by Michael Bayus
(Editor’s Note: ACB member Michael Bayus is the music director of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Spring Hill, Fla., and the sub-dean of the local chapter of the American Guild of Organists.)
Recently a colleague gave me a set of homemade compact discs of some rather dubious performances, but of very professional quality. That got my wife and I thinking about looking into ways in which I might be able to produce professional quality recordings of my own.
The very next weekend we went to our local audio store to look at CD recorders, both stand-alone and computer driven. We discovered that in order to make decent field recordings we would not only need the recorder but a mixer for the microphones (the decks don’t come with mike inputs), floor stands and good quality microphones.
Next to the display shelves of CDR’s was another display case of some very small gadgets. “What are these?” I asked the salesman. “Those are minidisc recorders,” he said. “What are minidiscs?” I asked.
Well, in a nutshell, minidiscs were invented by Sony and first came on the scene in 1993. The intent was to replace the analog cassette with something small and compact with the same benefits as the cassette and the most popular features of the CD, such as direct track access and random play. The disks themselves are about 2 inches in diameter and are contained in a squarish caddie like a floppy disk for a computer. One inserts the disk, caddie and all, into a recorder unit that measures about 3 inches by 3 and a half inches and about one inch thick. All the portables I’ve seen have stereo mike inputs, a combination analog and optical digital input, and a headphone jack like a Walkman.
In fact, when Sony invented the minidisc, the company had intended for it to replace the cassette Walkman. But recording companies never produced pre-recorded minidiscs in mass volume.
Here was the perfect solution. A gizmo that was 3 by 3 and a half by 1 inch instead of the usual rack size component 17 by 14 by 3 inches thick It had stereo microphone inputs and was purported to make CD quality recordings. We bought one. We got it home and made a few test recordings on my home organ and found it to be everything it was cracked up to be.
I have since made field recordings of a recital that I gave and a Sunday morning church service. The recordings are discreet stereo and are broadcast quality.
Here is how it works. Although a minidisc can only hold about one-fourth the data a CD can (about 140 megs), by using a compression scheme invented by Sony called ATRAC (adaptive transform acoustical coating) a minidisc can hold up to 74 minutes of stereo sound, and 148 minutes of mono. This is because inaudible sounds are deleted from the digital sample. In other words, sounds that are too soft, too high or too low to be heard are eliminated. You won’t be able to tell the difference between a CD and an MD but maybe your dog can.
It occurs to me that the blind people of the United States could really make this thing work. In other words, if blind people went to audio-video stores, as I did, and bought these recorders, maybe more will be made of the format. Here is something in the major consumer market that can really be a boon to the blind.
Are you going to college? Take your minidisc recorder to class. It is small enough to keep in a pocket, purse or backpack and can store enough data to record a whole class and then some. Make up your favorite music mixes by putting together tracks from your favorite CDs. Have you got a band? Here is a great way to make demos.
Oh! The one feature that I forgot to mention is the one Sony thought would be a major selling point. You can write track names and song titles to the disk. Those of us without sight need a sighted friend to help with this task, but all in all the machines are easy for blind people to use.
One last word. If you listen to alternative community radio, you are probably hearing minidiscs all day. Stations like WMNF in Tampa, FL, and WRAS in Atlanta, GA, are using minidiscs to produce high quality programs using various sources like CDs, cassettes and LPs and putting them all together making up a good mix of music. There are several different manufacturers of minidisc recorders: Sony (the inventor), Phillips, Aiwa, RCA, Sharp, JVC and Kenwood. All have mike inputs, combination analog and digital line inputs, and headphone outputs like a Walkman. There are features exclusive to individual brands.
ACB members unite! Pick a day and go to your local Best Buy, Circuit City or wherever fine audio products are sold and buy a minidisc recorder and plenty of disks to record. You will be glad you did.