Ford Family of Fine Music 8 Track 1966

This commodity is about the eight-track cartridge. For 8-track multitracking, see Multitrack recording.

Magnetic tape audio recording format

Stereo 8

The inside of a cartridge (Not an 8-track, only a version used at radio stations). The blackness rubber pinch roller is at upper right.
Media type	Magnetic cartridge tape endless loop
Encoding	Stereo analog signal
Capacity	Four stereo channels
Readmechanism	Tape head
Writemechanism	Magnetic recording head
Developedby	Lear Industries
Usage	Audio storage
Extendedfrom	Fidelipac / Mohawk cartridge[1]

The 8-track tape (formally Stereo 8; commonly called viii-runway cartridge, viii-track tape, and eight-track) is a magnetic-record sound recording technology that was popular^[2] from the mid-1960s to the early 1980s, when the compact cassette tape, which pre-dated the 8-track organisation, surpassed it in popularity for pre-recorded music.^{[iii] [4]} The format is obsolete and was relatively unknown outside the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, United mexican states, Espana, France, Germany, Italia, Sweden and Japan.^{[3] [4] [5]} The main advantage of the 8-track tape cartridge was that it did not have to exist "flipped over" to play other tracks.

The Stereo 8 Cartridge was created in 1964 by a consortium led by Beak Lear, of Lear Jet Corporation,^[vi] along with Ampex, Ford Motor Company, Full general Motors, Motorola, and RCA Victor Records (RCA - Radio Corporation of America). It was a further development of the like Stereo-Pak four-rail cartridge, which had been introduced by pioneering businessman and engineer Earl "Madman" Muntz, who promoted and sold consumer electronics to the American public at the fourth dimension. Lear had tried to create an endless-loop wire recorder in the 1940s but gave up in 1946, but to be re-inspired by Muntz'southward four-track design in 1963. Muntz'due south design had itself been adapted from the Fidelipac cartridge, which in turn had been developed by George Eash. A afterwards quadraphonic version of the format, with four-channel audio, equally opposed to earlier, more widely used stereo/two-channel sound, was announced by RCA in April 1970 and called get-go Quad-8 and later Q8.

History [edit]

The original format for magnetic record audio reproduction was the reel-to-reel tape recorder, first available in the Us in the late 1940s, only too expensive and bulky to be applied for amateur dwelling house utilize until well into the 1950s. Because, in the early years, each tape had to be dubbed from the chief tape in real-time to maintain good sound quality, pre-recorded tapes were more expensive to manufacture and costlier to buy than vinyl records which could be stamped far more than rapidly than their own playing time. Loading a reel of tape onto the motorcar and threading it through the various guides and rollers for playback was more difficult than putting an LP on a record player.

To eliminate the inconvenience of tape-threading, diverse manufacturers introduced cartridges that held the tape inside a metallic or plastic housing, thereby eliminating handling. Most were intended merely for low-fidelity voice recording in dictation machines. The beginning record cartridge designed for full general consumer utilize, including music reproduction, was the Audio Record or Magazine Loading Tape Cartridge (RCA tape cartridge), introduced in 1958. Pre-recorded stereophonic music cartridges were bachelor, and bare cartridges could be used to brand recordings at habitation, but the format failed to gain popularity.

Evolution of tape cartridges [edit]

A blank 8-track cartridge.

Blank cartridges could be used to make recordings at abode.

The endless loop tape cartridge was first designed in 1952 past Bernard Cousino around a single reel carrying a continuous loop of standard ane/4-inch, plastic, oxide-coated recording tape, running at three.75 in (9.53 cm) per second. Plan starts and stops were signaled past a i-inch-long metal foil that activated the track-change sensor.

