Gramophone record

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gramophone_record

A gramophone record, (also phonograph record - often simply record) is an

analogue sound recording medium: a flat disc rotating at a constant angular
velocity, with inscribed spiral grooves in which a stylus or needle rides.
Analogue audio recording onto a disc was the main technology used for the
storing of recorded sound for most of the 20th century. By the early 1990s
digital media such as the compact disc surpassed the gramophone record in
popularity, but gramophone records continue to be made (although in very
limited quantities) into the 21st century, particularly for DJs doing live
remixes and for local acts recording on small regional labels.

33⅓ LP vinyl record album

Basics
The disc is almost always engraved with a single concentric spiral groove on
each side of the disc, running from the outside edge towards the centre. (A
small number of early phonograph systems and radio transcription discs
started the groove from the inside rather than the edge of the disc, and a
small number of novelty records were manufactured with multiple separate
grooves.) On a very small number of albums, like Goodbye Blue and White by
Less Than Jake, a hidden track, or the entire side, will be played from the
centre out). Since the late 1910s, both sides of the record have usually been
used as playing surfaces.

History of the materials

Early disc records were originally made of various materials including hard
rubber. In the early 20th century earlier materials were largely replaced by a
rather brittle formula known as "shellac", actually a mixture of shellac resin (a
natural plastic) and cotton or other fiber. The mass production of shellac
records began in 1898 in Hanover, Germany. Shellac records were the most
common until about 1950.

In the 1890s the early recording formats of discs were usually 17.5 cm
(~seven inches) in diameter. By 1910 the 25 cm (~10-inch) record was by far
the most popular standard, holding about three minutes of music or
entertainment on a side. 30 cm 12-inch records were also commercially sold,
mostly of classical music or operatic selections, with five minutes of music
per side.

Such records were usually sold separately, but sometimes in collections held
in paper sleeves in a cardboard or leather book, similar to a photograph
album, and called record albums. Also, empty record albums were sold that
customers could use to store their disc records in.

While a 78 rpm record is brittle and relatively easily broken, both the
microgroove LP 33⅓ rpm record and the 45 rpm single records are made
from vinyl plastic which is flexible and unbreakable in normal use. 78s come
in a variety of sizes, the most common being 10 inch (25 cm) and 12 inch (30
cm) diameter, and these were originally sold in either paper or card covers,
generally with a circular cutout allowing the record label to be seen. The
Long-Playing records (LPs) usually come in a paper sleeve within a colour
printed card jacket which also provides a track listing. 45 rpm singles and
EPs (Extended Play) are of 7 inch (17.5 cm) diameter, the earlier copies being
sold in paper covers. Grooves on a 78 rpm are much coarser than the LP and
45 - roughly as wide as a fingernail is thick.

In 1930, RCA Victor launched the first commercially-available vinyl long-

playing record, marketed as "Program Transcription" discs. These
revolutionary discs were designed for playback at 33⅓ rpm and pressed on a
30 cm diameter flexible plastic disc. In Roland Gelatt's book The Fabulous
Phonograph, the author notes that RCA Victor's early introduction of a long-
play disc was a commercial failure for several reasons including the lack of
affordable, reliable consumer playback equipment and consumer wariness
during the Great Depression. A good outline of this unsuccessful product
launch can be found here.

However, vinyl's lower playback noise level than shellac was not forgotten.
During and after World War II when shellac supplies were extremely limited,
some 78 rpm records were pressed in vinyl instead of shellac (wax),
particularly the six-minute 12" (30 cm) 78 rpm records produced by V-Disc
for distribution to US troops in World War II.

Beginning in 1939, Columbia Records continued development of this

technology. Dr. Peter Goldmark and his staff undertook exhaustive efforts to
address problems of recording and playing back narrow grooves and
developing an inexpensive, reliable consumer playback system. In 1948, the
12" (30 cm) Long Play (LP) 33⅓ rpm microgroove record was introduced by
the Columbia Record at a dramatic New York press conference.

