Tape Project Forum

General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: ironbut on April 08, 2009, 03:50:29 PM

Title: The Ampex Story (as told by the Germans??)
Post by: ironbut on April 08, 2009, 03:50:29 PM

I'm sure this was originally told in English but this German site is the only place I've seen this whole thing. I've read lots of articles about Jack Mullin and the Telefunken he brought back but this one actually starts at the beginnings of the company with their radar generators and furnace motors. This link will start you at the first page of this story but if you look at the TOC on the left, there is much more. I think I've linked to this site more than a few times and keep meaning to mine it from end to end. Well, I never have gotten around to doin' that so I'm still stumbling across the things that have been compiled here.
http://www.useddlt.com/ampex-story-teil1.html

Title: Re: The Ampex Story (as told by the Germans??)
Post by: Brian on April 08, 2009, 09:30:34 PM

Thanks for the link!

Title: Re: The Ampex Story (as told by the Germans??)
Post by: funbebop on April 10, 2009, 07:01:21 PM

From general conversations with friends...it seems that the Germans had a very intergral part of the development of tape recording.  Evidently,  many allied gov'ts were perplexed of the frequency of Hitler's broadcast propaganda; the main reason was no surface noise from transcription discs that was the standard form of media for recording at the time.  Eventually, the allies gained alot technology from the spoils of war and tape had been one of them.  In fact, Bing Crosby had been one of the main investors in Ampex, and I believe that the rock guitarist Steve Miller's father had been part of the early development of Ampex.  This was  how  Steve Miller met Les Paul, as Paul had been very interested in tape recording, Les Paul had been Steve Miller's guitar instructor for a while.

Title: Re: The Ampex Story (as told by the Germans??)
Post by: ironbut on April 10, 2009, 11:44:45 PM

There's a parallel thread going over on the Tape Trail with my pal Richard. The Germans developed a tape recorder called the Magnetophone which a fellow name Jack Mullin brought back to the US and Ampex decided to develop it while 3M developed the first magnetic tape here. The thread has much more info on both the American and German side of this story as well as a recorded lecture from Ampex's John Leslie. Here's a link to that other thread.
http://www.audioasylum.com/forums/tape/messages/1/14866.html
Hey,.. now it really is a cross thread1