Inventor George Eash invented a pattern in 1953, called the Fidelipac cartridge.^[vii] The Eash cartridge was later licensed by manufacturers, notably the Collins Radio Visitor, which first introduced a cartridge system for dissemination at the National Association of Broadcasters 1959 annual show. Fidelipac cartridges (nicknamed "carts" by DJs and radio engineers) were used by many radio stations for commercials, jingles, and other short items. Eash later formed the Fidelipac Corporation to manufacture and market tapes and recorders, every bit did several others, including Audio-Pak (Audio Devices Corp.).

There were several attempts to sell music systems for cars, beginning with the Chrysler Highway Hi-Fi of the tardily 1950s, which used discs. Yet, entrepreneur, marketer and television set ready dealer, Earl "Madman" Muntz, of Los Angeles, California, saw a potential in the "broadcast carts" for an machine music system. In 1962, he introduced his Stereo-Pak four-track cartridge stereo system and tapes, generally in California and Florida. The four tracks were divided into two "programs", typically corresponding to the 2 sides of an LP tape, with each programme comprising two tracks read simultaneously for stereo (2 aqueduct) audio playback. He licensed popular music albums from the major record companies and duplicated them on the four-rails cartridges, or "CARtridges", as they were first advertised.

Introduction of Stereo 8 [edit]

Lear Jet Stereo 8 advertizement, Billboard July 16, 1966

The Lear Jet Stereo 8 cartridge was designed by Richard Kraus while working for the Lear Jet Corporation, under Bill Lear, in 1963. The major change was to incorporate a neoprene rubber and nylon pinch roller into the cartridge itself, rather than to make the pinch roller a role of the record player, reducing mechanical complexity. Lear also eliminated some of the internal parts of the Eash cartridge, such equally the tape-tensioning mechanism and an interlock that prevented record slippage. By doubling the number of tracks from four to viii,^[viii] the length of any recording doubled to lxxx minutes.

In 1964, Lear's aircraft company constructed 100 sit-in Stereo 8 players for distribution to executives at RCA and the motorcar companies.

Commercial success [edit]

The popularity of both four-track and 8-rails cartridges grew from the booming machine industry.^[9] In September 1965, the Ford Motor Visitor introduced mill-installed and dealer-installed eight-rails tape players every bit an option on three of its 1966 models (the sporty Mustang, luxurious Thunderbird, and loftier-end Lincoln),^[10] and RCA Victor introduced 175 Stereo-8 Cartridges from its RCA Victor and RCA Camden labels of recording artists catalogs.^[11] By the 1967 model year, all of Ford'south vehicles offered this tape player upgrade option. Almost of the initial manufacturing plant installations were divide players from the radio (such as shown in the image), only dashboard mounted 8-track units were offered in combination with an AM radio, every bit well as with AM/FM receivers.^[12] Muntz, and a few other manufacturers, also offered 4/8 or "12-track" players that were capable of playing cartridges of either format, iv-track or 8-track. With the backing of the U.S. automakers, the viii-track format apace won out over the four-track format, with Muntz abandoning it completely by late 1970.

The eight-track format gained steadily in popularity considering of its convenience and portability. Home players were introduced in 1966 that allowed consumers to share tapes between their homes and portable systems. By the tardily 1960s, the eight-track segment was the largest in the consumer electronics market and the popularity of viii-track systems for cars helped generate demand for home units.^[thirteen] "Boombox" type portable players were also popular merely viii-track player/recorders failed to gain wide popularity and few manufacturers offered them except for manufacturer Tandy Corporation (for its Radio Shack electronics stores). With the availability of cartridge systems for the home, consumers started thinking of 8-tracks as a feasible alternative to 33 rpm album style vinyl records, non but as a convenience for the motorcar. Also by the late 1960s, prerecorded releases on the 8-track record format began to arrive within a month of the vinyl release. The eight-track format became by far the almost popular and offered the largest music library of all the tape systems.^[fourteen] Eight-track players were fitted as standard equipment in most Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars of the period for sale in Nifty Britain and worldwide. Optional 8-track players were available in many cars and trucks through the early 1980s.

