Cantata 700

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Cantata 700 was a proprietary format background music system from 3M tapes and specialty players that was launched in 1965 and continued to find commercial customers well into the 1990s. It was designed exclusively for background music.

cassette

In the cassettes, which were prerecorded with music by the company's own 3M Orchestra , two counter-rotating tape reels with a diameter of 21 cm were arranged one above the other. The tape reels each had a tape guide, a pulley for the magnetic tape and a brake that secured the rollers from unwinding by vibration and was released by a mandrel on the device when it was inserted. The almost square media was one of the largest tape cassettes ever built. Two tracks of the tape were recorded. The cassette had openings on the underside for pins and mandrels for traction of the winding rolls and for releasing the brake. At the end of the belt, the belt direction change was triggered. The cassette was open on the front narrow side between the pulley and the tape guide. Over 24 hours of playing time were possible on a cassette.

equipment

The devices were exclusively playback devices. The first models 94BG and 94BZ were only slightly wider than the cassette. One device was offered for $ 429 in 1965 along with two customer-selected cartridges , which would be $ 3,469 today. These devices had a loudspeaker connection with 6  W at 8  Ω and a microphone connection for announcements. The cassette was manually placed on top of the mandrels. The flap only covered the cassette compartment. A fan was attached to the bottom of the shaft of the motor, and a rubber wheel was used to drive the cassette at the top. Belts were not used. The capstan caught the tape before and after the pulley. At the end of the tape, the cassette triggered the switching mechanism. This changed the drive to the other winding roll. At the same height as the horizontal cassette, the other pressure roller was placed on the capstan and the playback head moved to its height. It was not rotated because the 1/4 inch wide magnetic tape was being rotated by the idler in the cassette. The tape speed was identical to the compact cassette at 1⅞ inch = 4.7625 cm per second . Synchronization and sound quality were nothing special, which was acceptable with background music.

In 1970 3M released another player that had the drive and cartridge in one drawer. It was only rented out. Warnings like this not to remove the cassette during operation have been reduced.

Title (selection)

  • Variety Library V 168
  • Rhythmin Library 165
  • Melody Library 165
  • Rhythmin Library Series II 266

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Techmoan: Retro Tech: This 1960s BGM Machine played the Biggest Cassettes ever made , (English), published on YouTube on May 11, 2016
  2. ↑ a b c Billboard (English) of October 23, 1965, p. 46
  3. ↑ Popular Science . 1970 ( What's New: A Picture Roundup of New Products and Developments in the Google Book Search).