History of the speeds

Common formats

• 12" (30 cm) 33⅓ rpm long-playing (LP) format

• 7" (17.5 cm) 45 rpm (single) format

Less common formats

• 12" (30 cm) 45 rpm extended-playing (12-inch (30 cm) single, Maxi
Single and EP) format
 • 10" (25 cm) 33⅓ rpm long-playing (LP) format
• 10" (25 cm) 45 rpm extended-playing (EP) format
• 7" (17.5 cm) 33⅓ rpm extended-playing (EP) format
• 16⅔ rpm format for voice recording
• 12" (30 cm), 10" (25 cm) and 7" (17.5 cm) picture discs and shaped
discs
• Specialty sizes (5" (12 cm), 6" (15 cm), 8" (20 cm), 9" (23 cm), 11" 28
cm), 13" (33 cm))
• Flexidiscs, often square 7"s (17.5 cm)

Vinyl record standards for the United States follow the guidelines[1] of the
RIAA (the Record Industry Association of America). The inch dimensions are
not actual record diameters, but a trade name. The actual dimension of a 12
inch record is 302 mm (11.89 in), for a 10 inch it is 250 mm (9.84 in), and
for a 7 inch it is 175 mm (6.89 in).

Records made in other countries follow different guidelines. The record

diameters are commonly 30 cm, 25 cm and 17.5 cm in most countries. See
here.

Backstory

Earliest speeds of rotation varied widely, but by 1910 records rotating at or

about 78 or 80 times in one minute became standard, with 78 rpm becoming
the standard in the late 1920s. This gave a common name for such records
as 78s (or "seventy-eights"). This term did not come into use until after
World War II when a need developed to distinguish the 78 from other newer
disc record formats. Earlier they were just called records, or when there was a
need to distinguish them from cylinders, disc records. Standard records was
also used, although the same term had also been used earlier for two-minute
cylinders.

After World War II, two new competing formats came on to the market and
gradually replaced the standard "78": the 33⅓ rpm (often just referred to as
to 33 rpm), and the 45 rpm. The 33⅓ rpm LP (for "long play") format was
developed by Columbia Records and marketed in 1948. RCA Victor developed
the 45 rpm format and marketed it in 1949, in response to Columbia. Both
types of new disc used narrower grooves, intended to be played with a
smaller stylus, than the old "78s", so the new records were sometimes called
Microgroove. In the mid-1950s all record companies agreed to a common
recording standard called RIAA equalization; before then each company had
used its own preferred standard, requiring discriminating listeners to use
preamplifiers with multiple selectable curves.

The older 78 format continued to be mass produced alongside the newer

formats into the 1950s (and in a few countries, such as India, into the
1960s).

The commercial rivalry between RCA Victor and Columbia Records led to RCA
Victor's introduction of what it had intended to be a competing vinyl format,
the 7" (17.5 cm) / 45 rpm Extended Play (EP). For a two-year period from
1948 to 1950, record companies and consumers faced uncertainty over
which of these formats would ultimately prevail in what was known as the
"War of the Speeds". (See also format war)

Eventually, the 12" (30 cm) / 33⅓ rpm LP prevailed as the predominant
format for musical albums, and the 7" (17.5 cm) / 45 rpm EP or "single"
established a significant niche for shorter duration discs typically containing
one song on each side. The EP discs typically emulated the playing time of
the former 78 rpm discs, while the LP discs provided up to one-half hour of
time per side, but typically 15 to 20 minutes was normal. Extended play was
only achieved at the expense of heavy compression or attenuating the bass
(as the groove actually visibly followed the wave-form, loud, low frequency
sound consumed more width per revolution than quiet sounds).

From the mid-1950s through the 1960s, in the U. S. the common home
"record player" or "stereo" would typically have had these features: a three-
or four-speed turntable (78, 45, 33-1/3, and sometimes 16-2/3 rpm); a
combination cartridge with both 78 and microgroove styluses; and some kind
of adapter for playing the 45s with their larger center hole. Deliberately
playing records at the wrong speed was a near-universal childhood
amusement.

