time. I joined WWTT after the closure of The Voicespondence Club. There are still a few ex-members of WWTT in the Chatterbox Recording Club but the numbers are dwindling. I had hoped this thread may help increase our numbers a little but realistically it's fairly difficult recruiting new members to this sort of hobby.

Best Wishes
Dave Anderson
WWTT 3632

[paulsouth]

There are still a few of us (I call them survivors!) left, and warm hello to all. I think the cost of posting tapes would put a lot of people off - back in the 70s I switched to sending hospital radio programmes out on cassette instead of tape due to a huge increase in postal costs. There are a few ex-WWTT in Facebook. I remember in 1970 having access to one of the first (open reel) video tape recorders - a Shibaden, and I didn't think video tapesponding would catch on! There was another tapesponding club called Stereo International which was run from Melton Mowbray by Roy Huddlestone, who became a famous diamond expert in London.

[allander]

When I was WWTT 2201 in the 1960's I recall you could send a 3" boxed reel for 3d until the GPO realised and changed the pricing - leading to folks grabbing the C60 cassette in a 'jiffy' bag - cheaper and much more recording time. It was great fun to get a reel tape or cassette and listen not simply to chatter but favourite music. Some members were very professional in presentation, others just held a mic to a loud speaker of a record player but a lot more of the person came over on a tape than through any phone call and one found oneself watching the tape and nodding in agreement or otherwise and somehow feeling far closer to the tapesponder - not a tinny voice through an earpiece but a real (reel?) loud speaker ffr!
Ok, times move on and postal charges escalate out of all sympathy with tapetalking which is a damn shame as it seems 'Nation shall (no longer) speak peace unto nation'; Charles Towers saw tapetalking as several steps forward on simply words on paper and his reasons are as valid today with micro-discs or micro-cassettes and as practical.
I still enjoy listening to tapes and somehow open reels seem more 'alive' than secreted CDs - but being a post-war baby boomer (1947) the 1960's can only represent a peak to me so I'm biased - in more ways than one...

[Dave Anderson]

Nice to hear from you allander. Yes the old 3" reels had as much tape squeezed onto their tiny hubs as possible. Some tapers even used double play or triple play tape to increase the recording times yet keep postage costs down. Nowadays we tend to use second class large letter stamps to send a cassette in the UK. The equivalent of about 10 shillings (in proper money) to buy the stamp.

I agree with you. It is much nicer to hear the audio recording in good quality sound over loudspeakers or headphones. Some tapers, as you say, are more creative than others. If you're lucky you might find someone who goes out and about with a portable machine and microphone capturing heaven knows what on tape! On the other hand it's nice to just have an hours chat with your friend on whatever subjects spring to mind.

Well, that's two ex-WWTT members. I wonder if there any others out there? Come to think of it there were lots of other tapesponding clubs. Some that I can remember (but didn't actually join) included "Tapeworms International", "The Far and Wide Club", "The Indiana Recording Club" and "The National Tape Club".

I have preserved quite a few old tapes (some of the better ones) from tapesponders who have long ago passed on to that great studio in the sky. Each one is like a little time capsule. Fascinating to replay some of those old recordings.

Dave

[paulsouth]

Three years on! One other ex-WWTT member has been in touch with me. There seem few of us left...

[reelguy]

This ex WWTT member is still about .
I am still interested in reel to reel but haven't tapeponded for years.

I think some tape enthusiasts on the Audiokarma forum exchange a round robin tape but not sure how popular it is..
I wonder if I still have any WWTT mags ? I'll have a check later if my memory reminds me .

Peter W......Reelguy