Stereo Hearing

One of the very old memories in my mind is the old type lamp radio in our house. 

With its two big dial buttons on the front, the illuminated strip at the bottom of the front side showing the channels in the form of a band, and the speaker covering almost the entire front side, lamp radios have a very nice sound. It is already like a big box.

You can switch on the radio and its volume with one of the buttons and search for channels with the other. Look, there were long wave, medium wave and short wave broadcasts back then. I don't remember if there was a separate button for switching between these waves. I think there would be buttons under that band-shaped channel screen. I think we were selecting the band range with those buttons. I even remembered that the on/off switch was the first of those buttons.

When we switched on the radio, it wouldn't work immediately, the lamps inside had to warm up. I remember that there were lamps inside through the holes in the back cover, I saw it when I looked at the back.

The radio had a very loud sound. But there was no FM band, FM radios came out much later.

I also remember the chirping sounds while searching for shortwave channels.

***

Then we also had a tape recorder, which I have already mentioned in a previous article. You know those horizontal tape recorders, the ones that you press, the cover opens from the top to put a cassette, and there are buttons on the front.

It also had a single speaker.

Then I remember the small transistorised radio from my childhood, it had an FM channel. It had an antenna on the side, which was intertwined and extended when you pulled it. The FM channel doesn't work without an antenna.

The transistor radio also had a single speaker.

***

I heard stereo sound for the first time on a walkman. Yes, I don't remember exactly when it was, but those walkmans had those headphones that you put on your head from the top, (I can't decide when I write it, I write it as walkman, but we call it volkmen, I couldn't find a word in the dictionary, so I have to write it the way it is written in English), and with those headphones I understood what stereo sound was for the first time. When you put on the headphones, you could hear the sounds inside your head, and I found a stereo recorded cassette somewhere.

I also remember that one of the FM channels started to broadcast in stereo, not always, but maybe during a certain music programme.

Time flies so fast, doesn't it? Moreover, it is really interesting that we are in the transition period in this age of technology.

What came out later. For example, the Dolby sound system came out in cinemas, not only stereo, but a system where the sounds came from all four sides. 

Today, none of us pay special attention to the stereo sound system anymore, because there is no mono sound left anywhere like before. Even computers now have dual speakers. 

As for FM channels, there is no need for special transistor radios anymore, we now either listen to FM via internet broadcasting on mobile phones, or some phones have an FM feature in them, with which it is possible to listen to FM channels in analogue as in the past. However, most smartphones don't have an FM feature anymore, so it is probably much more practical to listen to radio channels over the internet.

***

Today I thought I would share some of my memories, I had written a technical article on FM, i.e. frequency modulation, so I don't want to tire your mind with technical issues, or who thought of stereo broadcasts for the first time did not seem very interesting to me. 

But the transition from mono to stereo was really interesting. Those who haven't experienced it don't know its value.

We have a polyphonic life, let's appreciate it. 

Do you think there is a reason why we have two ears?

We can't have been created just so that we can hear sounds in stereo.

Or do we have two ears so that we can identify which side the sound is coming from?

Symmetry is good, it is good that we were created with two ears.

***

By the way, I see employees who do not have the ability to hear in the markets around here, no, none of them look so sad. I think they have gathered many of them in the big supermarket here, maybe it is a pilot application. However, when I see them talking to each other with sign language from a distance, I say to myself that it is a good idea. It is a good thing to be able to speak in sign language from a distance without the need to shout. 

Still, it is a sad thing not to be able to sustain voices.

I don't know if there are so many hearing impaired people in Turkey, they have special schools here, almost all of them receive education and they are provided with job opportunities like the one near us.

I still wish us all a polyphonic life, appreciate being able to hear. And we can hear in stereo! 

Love and respect to everyone from Moscow.