Ampex, based in Elk Grove Hamlet, Illinois, set upward a European functioning (Ampex Stereo Tapes) in London, England, in 1970 to promote viii-track product and musicassettes in Britain and Europe, but it struggled and folded in 1974.^{[ verification needed ]} GRT Corporation, General Recorded Record of Sunnyvale, California, was some other large manufacturer which duplicated many tapes for smaller record labels; it went out of business in 1979.

Quadraphonic sound on eight-track cartridges was appear by RCA in April 1970. It employed 4-channel receiver/amplifiers that balanced the audio via sliders or a joystick.

Ford was peculiarly eager to promote in-car quadraphonic players as a pricey option, being the merely "Big Four" American automotive company to do and so.^{[ citation needed ]} The format enjoyed moderate success in the early 1970s but faded by mid-decade. Quadraphonic cartridges provided iv channels of discrete sound, unlike matrixed formats such every bit SQ, which Columbia/CBS Records used for their quadraphonic sound vinyl records.^{[ commendation needed ]}

Early on karaoke machines [edit]

Daisuke Inoue invented the first karaoke machine in 1971 chosen the Juke-8.^{[15] [xvi]}

Nature and operation [edit]

An eight-runway cartridge provides four pairs of stereo tracks, whereas the later quadraphonic cartridges had two sets of four tracks. The ends of the tape were spliced with a thin strip of metal that would trigger a solenoid that would cause the playback heads to automatically jump to the next set of channels. Both types of players besides provided a button for manually changing channels. Due to the design of the endless loop tape, which fed from the reel in only one direction, at that place was no rewind command. Due to the mechanical stress on the tape, few machines offered a fast-frontward control.

Quad 8 and Q8 [edit]

The sound mixing process for 4 aqueduct quadraphonic sound is different than for stereo versions of the same recording. Some producers opted for potent separation between channels and this was regularly used for popular music. Others chose a style in which in that location is simply surround sound ambience or "echo" heard in the rear speakers. This type of sound, which can realistically reproduce a live concert hall experience, was ordinarily used for classical music. However, mixing engineers could also aim for more of a hybrid result. In some situations sounds movement in rotation around a three dimensional space. While rarely heard, the four channel effect can exist quite spectacular. Quadraphonic recordings are oftentimes highly regarded and some quad 8-tracks have become highly collectible. Beginning in the 1990s many four channel recordings were reissued on modern digital formats such as Super Audio CD.

Other apply [edit]

Milton Bradley'south (MB) OMNI Entertainment System was an electronic quiz motorcar game starting time released in 1980, similar to Jeopardy! or later on You Don't Know Jack video game serial, using eight-track tapes for playback analog audio for questions, instructions and answers as well as digital signals in magnetic tape data storage on remaining tracks to load the right answer for counting the score. In 1978, the Mego Corporation launched the ii-XL toy robot, which utilized the tracks for determining correct from incorrect answers.^[17] In 1977, the Scottish company GR International released the Bandmaster Powerhouse, a drum machine that played back custom-made 8-track cartridges containing drum and percussion rhythms loops recorded with real instruments. These could be subjected to a caste of processing using the pulsate auto's controls, which included tempo and instrument remainder.^[xviii]

Pass up [edit]

1978 was the peak year for viii-track sales in the The states, with sales declining quite rapidly from and then on.^[19] Eight-track players became less common in homes and vehicles in the late 1970s. The compact cassette had arrived in 1963^[20] and, by the late 1970s, the eight-track cartridges had greatly diminished in popularity. In some Latin American and European countries, the format was abased in the mid-1970s in favor of the smaller cassette tape, which was i-third the size.

