Collection of Physical Objects
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•1 A GUIDE TO THE All object photographs & notes by John Kannenberg. Items in the Physical Objects Collection are available for view by our visitors. Please request any physical objects you would like to inspect when arranging your visit. We apologise for any inconvenience caused. DONATIONS ARE WELCOME. 2• Sony Walkman model WM-11D. The First Compact Disc. PHYSICAL OBJECT 1 PHYSICAL OBJECT 2 Sony Walkman WM-11D The First Compact Disc Japan, 1985 Philips Classics Japan, 1980 Four years after Sony released the original Walkman portable cassette player, they The first commercially available Compact released the WM-11D, a fairly standard Disc was released by Philips Classics in model whose only standout feature was its 1980. The original recording for the ability to ‘auto-stop’ playing a tape when album was made in 1979. In a ceremony it was finished. It originally retailed for to launch the beginning of the manufacture US$35. of the disc, musician Claudio Arrau was invited to the factory to press the ‘start’ Please note: button on the machinery. The Museum’s copy of this object is broken and does not function. Please be aware of this if you request to examine this object in person. We apologise for any inconvenience caused. •3 Sharp MiniDisc recorder, User’s Manual, and unopened MiniDisc, donated to the collection by Lydie Valentin. PHYSICAL OBJECT 3 Sharp Minidisc Recorder France, 1990 As the Compact Disc format became the standard for music distribution, usage of other formats such as the LP record and the audio cassette rapidly – but as we have seen recently, temporarily – faded away. In an attempt to fill the gap left by the ‘death’ of the audio cassette, the Mini- Disc format was launched in 1992 – a tiny recordable compact disc that was capable of making digital recordings that was also easily re-recordable, unlike the confusing CD-R and CD-RW formats. Only about half the size of a standard CD, the MiniDisc was nonetheless capable of storing the same amount of CD-quality audio. The MiniDisc never caught on with mainstream listening audiences; however, it was briefly embraced by field recordists as an alternative to the bulkier DAT (Digital Audio Tape). Once MP3 players began to capture the market, demand for the MiniDisc slowly faded, until all production of them was shut down for good in 2013. 4• iPod Classic. iPhone 4S. PHYSICAL OBJECT 4 PHYSICAL OBJECT 5 iPod Classic 160GB iPhone 4S 32GB US, 2012 US, 2014 At 160GB in capacity, the iPod Classic was The mobile phone that houses The Museum a way for a listener to carry their entire of Portable Sound also happens to be an audio collection with them wherever they object in the Museum’s collection – which went. Unfortunately, as times have changed means that when you visit the Museum, along with business models, the emphasis not only are you holding an entire museum on ownership of music has been eroded in your hand, but you’re also holding a until streaming audio has replaced it; in single object from its collections – frankly, order to stream audio, you need a data we find this to be a fascinating paradox! transfer connection, either WiFi or Add to this the fact that you can also listen mobile phone data. This means that to this iPhone’s electromag- portable listening is gradually shifting netic field as one of the over to mobile phones, leaving standalone permanent collection audio devices like the iPod looking a bit objects (see page 55, Object old fashioned. 3), and things go from paradoxical to downright metaphysical. No need to make a special request to inspect this item, it’s always available whenever knowyourmeme.com/memes/mind-blown you visit The Museum of Portable Sound! Image courtesy •5 Ukrainian radio front (above) and inscription on FM3 Buddha Machine v.2 (purple). bottom reverse (below). PHYSICAL OBJECT 6 PHYSICAL OBJECT 7 AM/FM Radio FM3 Buddha Machine v.2 Ukraine, 1988 China, 2008 Kate Yonova-Doing, the donor of this piece A self-contained portable sound machine, to our collections: ‘I wanted to tell you that the Buddha Machine was created by the my 85 year old grandma is donating her band FM3 and intended as a pre-loaded radio (made 1988 in Ukraine, still working) loop-playing device. Each Buddha Machine to the Museum of Portable Sound. It was came with a built-in speaker, a combined her best friend for the last 27 years and is power switch and volume control wheel, one of my favourite objects at home. and a chip containing nine pre-recorded With its help my musical culture was sound loops created by the band. Our object formed from classical music to alternative is the second version of the Machine that and modern composed etc...[S]he saved it was released in 2008, and which added a from going to the trash, and I [brought] it pitch control in addition to the nine new to London, [where] she hopes it will find loops contained on its chip. a happy new home in your museum.’ 