Photo from the event.
Today in Gilbert Live Sound, everyone's favorite CRAS teacher Gerald Schoenherr, A.K.A. OG, had a panel all about vinyl records. He had a table setup with a record player plugged into a preamp and a small mixer out into some KRK Speakers. He also had the big projector for a powerpoint style presentation.
Outline:
Brief history of vinyl
Vinyl mastering & manufacturing
Vinyl playback Equipment
Discussion
Brief history of vinyl:
[OG talks about the history or vinyl and plays different vinyls of the time period]
1875 Phonautograph invented by Eduard-Leon Scott, the earliest know device for recording sound
July 18, 1877 Thomas Edison invents Phonograph, and records his voice on a wax cylinder
September 6, 1887 Emile Berliner invents Gramophone, which cuts lateral groove onto a disc
1849 First gramophone records hit market
October 8, 1896 the Berliner Gramophone company is started
The main reason the gramophone beat out the cylinder was because playback length was longer.
1920s The introduction of electronically recorded sound discs; they began to replace cylinders, records and were made from various materials (vulcanized rubber, lacquer, etc)
1925 Standardized playback speed of 78 RPM; most records were 10", about 3 min pre side and made of shellac
1939 Columbia records introduces 12" 33 1/3 long-playing microgroove record; doesn't hit market until 1949 because of WWII
1945 RCA introduces 7" 45 RPM microgroove record; sold with changer so the records could be stacked
1957 Introduction of stereo sound and the beginning of the end of 78's
Stereophonic sound!
Inside the cartridge is the stylus. It is connected to a cantilever connected to a magnet. The magnet moves with the coil and interacts with it creating electromagnetic induction.
Just like a microphone, the level is very quiet and needs a preamp
On mono records, the sound wave is carved into the record up-and-down, stereophonic sound has 2 channels, and the needle moves more side-to-side in a diagonal fashion with each side being a channel.
VIDEO: OG joked about how the guy in the video was very excited about his electron microscope and not very much the vinyl records. He says electron microscope about 10 to 20 times during the video, and it seemed a bit excessive. He did show a super close zoom in of how a needle interacts with a record, and it was super cool.
Vinyl mastering & manufacturing
The RIAA EQ Curve
Because low frequencies are large wavelengths, and high frequencies are short wavelengths, the record companies boost the highs and cut the lows to make the physical groove have the most accurate possible texture. Also, if it's not between 20Hz-20kHz, it's rolled off. The preamp's EQ has the inverse of the curve to make the signal sound normal again.
Story time: 1983 a friend of OG's band shipped their master tapes to the mastering plant. The mastering engineer says the tape doesn't sound right, and there's no way he's going to be able to master it. He says the bass has to come down and the stereo image on the bass is way too wide with the back and forth panning. They say 'screw you' to the engineer and tell him to do it anyway. The band also had not budgeted for test pressing, so all of the actual final records ended up being very quiet and had tons of noise.
How a vinyl master is cut
They are cut on a lathe; like a reverse record player. The vibrations are actually cut into the record instead of played back.
Today records are cut on a lacquer. They are cut into a master disc on a lathe, then a stamper is eventually created from that and has the inverse of the grooves so it can stamp out each record.
The problems now are that the demand is skyrocketing; also there's actually only 1 company today that makes lacquer masters. Also, the actual lathes they use are form the 50s and 60s; it's super primitive and old technology.
Where records are made (as of today): United record pressing, Pirates Press, Disc Makers, Copy Cats Media, Precarian Cuts
Records can be cut on PVC, and also Acrylic; record makers don't want to go through the entire process for just a few hundred records, but records can also be lathed out 1 at a time. Multi-colored records sound the worst; single color is fine, but records are normally clear, and that usually sounds best
Vinyl playback Equipment
Rubber mat that vinyl sits on; turntables can be belt drive or direct drive to get it to spin. The belt drive tables sound better, but direct drives let you scratch like a DJ.
The cartridge stores the stylus and headshelf; styluses need to be replaced periodically. Not all cartridges sound the same; since they used the same principal as a microphone, they all have a different sound, just like microphones.
Where to buy turntables in AZ:
Zia records, Stinkweeds, Arizona Hi-Fi, The in Groove
Discussion
Honest thoughts on Crosley turntables?
Use what you have, and if you enjoy it, buy something better.
What was that thing you were rubbing on the records?
Carbon fiber brush, used to remove dust off of the record. Rarely use a cleaning solution to a record unless there's a big fingerprint or etc because of the residue, but it is good for cleaning an old record to get it back into shape.
Also never touch your records; fingers on the edge, fingers on the label.
Is white vinyl the devil?
Solid color is better than splatter or multicolor.
How may records do you own and how do you store them?
1,618 records, also tons of 78s and CDs that are uncatologed. Stored in IKEA shelves.
Which record is your holy grail?
Music from the morning of the world. Used to have a cassette copy of the record from the library, but could never find the actual record.
Not a grail, but desert island record is Raw Power by Iggy and the Stooges.
Grail that he doesn't have is Sounds of North American Frogs.
The most annoying record in collection: insect sounds
He called this one the "end of the party record"; this record was unsurprisingly, but ironically the last record he played.
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