What a treat these are! These rare wonders are data tape storage cassettes that as used by Trevor Horn with the Fairlight CMI Series III. Data is accessed through a “streamer unit” (shown below) which allows the data to be processed by the Fairlight.
One of the most renowned producers from the UK. Trevor Horn started his professional life as a bass player for the pop band The Buggles who went on to have a Number one hit with Video Killed the Radio Star. MTV broadcast this as their first music video in August 1981.
Trevor Horn would go on to produce the albums for many stars of the British music scene. One being production for the most successful pop duo ever: Pet Shop Boys, on their album introspective.
His studio was the legendary Sarm West. The original Sarm West studio was closed in 2018 and the building was converted into luxury apartments and in its place a new enterprise created under the moniker of Sarm Music Village was launched in 2022.
The evolution of music production follows that of its technology. Transferrable storage media has revolutionised the recording and the compositional process. For the first time artists could share sound, from bedroom producers to big studio houses and use it in any way creativity and the legality directed.
Many original libraries in the early days of sampler manufacture had sounds “borrowed” from their competitors, and given a new or euphemistic name.
SampleNerd.com has a particular fondness for handwritten data media and its preservation. They are an important part of our shared heritage and will eventually become legitimate antiques! You might like to read the article The digital dark side which contains some guidance on data archiving and care.