6• Portuguese disposable earbuds, donated by Lara Torres. Olympus Pearlcorder S711 microcassette recorder, donated by Matthew Sansom. PHYSICAL OBJECT 8 PHYSICAL OBJECT 9 Disposable Earbuds Olympus Pearlcorder S711 Portugal, 2016 Tokyo, 1990s When traveling on the Alfa train line in Olympus created the Microcassette format Portugal, it is possible to obtain a free set in 1969. The format was primarily used for of disposable earbuds for listening to the recording voice, and became a standard for on-board entertainment. Our earabuds dictaphone machines. Its variable speed were obtained on a train travelling from allowed for recording up to three hours on Lisbon to Algarve. a single 90-minute microcassette. Later models of the S711 were available in Please note: ‘champagne gold’ or blue, and had a slightly The Museum intends to keep these earbuds more swooping, tapered design. mint in package, so if requesting to inspect The Museum’s S711 came with an opened them, we will not allow you to open the microcassette still inside; we have yet to package. listen to its contents. We apologise for any inconvenience caused. •7 Olympus XB60 microcassette in package, donated by Normal bias audio cassettes in original packaging Matthew Sansom. (lot of two), donated by Matthew Sansom. PHYSICAL OBJECT 10 PHYSICAL OBJECT 11 Olympus XB60 Microcassette Normal Bias Audio Cassette Tapes Shinjuku, Date Unknown Shropshire & Germany, 1990s The Microcassette has proven to be a Bias in magnetic tape refers to a magnetic stalwart recording format, particularly signal applied to the tape as it is being due to its longstanding use as the primary recorded; the higher the bias signal, the format of dictation machines. While some higher the sound quality, particualrly in Microcassettes are still available for the high end of the recorded signal. High purchase, Olympus and other producers bias cassette tapes exhibit much less ‘tape discontinued their manufacture in the hiss’ than normal bias tapes do. These two hopes that customers would switch to normal bias tapes were manufactured by digital recorders. Maxell (Shropshire) and Emtec (Germany). Please note: Please note: The Museum intends to keep this object mint The Museum intends to keep these objects mint in package, so if requesting to inspect it, in package, so if requesting to inspect them, we will not allow you to unwrap it. we will not allow you to unwrap it. We apologise for any inconvenience caused. We apologise for any inconvenience caused. 8• Impega CD-RW 650MB, donated by Matthew Sansom. HHB DAT65 Digital Audio Tape, donated by Matthew Sansom. PHYSICAL OBJECT 12 PHYSICAL OBJECT 13 Impega CD-RW 650MB HHB DAT65 Digital Audio Tape Switzerland, pre-2010 Toronto, Date Unknown Swiss office products brand Impega was Initially released by Sony in 1987, Digital a significant presence on the European Audio Tape was initially intended to be a recordable media market before it was replacement for magnetic audio tape. acquired by Lyreco, who replaced the Instead of recording an analogue signal, Impega branding with its own name in DAT tape stored its recorded information 2010. digitally at CD quality or higher. Its high fidelity was to be its death warrant, as the Please note: recording industry helped block DAT’s The Museum intends to keep this object mint implementation as a widespread audio tape in package, so if requesting to inspect it, replacement due to fears of consumers we will not allow you to unwrap it. being able to make perfect copies of Compact Discs. DAT tape became a niche We apologise for any inconvenience caused. product for musicians and field recordists, but its quirky combination of digital record- ings with analogue retrieval proved unwieldy upon the widespread adoption of recordable CDs. Please note: The Museum intends to keep this object mint in package, so if requesting to inspect it, we will not allow you to unwrap it. We apologise for any inconvenience caused. •9 Sony MZ-R30 Minidisc Walkman recorder with extra Nature Observing-Recording & Playback Dish, battery pack, donated by Matthew Sansom. donated by Matthew Sansom. PHYSICAL OBJECT 14 PHYSICAL OBJECT 15 Sony MZ-R30 Minidisc Walkman Nature Observing-Recording Japan, 1996 & Playback Dish China, 2007 The Sony MZ-R30 Minidisc Walkman was released in 1996, featuring one major Intended primarily for bird-watching innovation which set it apart from its (although that may have been a ruse to get competition: a vertical-scrolling ‘jog wheel’ around the morally grey area of selling which aided in entering track information surveillance toys), this all-in-one handheld in the recorder’s tiny LCD interface screen spy kit includes a parabolic dish for ampli- much easier than other Minidisc recorder fying distant sounds and a ‘monocular’ for interfaces.