FIFTY YEARS OF RECORDING|
On the 24th November this year I will have been recording for fifty years. This page of the website tells you how it all came about.. It won't all appear at once but will be added to over a period of time. To start with I needed somewhere to do my recordings. |
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This is my Workbench as it was in 1958 From 1953 to 1958 I was at Christ College Brecon. Soon after I started there we had a new Director of Music - a Mr. David De Vile. He taught me organ, theory and composition. He was also our choirmaster. In the capacity of choirmaster, he used to carry around a large and very heavy tape-recorder. The main use for this was to illustrate where our singing was going wrong. I was absolutely fascinated by this machine. I decided there and then - when I left school - I had to have one ! I achieved my ambition by November 1958. I talked into the microphone and I pounced upon unsuspecting members of my family and made them talk into the microphone as well. Soon I realised there was much more to it all than just this. I connected the tape recorder to a radio (later a VHF tuner) and I bought a time-switch. I was now able to record radio programmes directly onto tape. Secondly, with the aid of the new time-switch I was able to turn on the recorder remotely - that is to say without being there. The makers of today's video recorders have "pinched" the idea from me. However, in their defence, it must be taken into consideration that with their methods it is possible to "programme" recordings weeks in advance, change channels and perform various other wonders that were beyond me in 1958. As I got into recording from the radio, I very quickly realised that a number of programmes were too good to the "wiped out" after I had heard them. Thus the foundations of my archives were laid. |
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| This is my Workbench as it is today Further down this line of photographs there will hopefully be one showing the workbench from another angle. On the morning of the 24th November 1958 not one single item existed in my Sound Archive. By bedtime of the same night this was no longer the case. The Grand Total stood at one! The one in question was an Uncanny Story by Edward J. Mason. This half-hour play was entitled "The Wise Man from the East". It had been broadcast at 7.30pm in the BBC Light Programme. The total was to remain at one until the 27th November. On that day the first episode of the penultimate series of "Take It From Here" was transmitted by the BBC and duly recorded for the collection. The remaining programmes of both series were successfully captured on tape. The first "long" recording to be made was the Sadler's Wells production of "The Merry Widow". The date was the 23rd December. Anna was played by June Bronhill, Danilo by John Larsen and the Baron by Howell Glynne. It may have seemed long at the time, but it can certainly be termed short when compared with the longest item in the collection. This is a continous sixteen hours of recording. As one might guess it is a radio transmission of Wagner's Ring Cycle. On Christmas Day 1958 George Baker presented one of his famous record programmes. The really exciting part of this programme was the announcement at the end. We were told that the D'Oyly Carte's new production of "The Gondoliers" was to be broadcast in its entirety from the Prince's Theatre on the 28th January.
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My workbench again The analogue equipment is on the left and the digital is on the right. On the shelves below can be seen a few of the copies of Radio Times. The first Saturday Night Theatre to be placed in the collection was "Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde". This was recorded from the BBC Home Service on the 16th April 1960. It was a repeat of the broadcast given on the 8th February 1956. The production had an all-star cast and is a worthy starter to the thousands of radio plays that follow it. For the first six months or so, I was a student living in Cheltenham. At any rate I lodged with an elderly couple ("elderly" ! about the age I am now, I suppose !). I remember I used to sit with them in the evenings and watch television. If anything came on the radio that I wanted to record I ran upstairs quickly to my bedroom and turned it on. Herein lay the trouble. I was told off for wearing out the stair carpet. I know I had a timeswitch. But I didn't believe in using it when I didn't have to - however reliable it might have been. A year or two ago. I went back to the house and made up some pretext for knocking on the door. Of course there were new owners. I didn't get in but I saw all I wanted. The stair carpet had gone! My collection of recordings was one of the largest in the world, but the much-treasured stair carpet was no longer. Going back to 1958, I didn't give in on my intentions to turn on my recordings as and when I felt like it. This prompted many outbursts from the old couple. I pointed out to them that only the best people fell out over a carpet. But my point was entirely lost on them. It didn't even raise a faint smile. |
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My Philips 8108G Tape Recorder This is a nice close-up picture of my very first tape recorder. I wouldn't like to guess how many I have had since then. It must be a very high figure indeed. This 8108G was an excellent machine in its day. Why am I saying "was"? It still is! And it goes on working as well as it ever did. |
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My VHF Tuner In my very early days of recording, I was told by the experts - I must have a VHF Tuner. So I got one and here it is. Yes, before you ask, it does still work. |
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My portable transistor set Weren't they called "trannies"? In any case it gives me excellent service and looks like it will go on working for ever. |
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Headphones, Microphone and Time Switch My first pair of headphones along side my first time switch and microphone. |
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