Retro Tech: The Wire Recorder

The Wire Recorder was expected to take over the world but disappeared almost overnight. In this video I take a look at this now largely forgotten technology from the past..and piece together its history. PLEASE CLICK 'SHOW MORE' TO READ ALL THE TEXT
This channel can be supported through Patreon / techmoan
You can subscribe to this channel by clicking here - kzbin.info?...
If you want to know why I didn't record via the line-in....here's the answer
'Recording via line in requires connecting the input device to the 'mic socket' via a Jones connector. I imported some Cinch Jones connectors from the US, and wired them up to RCA sockets but the sound recorded on the wire was clearer when recorded through the mic. I didn't include this section in the video because it was as dull as this explanation about it'
...and if you wanted to know why I didn't record the audio out of the headphone output....well the levels were very low and the sound had an audible whistle.
So now you know, you can go back to having a lovely worry-free day.
There is a Wire Recorder section on eBay - here: goo.gl/LrPBYc
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When you click on links to various merchants posted here and make a purchase, this can result in me earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network & Amazon.
I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to AMAZON Sites (including, but not limited to Amazon US/UK/DE/ES/FR/NL/IT/CAN)

[@Enderrealmable]

Lo Fi Musicians: *Heavy Breathing*

[@apbrit2009]

Black metal recorded on wire, now that's kvlt

[@bradford4570]

I must find one

[@Bubbaaaaaaaa]

Is there any vst like this?

[@Enderrealmable]

@@Bubbaaaaaaaa izotope vinyl is pretty popular

[@Bubbaaaaaaaa]

@@Enderrealmable its tooooo common

[@slicey80]

an older lovely lady I worked with (she was a receptionist) until a few months ago brought in a very similar unit to this from her childhood once that she wanted to see if we could get going again, along with a few tapes ( we are/were IT technicians) and it ended up being our TV technician that replaced a few valves, spliced a new power supply to the old header and got it going, We got to hear a 15 to 17 year old Carmel messing around with her friends at the time, talking about boys they liked and girls they didn't etc etc, she cried and laughed at recordings she had not heard for about 40 ish years, was honestly amazing.

[@kujiko88]

The sheer idea of a moment in time being immortalized on a piece of wire the thickness of a human hair. Just sitting there for decades on end for someone to come across and discover. It's like looking through a window at the past and experiencing it almost like they're there.

[@WardenWolf]

My parents' wedding was recorded on reel-to-reel tape, but they never had a player to play it back. They'd bought a player at one point, but it was worn out and unusable. While doing IT work at a pawn shop around 2008, I saw a very nice-looking reel to reel recorder just sitting there. I asked them about it when I got done, and they told me I could just take it. So my parents got to hear their wedding tape for the first time in 50 years. They enjoyed that a lot, although they didn't enjoy their friend's awful singing which they'd totally forgotten about, lol.

[@Prizm44]

Fascinating!

[@higgydufrane]

Thanks for helping this happen for her. It is a wonderful story.

[@existenceisrelative]

That sounds like a very unique experience. Watching two moments in time half a century apart overlap in a single person.

[@DaniilHomyak]

It's breathtaking to hear the recording of a 1955 New year celebration. I really feel like a time traveler. Thank you for making this absolute fantastic video

[@andymorin9163]

you can find some really cool old recordings at thrift shops

[@Timeward76]

I really wish I could hear the entirety of it... These very human events that normal people chose to record and keep for the future are like small peeks into the past. There's something beautiful about it. Just a nice new years in 1955.

[@cupcakethesabertooth6802]

I would love to listen to the entire recording

[@fistpunder]

@@andymorin9163 That's a great idea! You can really become the proverbial fly on the wall.

[@cupcakethesabertooth6802]

@KelMaster Construction I'd say yes. in 80 years people will have 20k videos and will look back at 4k the same way as we look back at this recording.

[@oxymoron02]

In 1955, those people could never have known that their humble little home recording would be so widely accessible to all of us listening to it. Whether they're still alive or not, we had a glimpse into a their lives; which is incredible.

[@doubleT84]

Recently, my uncle discovered a video on KZbin. Someone had filmed an event that he attended in 1991 on a big old VHS camera and digitalized it just recently. He was surprised to see himself 30 years later.

[@oxymoron02]

@@doubleT84 That's absolutely amazing! I can't imagine how gobsmacked he must have been!

[@Wguy56]

@@doubleT84 I bought a 1948 trophy for a Sokol rally in Prague at a thrift store a few years ago. I was astounded to find a youtube video of a Pathe' newsreel of that exact event.

[@The8BitGuy]

Wow, I had no idea these even existed.

[@DogsRNice]

You need to record old software on this

[@ky-gp4sz]

Came from your videos

[@MildMisanthropeMaybeMassive]

ky Same, I saw Techmoan was on the suggested videos while watching The 8-Bit Guy

[@trustyvault13canteen32]

It is used at the Series Eureka

[@cliz305]

Wow, it's the 8-bit guy.

[@pland]

When I was a child (born 1958) my dad had such a "Recordophone" which was built stationary into a piece of furniture. Mostly before I was born he had recorded family members that visited my parents' home and so when I grew up I knew the voices of some relatives that had passed away in the meantime. Around the end of the sixties or beginning of the seventies my dad copied all intact wires onto a compact cassette before getting away with the machine. I recently transferred the compact cassettes to MP3 and now I have family audio documents of about 70 years ago, which is great. In my teens I continued the recording passion of my dad but on compact cassettes and then also added a 78 rpm shellac record with songs of my great-grandmother who recorded them in a recording studio ("Jecklin" in Zurich) in 1948 at the age of 86 years!

[@demef758]

That's a fantastic bit of family history you and your father managed to preserve. I have a recording my mother made only about 30 years ago where she recounts her memories of growing up in the 1920s. Mom is gone now but that recording is priceless to me. That's the great thing about recording technology: the ability to record history. Imagine if we had audio recordings of, say, Abraham Lincoln delivering the Gettysburg Address. Or Washington giving his farewell address.

