In article ,
Chris Isbell wrote:
IIRC it was to get the whole of Beethoven's 9th symphony on a single
disc or is this an urban myth?

CD was a 74 minute format (not 60 minutes) right from the very start.


Was that because the non-historically informed conductors of earlier
recordings played Beethoven's 9th Symphony more slowly than is
considered 'correct' today? ('Correct' means what we currently believe
Beethoven intended.)

The real reason is that the longest tape available for a U-Matic which
was a semi pro video recorder ideal for recording digital audio, was a 90
minute PAL device running at 50 Hz. Change this same length tape to a 60
Hz system and you get 75 minutes - just long enough to include a line up.

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*Someday, we'll look back on this, laugh nervously and change the subject

Dave Plowman London SW 12
RIP Acorn