“His Master’s Voice”
This wooden radio console was designed as an homage to my grandmother’s 1940’s tabletop radio that sat on her kitchen table in Barberton, Ohio in 1955. The console, sat on the stage at the Avenue Ballroom, shown here with our mascot, (“Fats”) Domino, facing out from the stage, overlooking the dance floor. For perspective, it was about waist high for a standing, average-sized person.
The console incorporated the sound system for the dance studio. The dial on the front lit up with an orange glow, and one of the knobs turned the dial. (I never got around to having the radio stations inked on the dial.)
As shown here, the DJ could sit on the other side, with two pullout tables, operate the turntable that was hung on chains from the ceiling, through the top of the console, to eliminate any vibration; and/or the CD player and the tape player.
Below the platforms for the turntable and CD player were cupboards for 45 and LP record storage, and a large pullout drawer for cassette tape storage that allowed one to remove the tapes in a separate, sectioned, interior wooden ‘suitcase’ that fit in the drawer.
The console had two bays – one for the turntable and one for the CD player, with removable wooden tops that fit underneath the console while it was in use. When finished, the two tops were replaced and locked, as were the access doors to the record storage compartments and the tape drawer; the chains were unhooked from the ceiling, allowing the platforms holding the turntable and CD player to rest within the console while it was rolled to the side of the stage and turned 90 degrees to face the side of the stage, where the chains were re-attached to the appropriately placed hooks in the ceiling. This allowed the console to be used in two ways – sitting as a DJ at the weekend dances, and also accessed for lessons, during the week, while the teacher was standing on the dance floor, so s/he didn’t have to keep jumping up and down from the stage.
Designed in cooperation with friend and graphic designer,
Roland Addad, and fine furniture builder, Rick Frasetto.
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