[@nuassul]

Is awesome!!!

[@knmonlinemedia]

That is so awesome! I sadly lost my recordings of my dad and grandma in a flood.

[@RavenJCain]

Insane how nice that machine looks for it's age. Not even 80 and 90 stereo equipment looks this good that old.

[@alcorcas]

Yeah, if I don't see it, don't believe it.

[@1Stormrider1]

This makes me wanna play Bioshock all over again

[@commandertaco1762]

RIGHT??? GOD THST WAS SUCH A GOOD GAME

[@Orion_138]

Nah mate this stuff gave me some massive fallout vibes

[@goldprime118]

@@Orion_138 i don't want to set the world on fire.....i just want to make rapture rise

[@xarch7208]

@@Orion_138 some new vegas type shit

[@insolentstickleback3266]

I played the first one, it was a great game, need to wrangle it up again!

[@LGR]

Another piece of retro tech I've never heard of. Absolutely love this stuff :)

[@ajtstvandmusicarchivechann1585]

LGR its cool to see you here clint. I didnt know you are a fan of techmoan.

[@rimple1158]

LGR lgr is here !!!!! So was I from the year 2018

[@WeirdWonderful]

Tis not exactly the stuff you'd find in Goodwil is it now XD

[@ThatTransMuffinOfficial]

@@WeirdWonderful I dunno. I mean, he did get a CoCo at a thrift store, so anything is possible.

[@morganrussman]

@@ajtstvandmusicarchivechann1585 I suspect that LGR, the 8 big guy, and techmoan are subscribed to each other. I honestly wonder if that is as true as I've said it is.

[@Sleelan]

There's something eerie about listening to random people's voices from 60 years ago, captured and stored on a metal wire.

[@Spottedleaf-yf4lk]

Tony Jaksn more so it’s a fucking wire

[@kd5nrh]

And what could be the earliest surviving mixtape...er...mixwire.

[@bogdanbacanu605]

The most eerie thing i've ever heard was magnetic band found near a stalingrad bunker minutes before a tank was heading for their position as the recording stops, could find id if you're interested :) it had the voices of german soldiers on it.

[@plainlake]

Then getting a copyright strike from a youtube bot.

[@bogdanbacanu605]

​@legolas1601 here we go, i have the link to the forum also kzbin.info/www/bejne/o2WkZKaam6iGZ7s

[@davidfl4]

Man I love those thick switches on older machines “click” so satisfying

[@FoulOwl2112]

Ive got an old wire recorder and some reels with my grandparents abd my Dads voice on it when he was only two or three years old. Kinda one of my most valuable, worthless possessions.

[@loganiushere]

I hope you’ve recorded those wires to high quality digital files: I wouldn’t count on those wires lasting forever, or that player, but as long as those files are stored somewhere and not corrupted, they will be exactly the same for the rest of time.

[@lilezur543]

Priceless* you mean (I’d hope lol)

[@gfx2943]

@@lilezur543 haha I didn't want to correct either, but yea I was like woah don't say worthless! lol

[@Addixxtion]

@@loganiushere excellent advice, I hope the OP has or plans on doing this soon. I wish I had something like this of my grandparents, all of which passed away by the time I was a teenager, sadly.

[@vazhanatroshvili7523]

in late 80-s I served in Soviet Army, (1986-88) and wire recorder was still in use there , it was used in Air defense complex, to record conversation with other units, and it was working fine. year after year

[@WolvesDontPray]

Comrade

[@drewgehringer7813]

Yeah, wire recorders found niche use in rough environments because steel wire is more durable than plastic tape. Aircraft flight recorders (the 'black box' they look for after crashes) used to use wire recording as well

[@jak3w]

In soviet russia, army serves you!

[@AlexMGM]

@Diego Alfonso Soviet cassettes were different, some contained bad tape, some contained rather good tape, the same with cassette mechanism. The main problem with "floating" quality. There were lots of non-Soviet cassettes with much the worst quality.

[@barryholt9564]

Who here, in the British Isles at least, remembers the dreaded ‘ Strand’ blank tapes from the late eighties/early 90s? Five for a quid from the pound shop... usually purchased by people who hated music, or by elderly relatives who innocently thought they were getting a bargain. A bit like the wire spools mentioned in the video, playing these felt a bit like Russian roulette, just waiting for the moment when they would, inevitably, snarl up.With these, it really was a case of you get what you pay for! In terms of sound quality they were roughly comparable with that achieved with the ambient sounds accidentally recorded in the spiral scratches engraved into ancient pots for decorative finish--only with somewhat less fidelity. I reckon the Soviets couldn’t have made anything that was worse than these (even if they were trying)! Many is the poor bloke had their equipment wrecked by inadvertently letting some berk put one on their system...

[@WHatchitW]

"Check him to see if he's got a wire. " "He's clean, boss."

[@louf7178]

LOL.

[@Dracopol]

Could it be that when gangsters were saying, "He's wearing a wire!" they were not referring to the lead from a microphone to a recorder, but to the wire-recorder itself?

[@WHatchitW]

You caught the joke. lol

[@ryandevan2793]

Do you think that's where the term came from?

[@RayBrach]

My parents were married in 1948. Their wedding was recorded on wire. We had the wire through the 60's and 70's. I had hopes to listen to it but never found a device to play it on. Thanks for the video to bring back some memories.

[@CoolAsFreya]

The fact that the "record" and "playback" are labeled as "dictate" and "transcribe" is really interesting! Fascinating how the user's language and conventions evolve over time

[@carlwinslow5905]

That's because most of these units were marketed towards offices, businesses etc to make recordings and share them with others about whatever business needed to be recorded. I assure you that professional recording equipment of the time (mostly tape machines) didn't use that terminology

[@lukischwab9235]

Those people that recorded themselves were never expecting 29700 people listen to them allmost 80 jears in the future :o

[@kierenmoore3236]

If most of them even knew they were being recorded ... ?? Crystal piezo mics were good at picking up room sounds ... Another good reason/lesson in being very careful/thoughtful about the THINGS YOU SAY ....

