>> and across the
>> board, people used cassettes.
>
> Maybe in your neck of the woods they did. But maybe not everywhere.
>
> I know that as late as 1980 or so, Brian Orser was still using
> vinyl. I know because I saw the record case, once, many years ago. I
> know "anecdote does not equal data," but if a skater at that level
> was still using it, it suggests he probably wasn't the only one.

Maybe not and perhaps at the high end, but to file under "anecdote
does not equal data," Orser is ONE skater. And I'm talking about
hundreds of participants over multiple events over the course of four
years of competition. I never saw a single vinyl record, only
cassettes. Hundreds of data points is not an anecdote. One man is.

>> Now granted, at 12 I was better at
>> cutting music than most of what makes it onto the skating scene these
>> days. But I hardly had a Mac.
>
> 'Course not. But to do nice music edits with a cassette player took
> patience and skill. Nowadays you really don't need the patience and
> skill, all you need is the right software and the ability to punch
> keys.

I beg to differ. Cutting music on a tape deck took one good ear, two
fingers and three keys: play, rewind and record. It took time as well.
It took me about 3 hours to cut a 2.5 minute program in 1982. That was
two, perhaps three cuts. The most recent piece I cut was quite a while
back, from 6 minutes down to 2.5 took 6 hours for six cuts. It was no
easier and no quicker. The result was better, yes, but it took
significantly more skill and a lot more equipment. It's not cut and
paste and there is a significant time investment no matter what tool
you use.

> Of course, all the equipment in the world isn't going to tell you
> why it's a jarringly bad idea to cut Music A at this point and
> insert Music B at that point, which is a whole different kettle of
> fish. You had probably also developed a really good sense of what
> sounded aesthetically acceptable as a segue and what would stuck out
> like the proverbial sore thumb no matter how smooth the technology
> made the transition sound.

This is the truth. Most of the music cuts I hear, flatly, suck. I did
better when I was 12. Never have been able to figure out how to get
into the business of cutting skating music though. It seems like a lot
of it is pre-made and sold by the album.

>> It wasn't that it was impossible, simply that they didn't bother to
>> do
>> it.
>
> True--but it's easier now to at least deal with the mechanics.

Not "easier," significantly more complex but possible to yield vastly
better results. And tech can't buy you an ear.

dej
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