Archive for the ‘Vinyl Records’ Category
There is something fascinating about the production of a traditional vinyl record. As compared to a CD, there is a great science involved in the production of a single record whether a 33rpm or 45rpm. Now more than ever where it is an almost extinct method of production, it is interesting to consider the technical issues which need to go into the production of a record.
Back in the days of analog recording, the master tape from the studio was sent to the manufacturing house where plates were cut from the analog recording. It was strictly an analog to analog transfer. Now, for anyone wanting to produce a record, a digital to analog copy. What makes it more interesting is that there is no exact recommendation for how the recording needs to be done. Many professional recordings are done at 24bit even though CDs maximum sample rate is 16bit. So, what should the ratio be when producing a new vinyl record?
In doing some reading, there was a comparison made of viewing a photo in 16 bit on an analog monitor and the same photo in 24 bit. If things go well in the presentation, you might see all sixteen. But if there is anything lost, the photo is no longer at 16, but more like a lower number. Thus, this number may be too low. On the other hand, 24 bit has room to spare if degradation occurs.
So how does the previous relate? With the change to digital music media in the 1980s, 16 bit was the standard adopted for CDs. On the other hand, a vinyl record if compared equally, would be able to play better at 24 since it is able to reproduce a wider range of frequencies than digital can.
If there is a choice (and there is), to choose between 16 and 24 bit when recording for the intended release on vinyl, I would choose going 24 bit and allow music to have as much glory as it can get.
I do find it fascinating that so many new albums are being produced and pressed as vinyl along with CDs. In fact, many records pressed include more tracks than the CD just to increase sales. The funny thing is that there are so few plants left making records and the number of records being pressed each year has been increasing. Will more plants come back online as the trend continues?
There is a definite different sound which comes from a record in comparison to the sound of a CD or digital file. The comparison is like being hit with a set of intense high beams on the highway compared to traditional headlights which have that warm glow to them. That is the sound that is being discovered once again and being sought after by a new generation of music lovers.
Before we had digital music players and downloadable tracks, there were ‘record stores’. They were places which has a large array of the newest music and someone always knew what you were looking for. Besides places to buy LPs, cassettes, and CDs, they were places to meet people who were like-minded. In fact, many relationships started in record stores all across the country.
In the last few years, we have seen the demise of the large box record stores such as Tower Records, Virgin Mega Store, Sam Goody and a few others that I can’t remember. Why have they disappeared? I have my theories, but for the most part I feel that it is due to the quality of the product that is being produced for a very large price tag. Most of the time we are searching for one particular track from an album (for lack of a better word to use). Why should we have to buy a CD at $20 when the track can be bought online for less than $1.
The other main reason why record stores have been disappearing is that CD sales have gone down. Back when CDs came into the market in the 1980s, CDs were thought to be the replacement to the vinyl record. Why is this? It is possible that the sound of a CD is too cold and impersonal. Although it seems impossible that CDs will disappear, they have become a less demanded item by the listening public.
There is a new breed of record stores emerging across the country, but they’re not for purchasing the newest releases. They’re coming into existence primarily for the indie sales and vintage releases which aficionados are seeking. They are ”curated” rather than stocked and if there is something that someone is looking for, the store owner will seek it out. It will be interesting to see what happens with this trend over the next few years as the youth continue to discover the music from previous decades hidden on LPs and other non-digital media.
Our digital and technology driven world will continue, but I think that there will be a regression to want to be able to touch as see music history as well as have that person-to-person conversation about quality music.
There seems to be two things going on simultaneously with regards to vinyl records. First, there is a resurgance. People are rediscoving vinyl records after over 20 years later. Something about the sound is calling people back to the record player. It will be interesting to see what happens to the record as we approach a new decade in two years.
Secondly, old records are being scrapped and turned into art memoabilia. If you search the Internet one can find coasters, bowls, clocks and other items made from 33rpm LPs. I, myself, have a couple coasters that were once the center labels of albums from Chicago and Supertramp. There’re neat to have around both as remembrances as well as items of discussion.
Maybe at one point we’ll be pressing ole vinyl records again while we resurrect old ones as dissussion topics.
We thought vinyl records would be gone with the evolution of the CD in the eighties the same way that videos were thought to be the killer of the radio play. What is ironic now is that less CDs are being sold and the amount of vinyl records being sold has increased.
What is it about records that people would want this medium back over the clean sound of CD? Well, one has to look back at the way that music was recording when records were being produced. Unlike today where just about every new track and album is recorded digitally to computer, up until the mid 1990s all recording was done to analog tape. Even though we did not have the capabilities with tape that now can be done digitally, there was something with analog recording and that was the amount of sound that could be recorded. Sampling and thresholds were able to be pushed to allow for a more warmer sound; nothing in the recording was “lost”. Everything that was heard by the microphones was transferred to tape.
Once a master tape was made, it was sent off to the record plant for pressing. At the record plant, the master tape was played to a machine that would cut the acetate that would be used to create the “master”. What was and still is different is that everything gets transferred to the record as grooves. The deeper the grooves the more bass sound and the shallower the groove, the higher the pitch. Because of this concept, the amount of time had to be calculated into the mixing so that everything wanted could be fit onto the record. From the master plates, all the copies would be made.
So…Now that we’ve looked at the making of a record quickly, one can now look at the differences between CD and vinyl. Because of the fullness of the sound quality on records (Let’s forget about the pops, hiss, and other little characteristics that were part of records.), people have been picking up their records again and reliving what has been lost over two decades now. But not only did sound get compromised when we went to CD; we lost the great artwork that was part of the anticipation of going to the record store to buy the new album.
Since the CD came out, other developments have occurred as well. Digital music players have come into the market which has certainly made life easier. However, with digital music players even more is lost. We have lost more sound quality as frequencies are dropped in ripping, but we have also lost the artwork that was part of producing a CD. To a good musician and collector, the album art and insert information was very important.
So, digital was supposed to be the best thing since sliced bread or the record. What is ironic about this whole vinyl record rebirth is that the youth of America has taken to this format. Their parents were happy to see it go, but the new generation has found gold in basements and garages. They have found a sound that they are not used to and actually like, the fullness of the sound that they were deprived of due to their years of growing up.
Right now, there are only a handful of presses left in the United States. There are many more around the world, but in the US there are only a handful left in business and their business has gone up in the last few years. Some artists are actually, once again, releasing their new works on vinyl record and CD. Once artist, is actually putting bonus tracks on the vinyl version in order to boost the sales of the record. Are we in a rebound? We shall see.