[@dead99ish]

*60 years

[@stradlemonkey444]

this is crazy!

[@Vector_Ze]

When I was about 16-years old, I recorded my family's Christmas morning gift opening activities. That was almost 50-years ago. I've still got the recording and have digitized it to preserve and share it with those who were present all those years ago...those of us who are still breathing air that is. I have no plans to post it to KZbin though, heh. Still, with multiple digital copies floating around, it is entirely conceivable that it may be heard again another decade down the road, when it will be as old as the wire recording you're talking about. Recordings of that nature get better with time. And most of the participants will be dead and gone, including me probably.

[@MrHellfinger]

If more of the analog world can be digitized, it will be easier for future generations to access glimpses of the past. I felt a little privileged to hear a private party from so long ago. Those voices may even ring out into the future for 80 more years.

[@Coalrollinfurry]

The main disadvantage of a wire recorder: the wire.

[@WardenWolf]

Wire recorders were considered superior to early tape because they didn't have the hiss that anyone who's familiar with tape knows. Good quality units were able to produce incredible quality sound that can no longer be appreciated because they've all degraded. But they were still mono and more fragile than later tapes.

[@logangraham2956]

@@WardenWolf perhaps they could have combined wire recorder with tape . take a large strip of plastic and embed several wires into it.

[@InsideOfMyOwnMind]

@@logangraham2956 Imagine what the two inch format would be like with 24 tracks. 🤣

[@oliwier000b]

It should be wireless hah

[@InsideOfMyOwnMind]

@@oliwier000b May you be the first adopter of the new high power laser tv when it comes out.🤣

[@loganinkosovo]

The U.S. Army in WWII used these wire recorders installed in Jeeps with loudspeakers mounted to make the sounds of an armored or infantry unit moving up into position across from the enemy. The psy-ops units were called Ghost Battalions.

[@joejeweller7614]

loganinkosovo they were also used in airplanes to record cockpit conversations kinda like the black box

[@notgray88]

So I guess you could call them... GHOST DIVISIONS

[@ahums16]

@@notgray88 Living or dead, always ahead, fed by your dread!

[@knighteddrifter363]

@@electrictroy2010 by that logic, why did you post?

[@cupcakethesabertooth6802]

There's something just so amazing listening to a new years party from 1955, it's an audio time capsule! Amazing. I'd love to listen to the entire recording.

[@chrisinnes2128]

I have a very similar recording on a reel to reel tape that my grandparents recorded in 1965 new years

[@kennethcohagen9037]

My father in law was an electronic engineer who helped the US and British Navy develop surface contact radar during WWII. After the war he worked on many projects and had a lot of hobbies as well. In the late 60's early 70's when reel to reel tape took off he would transcribe wire recordings to tape for people. Most of them were things like a baby's first words and other family recording. Later he got into refurbishing Philips radios. They had a tube that burned out regularly, the 51A which was basically a pair of ballast resistors. He made a solid state replacement using wire from these recorders to wind his own resistors which he then encapsulated in an epoxy like material. These were cheap to make and lasted longer than the 51A tubes. Unfortunately the process was lost when he died and the last of his stock was sold off.

[@kennethcohagen9037]

+bingola45 yes, but making the 51A1 vacuum tube replacement that he made for tubes and more was. Sorry if I confused the issue.

[@Jeffrey314159]

Kenneth Cohagen Nicola Tesla invented, and the Germans were the first ones to patent a Radar system prior to 1920.

[@kirishima638]

Absolutely love this. This is classic 1940s technology; well designed but solidly built. It's a piece of art. And built to last! No design obsolescence BS! Also as was common with that era, the manual contains complete diagrams and disassembly guides. The end user was not treated like an idiot back then.

[@Dogy0909]

The manual containing a complete diagram needs to come back. No reason to abstain from printing it besides scummy business practices and cheapness.

[@moldyorangepeel]

For 1500 dollars you could buy a hundred modern cassette players that are functionally better in every was

[@kelhard5632]

A previously unheard live performance of Elvis at the Louisiana Hayride (recorded off air) was discovered on a wire reel a few years ago, and has since been released by BMG. You never know what could be lurking on long-forgotten reels. Fascinating stuff as always.

[@KowboyUSA]

Well, now I finally know what that spool of stainless steel wire that's been in my junk box since the 1950s was originally used for.

[@kris_0520]

I hope you didn't use it in anyway other than playing it.

[@notgray88]

I probably would have mistaken it for soldering wire lol

[@zanerkindardis8978]

Lol he probably used some of it for odd jobs xD

[@3rdalbum]

Did you think you had a murderer in your family?

[@veronicapedemonte2934]

Nice... but stainless steel isn't magnetic...

[@rorrt]

That reel from 1955 i pictured everyone recorded like they're in an episode of Mad Men. But as well as that, i found it strangely scary. Those are like the ghosts of radio. All of those people must be long dead...... BUT there again, i'm quite melancholic. Every weekday on Challenge i watch Bullseye and think "yep, all of that audience are dead..."

[@rorrt]

bingola45 To be fair, have you watched an episode of Bullseye, the audience has an average age of about 75. And as it happens, i do happen to believe those conspiracy theories... Another conspiracy that the doctors don't want you to know.. If you hold a magnifying glass at arms length, focused on your eye, its basically laser eye surgery. But the ophthalmologists have such a racket going on, they don't want you to know the secret.

[@rorrt]

bingola45 If not now, he will be in at least 30 years time.. You'll never make it out alive.