In the U.S., viii-track cartridges were phased out of retail stores in late 1982 and early 1983. Yet, some titles were notwithstanding available as eight-track tapes through Columbia Business firm and RCA (BMG) Music Service Record Clubs until late 1988. Until 1990, Radio Shack (Tandy Corporation) continued to sell blank viii-track cartridges and players for habitation recording apply under its Realistic brand.^[21]

The professional circulate cart format survived for more than another decade, being used for jingles, advertisements, station identifications, and limited music content at most local radio stations, before being replaced past computer-generated audio in the 1990s. The format as well continued in use for relatively brusk audio loops, in which a rapid start was more important than other criteria. The countless-loop tape concept continued to be used in newer cinema pic projectors, though their record spool is actively rotated and not drawn past tension on the movie. That applied science is now almost entirely supplanted by digital cinema.

See likewise [edit]

• Anthology era
• Audio format
• Audio recording and reproduction
• Birotron

References [edit]

1. ^ TelePro Cartridge Patent Fails, Billboard vol. 79, No. 27, 8 July 1967 p. iii
2. ^ "What Are 8-Runway Tapes?". wisegeek.com. Retrieved 14 February 2015. While immensely popular in the United States for a period of time ...
3. ^ ^{a b} "Collector'due south Corner: The History of the 8-Track Tape". Retrieved 22 January 2014. Just as the signs were all pointing to eight-track toppling vinyl as the format of selection for music lovers in the The states, Canada and to a lesser extent, in United kingdom, forth came the sound cassette
4. ^ ^{a b} "What Are 8-Track Tapes?". Retrieved 22 January 2014. Outside of the United Kingdom, Canada, and a few other nations, the utilise of 8-track applied science was nigh unknown.
5. ^ "viii-Tracking Around the World". www.8trackheaven.com.
6. ^ Wilford, John Noble (4 April 1971). "Nib Lear Thinks He'll Have the Last Laugh". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
7. ^ "George Eash CARtridge inventor tells how it was built-in". Billboard. Vol. 78, no. 10. 3 March 1966. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
8. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 18 December 2013. Retrieved 19 Jan 2016. {{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
9. ^ "Vintage Audio Recording History". Videointerchange.com. 10 May 2012. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
10. ^ Despagni, Anthony J. (1976). "Some Assistance From Debussy For the Hassled Driver". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
11. ^ "RCA Fires 175-Championship Burst with Release of Stereo 8 Cartridges". Billboard. Vol. 77, no. 39. 25 September 1965. p. 3. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
12. ^ Mitchell, Larry G. (2000). AMC Musculus Cars. MBI Publishing. p. 73. ISBN978-0-7603-0761-eight . Retrieved 26 January 2013.
13. ^ Kussisto, Oscar P. (2 November 1968). "8-track market booms". Billboard . Retrieved 23 April 2014.
14. ^ Shatavsky, Sam (February 1969). "The best record system for you". Popular Science. 194 (2): 126–129.
15. ^ Raftery, Brian (2008). Don't End Believin': How Karaoke Conquered the Globe and Changed My Life . Boston, Massachusetts: Da Capo Printing. ISBN978-0306815836.
16. ^ Mitsui, Tōru; Hosokawa, Shūhei (1998). Karaoke effectually the world: global technology, local singing. London ; New York: Routledge. pp. 29–42. ISBN9781280140877.
17. ^ Techmoan: MB OMNI Entertainment Organisation - The 1980s 8-Track games machine, YouTube, six Baronial 2017
18. ^ "GR International Bandmaster Powerhouse | Vintage Synth Explorer".
19. ^ "U.S. Sales Database".
20. ^ "The History of the Audio Cassette". Southtree . Retrieved 15 December 2019.
21. ^ "1990 Radio Shack Catalog". world wide web.radioshackcatalogs.com.

External links [edit]

• "A Survey of Recordable Magnetic Media" by Andrew D. Crews, Dec, 2003, Academy of Texas, accessed eight August 2006
• So Wrong They're Right - A 1995 documentary about 8-track enthusiasts
• 8-Runway Heaven
• eight-Track Moments Heed to the sound of the 8-Track click
• Beak Lear Invents the viii-Track and Brings in Ford, Motorola, and RCA Victor. Recording History.org

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Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8-track_tape

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