A rainy weekend kept us at home, and an old audio system unexpectedly brought back a sound we had not heard in decades. On our 35th wedding anniversary, a cassette tape from the days before we were married opened the door to a flood of memories.
Rain from early morning.
They say that by tomorrow, a linear rainband may finally develop over southern Kanto, including Kanagawa Prefecture.
Up until now, whenever I heard about heavy rain in Kyushu, Hokuriku, or Tohoku, it somehow felt like something happening somewhere else. But this time, it may be where I live that gets hit.
I have work tomorrow, so naturally my first thought is, this could be a problem.
Then again, perhaps this is exactly the sort of situation where assuming, “I’ll probably be fine even if I push things a little,” is not such a good idea.
In any case, what really matters is whether the Yokosuka Line will be running tomorrow. I’ll think about it when the time comes.
I still haven’t bought a stylus for the record player, but since I had nothing else to do, I thought I might at least get the speakers hooked up.
Then I went online to look for a stylus and discovered that they are actually rather expensive.
That made me stop and think. Before spending that much, I figured I should first make sure the system could produce any sound at all.
Fortunately, there is also a cassette deck, so I thought I would start with that. My wife, who has always been good at keeping things, dug out one of those upbeat cassette tapes we used to play on our drives when we were dating nearly forty years ago.
Naturally, I rewound it all the way to the beginning.
The way the rewind slows down gently near the end reminded me that this had once been considered a high-end cassette deck.
Then I pressed the PLAY button, and there it was again—the same slightly muffled sound we had listened to all those years ago.
“Ah, analog sound!”
My wife and I were both struck by the nostalgia.
And by the sound coming out of the speakers as well.
To a serious audiophile, this may sound utterly ridiculous, but it had been a very long time since I had heard music this loud coming from something other than a television—from a machine built for the sole purpose of producing sound.
Ever since the Walkman appeared, most of my listening has been through headphones or earphones.
And how many years has it been since cassette players disappeared from car stereos?
So perhaps it really has been that long.
Listening to it again reminded me how good analog sound can be.
Today is our 35th wedding anniversary.
Quite unexpectedly, we found ourselves remembering all sorts of things from before we were married.
And so, with a clear conscience, I decided it was time to buy that record-player stylus and clicked “Buy.”
An old cassette tape brought back not only an old sound, but also the days before we became husband and wife.
Vocabulary
Linear rainband
A narrow, elongated zone of repeatedly developing rain clouds that can bring extremely heavy rainfall to the same area for several hours. The term is commonly used in Japanese weather reporting.
Yokosuka Line
A major JR commuter railway line running through Tokyo and Kanagawa, including Yokohama and Kamakura.
Stylus
The small needle that traces the grooves of a vinyl record and converts the vibrations into sound.
Cassette deck
A home audio component designed specifically for recording and playing cassette tapes.
Upbeat
Lively, energetic, and cheerful. Here, it is used to convey the sense of the Japanese expression “ノリノリ.”
With a clear conscience
Used here somewhat humorously for “心置きなく”—meaning that after confirming the system still worked, there was no longer any reason to hesitate about buying the stylus.
#weddinganniversary #cassettetape #analog #cassettedeck #vinyl #nostalgia #music #Walkman #Japan #dailyessay #memories
No comments:
Post a Comment