[@TheLuizSouza]

Glad to know I'm not the only one lol Every time I listen to or watch something that was made in the past, the first thought that crosses my mind is: "these people are probably dead now..."

[@southwestnsproductions7413]

When that old "Let's Pray" song came on, I got chills. That recording, made in the mid 1950s, is stuck in that period in history, and something about it is just really, really cool to me.

[@Selrisitai]

I got the same feeling. . . during the Christmas party. I'd love to hear the rest of that. It's like eavesdropping through time.

[@TheZoorsk]

"Mac Odell - Let‘s Pray“

[@ruslannabioullin3664]

It's not like atheists didn't exist back then... In fact, decades prior to that, religion was officially banned by some nations.

[@ethan1970]

@@TheZoorsk thank you.

[@Coqui-Media]

Having signed long form recording contracts with both minor and major record companies, I was shocked to find that this mode of reproduction was still being referred to when outlining copyrights. Part of one of the clauses also mentioned WAX cylinders!!! They really wanted to make sure that they owned you and your music on anything that could record and playback!!!

[@JeffHendrie]

After reading your comment, I have to ask: did the contracts mention tinfoil recordings at all? (precursor to wax cylinders; and only 8 of the original machines exist still, if I remember correctly.) Also, did they mention glass records or wax records? (thanks to WWI and WWII for those.) Somewhere, I actually have a glass record of my grandpa playing piano as a child. You can see the thin metal disc in the center.

[@gloomyblackfur399]

Law grad here. It's probably not that (at least not entirely). Due to the value of precedent in the law, contracts tend to only expand, not contract. If a contract has found success before judges in the past, that's (partly) binding on future judges. If you re-write it, you lose that certainty. So, if you want to update a contract, just add to it, never delete. The form-contract the record company uses is likely many decades old, expanding over the years as tech changed.

[@starlight4649]

Imagine finding a loophole out of a contract, but required that you work with extremely archaic music hardware to subvert your contract. Like, you can make music outside of your contract, but you have to have to etch the music into stone with a chisel

[@Coqui-Media]

@@dot2562 LOL!!!!!!!!

[@allysloper1882]

There is a wire recording you can find on KZbin of the Emperor of Austria on a Poulsen Telegraphone which was recorded at the 1900 Paris exposition

[@TheNightquaker]

Amazing piece of history. I love the 1955 party recording. Preserve, protect.

[@Arthurk346]

14:20 that "Winter wonderland" song in background gave me goosebumps and bringed me some new year memories in summer

[@Randomheart0]

You should upload all the old recordings. I'd like to hear the New Years 1955 in full.

[@Austinjamesmagic]

Me too, what were they talking about!?

[@axipixel5811]

Yes please!

[@honkhonkler7732]

Using the headphone out port for better audio quality.

[@blew1t]

probably can't on youtube because, as he mentioned, there's copyrighted music in there.

[@Randomninja47]

If he could upload it somewhere else, I'd also love to hear it to be honest. Maybe an audio file on his website? (Does he have one? I only found the channel 2 weeks ago)

[@blindlemon9]

Among the most important and brilliant jazz music (Bird’s live bootlegs) ever would not exist without the wire recorder.

[@plenus7392]

Truly sad how fragile the wire is, those old old recordings of some unknown people in the 50`s is a gem, keep it well mate.

[@seanwilkinson3975]

I absolutely love the Art Deco look and odd technology behind this interesting machine (I mean, recording on wire? Quelle neato!). Thank you for bringing it back to life for us.

[@seanwilkinson3975]

Same with the print advert for Spud cigarettes. I love how the solution for all the throat and lung troubles brought on ostensibly by smoke and cigarettes is...more cigarette smoke! As long as it's Spud mentholated, of course.

[@jonothanthrace1530]

When I get smoker's cough, I go for SPUD-BOYS!

[@duncanurquhart5278]

"I suppose, in a way, [they were] a very early music pirate. Which is ironic, because the tunes that they'd recorded were all very god-fearing things about going to hell." best line ever

[@shawbros]

I used to do computer repairs at Family Christian Stores. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_Christian_Stores A manager at one of their stores told me they had problems with people frequently buying DVD's and then soon returning them. The manager said they were doing that because they were copying the DVD's.

[@notgray88]

shawbros ah yes, Christianity and digital piracy, a pair as old as peanut butter and jelly.

[@calculatorman-mq7zd]

Just imagine; someone in 1955 created that recording likely for their ears only. Now, 61 years later in 2016, it has been played on KZbin to well over one-million people. Really breathtaking to listen to.

[@jetlag1488]

AudioThing has made a VST effects plugin that emulates the sound of a wire recorder. Pretty accurate emulation. Makes any sound all warbly, crackly and nostalgic sounding.

Great episode! Dad was a professional musician, accordion. My brother and I played with his Webster Chicago wire recorder in late 1950s. It was smaller I recall, slightly narrower and longer with a detachable lid and covered with red leatherette. Great time playing radio show until we were spending more time mending and untangling the wire! Fun to remember, thanks! I got a small toy reel to reel tape recorder for Christmas in 1959/60 that was made in Japan.

[@ramairgto72]

15:17 Used my phone app Sound Hound "Let's Pray" by Odell McLeod

[@seeburg10]

Unbelievable that app figured it out!

[@Dogy0909]

I looked up the song once, there’s an upload on KZbin and I believe the granddaughter of the singer commented!

[@this_is_patrick]

Ah yes, the 1950s, the age where I chose to smoke *_e v e n m o r e_* even after I inevitably cough up blood from my lung cancer to ease off that sore throat and chest pain!

[@thedevilsadvocate5210]

The only reason I smoke is because my doctor said I needed more tar

[@VBshredder]

Hey, gotta follow doctor's orders!

[@AriCircuit]

M A X I M U M L U N G C A N C E R

[@jd9119]

You could use the wire recorder to record yourself coughing after you smoke a pack of menthol smokes.

[@aaronparsons5201]

i love how on the new years recording, you can hear them playing the intro to the Andrew Sister's Winter Wonderland record. the same recording can be found by searching it in youtube, albeit at a higher pitch. you can even make out the whistling in the wire recording.

[@NaoPb]

This really makes me want to play Bioshock again. Your voice recorded on the tape makes me think of the tapes you collect in that game. They seem to sound similarly.

[@BlueBird-wb6kb]

Naomi Baron That 40's vibe , Its the best

[@Timsterfield]

Naomi Baron right??

[@geomidia8998]

Man, I'm wondering about those people, their lives etc.. Did you ever fell a bit of nostalgia, even if you never lived in that era?

[@JaesadaSrisuk]

Jonathan Mello Absolutely. They say that there are three types of people: those who focus on the present, those who dream of the future, and those who study and imagine themselves in the past. Online, there are ephemera blogs all about advertisements, magazines, video clips, fashion, home decor and other miscellanea from the distant and near-past that reveals how people lived their daily lives fifty, a-hundred-fifty, or fifteen-hundred years ago. A great resource is old catalogs, like vintage Sears catalogs where one can see what an average person looked like and how they lived long ago.

[@RobertSmith-le8wp]

Jonathan Mello I think I'm one those people who find the past interesting

[@LeNomEstYves]

Jonathan Mello Dude I want to listen to that whole new years eve recording so bad. Just to hear regular conversation from back then.

[@CWINDOWSsystem32]

+Justice J. Srisuk Can I be 2 of those things? I love learning about the past and seeing artifacts from past decades, and I also dream of the future and what's to come. But never the present...

[@nintendy]

The Past is much better than the Present or Future -- it's much safer!

[@100vg]

Saw this in the sidebar and was intrigued. It's amazing this recorder/player still works! Even with all the apparent rust inside, everything still moves freely and the rubber drive wheels still work perfectly. Just goes to show you how much better products were manufactured back then. Thanks for this blast from the past nostalgia. It was cool and enjoyable.

[@firstgoinpostal]

In the early 70's my folks had a landline answering machine that was a wire recorder.

[@MilesPrower1992]

One of my substitute teachers' dad recorded him as a baby in 1949 with one of these

[@hedgehog3180]

I hope you in some way save those recordings digitally they could be a gold mine for some historian at a later date.

[@Haffmatthew]

“Just a joke, please don’t write in” haha I love these videos from another fellow with the exceptional name of Matt.

[@SMccrate01]

A friend of mine who prowls flea markets and auctions got an Edison wax cylinder player/victrola with a fair number of cylinders. There is no volume control, the needle (almost a decent size nail really) rides in the grooves which are big enough to clearly see the wiggles. That is mounted on the diaphram box which in turn has the enormous tin horn attached to it. Listening to voices etched in wax well over 100 years ago was moving but almost chilling. It has a ghostly character and it feels like you can hear the distance of time itself. It is also impressively loud! Truly an amazing thing if you get the chance to hear one.

[@johannesc.schmidt2054]

Thank you so much for 24 entertaining, funny and instructive minutes :D Such a pleasure to watch your Videos!

[@Techmoan]

Thanks for the kind words.

[@nitrate92]

+Techmoan Please do more videos on vintage tech!

[@eIucidate]

Absolutely. I'm so glad I discovered this channel. I didn't realise how much I'm interested in old tech.

[@DeliveryMcGee]

Another big use of wire recorders: early airplane black boxes, because it was more robust than the tape available at the time. Eventually the cases got better armour and insulation and tape got better, so they switched to tape in the '60s, and now ofc they're all solid-state.

[@okktok]

Delivery McGee What you said is totally non sense bro. Don’t do misinformation please

[@adrinathegreat3095]

Black box flight recorders using wire were still in use in commercial planes in the early 1990s

[@ricochofsky8293]

"now ofc they're all solid-state." I think you mean "digital." The phrase "solid-state" initially referred to the use of semiconductors as opposed to tubes (valves) in electronic circuits. In tubes electrons move through a vacuum, whereas in semiconductors they move through a solid medium. Nowadays "solid-state" can mean lacking moving parts, as in solid-state drives for storing digital data.

[@milantrcka121]

@@okktok It is you, Sir, who is misinformed. Plastic tape melts in a fire rather quickly.. Steel does not. Magnetic recording survives until Curie temperature is reached - which is quite a bit higher than temperature beyond which polyester tape is destroyed. Still not good enough Until the 70's, flight recorders used inconel disc onto which data were scribed . Metal tape was also used.

[@ghost-jesus]

@@ricochofsky8293 actually the use of the term solid state is correct here, as modern SSDs use floating gate transistors, which are just MOSFETS with 2 gates instead of 1 for data storage, which is actually the reason why the SSD is called solid state drive.

[@Cruiserfrank]

As a WWII geek, I'd heard of wire recorders, but I knew nothing about them. Thank you for the history and the tech!

[@stuartwilson4960]

Distorted, analogue, valves, fluttery, noisy, incorrect speed.. I LOVE IT!

[@meinnase]

This is the coolest thing, how that machine looks, the heavy duty switches, the sound it makes while working actually adds to the "atmosphere" instead of being annoying (which audible devices usually are) and the sound of it while bad just perfectly captures that "steampunk" feel. Also i dont know if its because of the audio quality but that party somehow sounded really "stuck up" lol.

[@MRCAB]

When that thing unspooled... uhg, what a nightmare.

[@steadfastcoward]

OUCH

[@emilyadams5586]

And I thought picking cassette tape out of my machines in 1977 was bad.

[@jonnyboi9026]

I've ran wire for electric fences, this made me wanna cry.

[@mimicuatro971]

I've got one of those! Has been in home since I was a child. Your video made me remember my beloved grandpa! Thanks for all your nice videos.

[@RedVynil]

I know what you mean about that old recording from 60-some years ago. I've got "field" recordings from Woodstock (the concert in `69. Someone had a tape recorder in one of the medical tents up on the hill and, although you can't pick out too much of what's being said, and there's a dog doing a lot of barking very close to the mic, it's very interesting that I'm getting to hear recordings of something that took place, now, ALMOST 60 years ago!! That long-dead dog was making that noise 53 years ago in that exact point in time!! It's like actually being in the room with those people or being a "fly on the wall" and hearing this actual piece of history being made and recorded! I'd be like having a tape recorder set up at the last supper and getting to hear that tape a few thousand years later. But, essentially, that's what EVERY recording is!

[@djorgen104]

Before wire recorders, studios were recording on wax and vinyl discs. I have numerous old radio programs that were recorded in such a fashion before World War II.

[@nilswegner2881]

Dana Jorgensen it rather is shellac than vinyl that they recorded on back in the day, vinyl still uses the same principle but is much less prone to shattering.

[@Techmoan]

*Answers to common questions* 1. What is the name of that 'prey' song? Identified a few times earlier in the comments...(so I pasted the first answer below) A) Courtesy of @custardo "Neato! The pray pray pray song is called... Let's Pray by Mac Odell: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iqu8faOAd8mrrJo .Needed some google fu to find it, for some reason that phrase is used quite a lot. The last verse takes an unexpected turn. Can't imagine mr Odell was big in Japan..." 2. Are wire recorders the origin of the terminology to 'wear a wire" A) Some people say it is to do with wire recorders, but others dispute this...I decided not to get in the middle of yet another of those arguments, so took the diplomatic approach of not mentioning the 'wearing a wire' thing. However I do like to think the etymology of that phrase lies with wire recorders though, just so that they live on in some small way. 3. Can we hear the 1955 party audio in full? A) No, even I can barely hear it...the audio was recorded at the wrong level (or the machine was not in the best location) so it's almost impossible to make out what anyone is saying, you can grab the odd word or phrase every now and then, and you can hear the records in the background reasonably clearly....but on the whole it's not worth a listen. Also see number 4 below for more info about issues capturing the audio. 4. Why didn't I wire the recorder in to the sound source and/or capture the audio via the Headphone out? A) It's a tad disheartening after working on this for almost a year that so many are more concerned about what isn't in the video rather than what is. Looking on the positive side, you do get to see and hear a 63 year old machine that is in pristine condition, in action, in a 20-odd minute video, in 4K, for free. However the reason I couldn't use a wire input - I tried and spent a few weeks working on direct input wiring, importing some Cinch Jones connectors from the US and soldering them up to RCA connectors. The line input however appears to require some additional circuitry to work optimally because I found that the sound recorded by the mic (on this Budget Model 63 year old Dictation Machine) was as good as it gets (and sounded a lot better than my expensive DIY wires). As far as output goes, the sound from the headphone output is Very low and has a noticeable whistle, and yes this could be possibly be repaired, but at some point you have to stop shooting a video and actually edit the thing together and upload it....perhaps if I'd spent another few months on this I would have been able to resolve these issues...but perhaps by then the machine would fail, or something else would have gone wrong....this video, like everything, only exists because of a series of compromises. However can always buy your own wire recorder and do some experiments....there's an eBay link to the wire recorder section in this box...but concentrating too much on trying to get the best possible sound out of an old dictation machine sounds like a bit of a fools errand to me. Remember though that my machine was the smallest, cheapest, most basic, dictation model...there were other models available more suited to higher quality recording, but as covered in the video, there's a reason that no one released pre-recorded music on wire in the 50s, and there's a reason that as soon as people heard tape, wire was as good as dead ....it's because it isn't really suitable for music, and all the effort spent direct wiring a wire recorder up to a source and capturing the output from a wire recorder won't change that. It was outclassed audio technology in 1948...so it's a bit silly to expect it to sound great 68 years after everyone decided it didn't sound very good. Please try to enjoy the video for what it is, rather than what it isn't, it's a light hearted look at an old almost-forgotten technology that many people haven't seen or heard in action. It's 20-odd minutes of 'edutainment'. I prefer to leave the in-depth sound engineering stuff to other people, when things go audiophile it's all a bit dry for my tastes. “BUT STAINLESS STEEL WIRE ISN’T MAGNETIC” OK it’s cool and commendable that you’re this invested, but far less cool that you haven’t checked to see that Ferritic and martensitic stainless steels are indeed magnetic.

[@andrewm6179]

thank you for the effort you have put in to making this video and also all your videos. you're one of my favorite KZbinrs

[@Techmoan]

Thanks. I try my best to make these things worth watching. There's perhaps a couple of hours of footage shot over six months that aren't in this video about soldering wires, and adjusting things (when the machine arrived from the US it didn't work properly)....but none of it would be in the slightest bit interesting to even the dullest person on the planet...so the clips I assembled into the finished video are really the only parts worth watching...but it seems that the boring deleted bits are the parts that I get the most questions about.

[@dzhiurgis]

You need an alternative channel where you can put all these dull things because to me they are more interesting! Thanks!

[@Techmoan]

They aren't narrated or edited it's just raw footage.

[@_Scintill8tor]

Thanks for this upload, I enjoyed watching it. Never heard a wire recorder before, it actually sounds not that bad (considering the age). Was this method very soon obsolete back then?

[@peteacher52]

Now THAT answers a question I've had in the back of my mind since 1964 - a teen-aged friend and myself were playing with my new reel to reel tape recorder. Friend was highly tech-savvy but I, not. Me: David, what was used to record sound before tape? David: Wire. Wire was used from reel to reel. I had visions of copper wire being somehow involved but never pursued the matter because it seemed so improbable! :-) Col, NZ

[@Dracopol]

Copper wire would not work because it is actually diamagnetic (i.e. anti-magnetic). It has to be stainless steel wire.

[@CoolKoon]

"I had visions of copper wire being somehow involved but never pursued the matter because it seemed so improbable! :-)" - I read about this technology as a child too, but I just couldn't fathom how could they record sounds on a continuous piece of wire. But apparently it works.

[@kiwigaming09]

Aha! An another kiwi! Hi

[@themegaman91965]

What a close call there. Thank goodness it never made it past a few years! And here I was thinking that tapes were unreliable, when wire is much more likely to be destroyed in the rewinding process than tapes...

[@WeirdWonderful]

Whenever I hear the dude say "our first order of business is unfinished business, do any of the members have unfinished business" I always expect a comedy routine to start.

[@MrGoatfarmer]

Your right!When I first heard of that track,I thought that this was from a old Television show or something to.

[@thememester1190]

I wonder if anybody in those OLD recordings thought that maybe, in 2016, somebody would play those recordings again.

[@Gigidag77]

Same. Most of them have probably all passed away by now. It's kinda sad in a way :(

[@chrisfroehler5315]

Purchased three of these after seeing your video. They are amazing, and I'm enamored with the content that is frequently available on this sort of media, sight-unseen, as it were.. Anyway, love the content. Keep up the good work!

[@Cory_]

Listening to those old recordings are my favorite parts of videos like these, incredible time capsules.

[@AtrumNoxProductions]

After watching this video I wanted one I just found one at an estate sale today. It came with three reels.

[@teh_supar_hackr]

how well does it work?

[@teh_supar_hackr]

@Chuck Taylor So he does'int have one?

[@MegaJchrist]

Any interesting audio? Or any audio at all? would love to hear something

[@grizzlygamer8891]

I wanted a Cigarette 😂

[@reyprotskiful]

Good for you;-)

[@danxepha4535]

Looks like its from Fallout. Or possibly Bioshock. Awesome.

[@mbvgkjhgvkugvouklgb]

Sounds like it too!

[@Dragoslav_MD]

Reminded me of Bioshock as well!

[@22222Sandman22222]

The sound reminds me of robots from Fallout New Vegas!

[@ratodebanhado1]

from Rapture. sure

[@adenowirus]

Look for a video titled "wire recording of atomic bomb test".

[@PaulLea]

Another excellent, entertaining and imformative clip here Mr Techmoan, I had heard about these wire recorder gizmo's as a precurser to tape, but your clip really fills in the gaps. What a wonderful invention in it's day. Thanks for making the clip.

[@SpiritmanProductions]

I'm quite the tech geek, but I never knew these existed! Thanks for a fascinating video.

[@trulygg]

Man that's a real good looking machine.

[@xBriSaxx]

Rie Kugimiya the Queen of Tsundere reel nice

[@PaulTheSkeptic]

When I'm dying of cancer, of course I smoke smooth, soothing, SPUD cigarettes.

[@JohnLeaf]

lol.. when i thirsty and dont have water?? i dont think twice SPUD

[@arifakyuz7673]

When I am out in the desert, dehydrating, the first stop i go to is the nearest shop to buy SPUD cigarettes! Oh, and saltines, just in case...

[@LegoWormNoah101]

The weird thing is, I don't smoke at all.

[@oscarmuffin4322]

@@LegoWormNoah101 Most people don't. Especially at your age.

[@LegoWormNoah101]

@@oscarmuffin4322 That's good to know.

[@agentv1240]

Every once in a while, I come back to this one video. I want one of these so bad, because as an aspiring mechanical engineer, the mechanisms in here are pretty fascinating, but also because it sounds so undoubtedly early 50's. If you had this playing in a dark room, almost anyone would guess that the machine or recording was from the 50s.

[@papanovembermusic]

The subject, content and delivery in your videos is/are always totally engaging, you are a great teacher.

[@thecowwarrior3]

That machine is a piece of art.

[@mraiwa1000]

I need one of those.. rather interesting indeed

[@alastairward2774]

How much does the cost of retro tech on eBay rise after a mention by Techmoan?

[@MrSlashStudios]

+Alastair Ward at least 10%

[@mraiwa1000]

Alastair Ward That's a valid point there. I have noticed cheap knock-off boombox's from the 1980's have recently been priced higher than they originally sold for. Perhaps he should bring this up in one of his future videos

[@MattMcIrvin]

Watching this video again just because the case styling on this thing is so amazing.

[@geoschmo]

I'm a fan of golden age Science Fiction from the 30's and 40's. I read a story once that went into great detail about the space ship navigation programs that were stored on spools of steel wire. I thought it was something the author had dreamed up as I had never heard that was an actual thing. Very cool.

[@TheKingOfBeans]

Now I really want a spud cigarette...

[@isiahfriedlander5559]

Come to where the flavor is, come to Marlboro country

[@hermannpaschulke1583]

+Feier Fuchs (ehemals Laurin Laki) ICH GLAUB SS-KALIERT GLEICH! WEHRMACHT DENN SOWAS?

[@eatmyskids]

LoL Sean, I get a kick out of the old radio shows, like Gunsmoke, and the cigarette ads they ran also

[@jquest43]

it was made from potato leaves.( true fact)

[@mosesberkowitz3298]

"Come to Spud Country"....

[@MeatPopsycle]

Wow. You have some of the coolest stuff on this website.

[@MeatPopsycle]

I hear ya. It's great to dream, though.

[@biomerl]

That little memory from '55 is amazing. A little piece of history that wasn't recorded nearly as well as our modern lives.

[@ayeletkaznelson782]

I've just started watching your videos and they're so great. Your thorough research and sense of humor are really wonderful, and everything looks really good too. I have a particular fondness for wire recorders (anyone who read Ross Russell's Charlie Parker bio, "Bird Lives!", as I did as a kid and many times after, might be similarly enthralled), and you did such a great job telling their story in under 30 mins. Thanks for the great work!

[@watchman56able]

back in 1970ish I was a paper boy. I used to find great stuff on trash days. Found one on these. Never got it going but we did figure out what it was and that was something to know.

[@Jerbod2]

Oh my, this thing is awesome. Puts a smile on my face every time you show us something like this, I had no idea this existed. I'm not a Fallout player, but it'd fit right in. You recorded the audio from the KZbin library via the microphone with the machine running right beside it, why not line in or did I miss something besides it clearly being an example and not a real best scenario test. Great stuff Mat, cheers!

[@Techmoan]

Line in required input via a Jones connector. I imported some Cinch Jones connectors from the US, wired them up....but the sound still sounded better when recorded through the mic. I didn't include this section in the video because it was as dull as this explanation about it.

[@Jerbod2]

Alright, I have no idea what I'm talking about but couldn't it have to do with a component in that line-segment being a bit iffy, thus sounding worse than the mic? Perhaps worth looking into. I bet this video is going to go quite "viral" since the device looks so cool. Might be worth a part 2 if the questions do heap up like they tend to do when new viewers arrive.

[@an2qzavok]

No wire for direct line in probably.

[@dvepps6780]

+failing@commenting if there's a mic, there's a line in

[@larssjodahl7660]

I've got a microphone just like that, that came with a second hand ham radio, and I've always just LOVED the style, but until now I never knew the brand or era for sure. Thanks for a great video! I like how you go through the historical and technological steps with what they were used for and the use cases they imagined early on, with ads and everything!!

[@Wguy56]

Fascinating! This brought back a memory from my childhood. I was an avid comic book reader in the mid-late 1960s. There was an issue of a Superman or Batman comic that was a flashback to the post-war era, and someone had secretly recorded a conversation on a wire recorder. That was the first time I had ever heard of that technology and had no way to find out what that was at the time. I imagined it to be an earlier version of tape recording- which now I see that it was. I had imagined the wire to be much thicker...only the size of a human hair. Incredible. Thank you!

[@dg-hughes]

The average home in the USA in 1950 was $8,500 today it's around $230,000 imagine spending $23,000 on a tape recorder today. I'm not sure that works out but hey it was dramatic.

[@ryantexada9269]

This is so cool it gives off a videogame old intercom system tutorial vibe

[@brianwalendy3735]

Hey spudfire.... Those old videogame intercoms were modeled after older, real world intercoms...

[@DavidChatenay]

22:27 is that the origin of the expression "wearing a wire"? (in this case, a wire recorder)

[@ratataran]

No, I believe that came from the fact that they had a wire running up their shirt or down their pants.

[@Thegonagle]

I had the same thought. It seems it might be easier to miniaturize a wire recorder than a tape recorder in the early transistor days. Of course, it might just refer to a wired microphone concealed in a watchband or cuff link. But if miniature wire recorders were in fact common investigative/spy/espionage equipment, the etymology sure makes a lot of sense. "Your next mission, should you choose to accept it, acquire a vintage body-worn wire recorder, and see it safely delivered to Mr. Moan for analysis."

[@AestheticCapybara]

It's quite morbid and bizarre yet oddly fascinating to think that those old recordings you played were made and handled by people that are most likely long gone by now.

[@465marko]

I was hoping Marty Mcfly was going to be on the 1955 recording!!!! You know that new sound you been lookin for? Well listen to THIS!!!

[@Perririri]

#RickAstley **rickrolls 1955 :P** Family Guy Brian

[@nthgth]

Unfortunately Marty didn't get there until the following November 😉

[@schuriken]

When you have a cough smoke cigarettes ? it's like saying when you're in Ireland jump off a cliff yeah ? Vintage advertisment was much more hardcore than nowadays.

[@joebananas37]

+Jason Zakrajsek - That's exactly what a surgeon would do when trying to fix the damage.

[@joebananas37]

+Jason Zakrajsek - But what about a surgeon in a post-apocalypse situation where there was only kitchen knives available? (Sorry - couldn't resist!)

[@brentfisher902]

Tell that to Caesar. When you are having a seizure, stab Caesar.

[@asmrjunkie6613]

Ironically, some of the chemicals in cigarette smoke are a cough suppressant.

[@Felamine]

When you have a bee sting, roll around in a bee hive. You'll feel better.

[@gdogg3710]

I have Aspergers and when I’m on the verge of flipping out, this channel calms me down...

[@warnerbeachful]

I remember having fun with a wire recorder when I was about seven years old. It belonged to my piano teacher at the time. Thanks for this excellent post.

[@ThePainTrain765]

I recall once coming across a video of train sounds from the 1940's/50's recorded with one of these machines. Great video!

[@rjonboy7608]

I remember as a kid watching WWII spy movies and seeing references to wire recordings. Hidden wire messages sneaking past guards. This is cool.

[@chanelname1185]

i have only found your channel today and I'm loving it! you got a new sub !!

[@extasy9727]

your videos are amazing and will tell us about the past for years to come. I hope people can discover these in 100 years or more to learn about old technology

[@SpenserRoger]

give us the whole house party recording!

[@enda0man]

The name of the song at 15:00 is Let's Pray by Mac Odell.... *you're welcome*

[@uriulrich4918]

Thank you.

[@KevinKayotic]

yes, thank you!

[@Austinjamesmagic]

lol, yeah because I totally want to heart that again.

[@klilinoklire4403]

ganymedeIV4 Concerning the first part, could you provide even the slightest evidence, or were you just joking?

[@colinjohnston8519]

klilinoklire do you have Google??

[@jeffreyyoung4104]

As a kid in the 70s, I was gifted with a dictaphone band recorder. But that suitcase sized recorder got me more interested in audio than anything else. I did find a wire recorder, but the person who had it, wanted too much money for it. This wire recorder is in fantastic shape! Nice video!

[@MinecraftPlayer-nw5kq]

Im currently doing a college essay about recording formats, and these videos are really helpful, so i just gotta say thanks!