[edit]

Progress, and the War of the Speeds

About the same time the most common substance for making 33rpm disc
records became vinyl, while most 45rpm discs were made from polystyrene.
All speeds of records were made in various sizes, mainly 17.5, 25, 30 cm (~7,
10 and 12 inches diameter; the 17.5 cm (~7-inch) being most common for
the 45rpm, the 25 cm (~10-inch) for the 78 (and the first few years of 33⅓
production), and the 30 cm (~12-inch) for the 33 from the mid 1950s on.
The sound quality and durability of vinyl records is highly dependent on the
quality of the vinyl used. Most vinyl records are pressed on recycled vinyl.
New "virgin" or "heavy" (180-220 g/m²) is commonly used for classical
music, although it has been used for some other genres. Today, it is
increasingly common in vinyl pressings that can be found in most record
shops. Even modern albums like Shellac's and Mission of Burma's latest are
pressed on 180 g/m² vinyl, though most are reissues of classic albums, like
The Clash's series of reissues. These albums tend to withstand the
deformation caused by normal play better than regular vinyl.

While most vinyl records are pressed from metal master discs, a technique
known as lathe-cutting was introduced in the late 1980s by Peter King in
Geraldine, New Zealand. A lathe is used to cut microgrooves into a clear
polycarbonate disc. Lathe cut records can be made inexpensively in small
runs. However, the sound quality is significantly worse than proper vinyl
records, and lathe cut records tend to degrade further in quality after
repeated playing.
45 rpm records, like this one from 1955, often held a single - one especially
popular tune from a particular artist - with a flip side, a bonus for owners.

Stereo and beyond

In 1958 the first stereo, two channel records were issued—by Audio Fidelity
in the USA and Pye in Britain, using the Westrex "45/45" single-groove
system. On stereo records the stylus moves vertically as well as horizontally.

One could envision a system in which the left channel was recorded laterally
and the right channel was recorded with a "hill-and-dale" vertical motion,
and such systems were actually proposed, but not adopted. In the Westrex
system, each channel drives the stylus at a 45 degree angle to the vertical.
During playback, the combined signal is sensed by a left channel coil
mounted diagonally opposite the inner side of the groove, and a right
channel coil mounted diagonally opposite the outer side of the groove [2].

It is, however, helpful to think of the motion in terms of the vector sum and
difference of the two channels. Effectively, horizontal stylus motion carries an
L+R sum signal, and vertical stylus motion carries an L-R difference signal.
The advantages of the 45/45 system are:

• greater compatibility with monophonic recording and playback

systems. A monophonic cartridge will reproduce an equal blend of the
left and right channels instead of reproducing only one channel.
Conversely, a stereo cartridge reproduces the lateral grooves of
monophonic recording equally through both channels, rather than one
channel.
• a more balanced sound, because the two channels have equal fidelity
(rather than providing one higher-fidelity laterally recorded channel
and one lower-fidelity vertically-recorded channel);
• higher fidelity in general, because the "difference" signal is usually of
low power and thus less affected by the intrinsic distortion of hill-and-
dale recording.

Stereo sound provides a more natural listening experience where the spatial
location of the source of a sound is, at least in part, reproduced.
The development of quadraphonic records was announced in 1971 - which
recorded four separate sound signals. This was achieved on the two stereo
channels by electronic matrixing, where the additional channels were
combined into the main signal. When the records were played, circuits in the
amplifiers were able to decode the signals into four separate channels. There
were two main systems of matrixed quadrophonic records produced,
confusingly named SQ (by CBS) and QS (by Sansui). They proved commercially
unsuccessful, but were an important precursor to later 'surround sound'
systems, as seen in SACD and home cinema today. A different format, CD-4
(by RCA), encoded rear-channel information on an ultrasonic carrier, which
required a special wideband cartridge to pick it up. Typically the high-
frequency information wore off after only a few playings, and CD-4 was even
less successful than the two matrixed formats.

Other developments

During the early 1970s, a cost-cutting move towards use of lightweight,

flexible vinyl pressings. Marketed by RCA Victor as the Dynaflex process,
much of the industry adopted a technique of reducing the thickness and
quality of vinyl used in mass-market manufacturing. In many cases, this
included using "regrind" vinyl as a means of cutting manufacturing costs.

During the late 1970s, an audiophile-focused niche market for "direct-to-

disc" records, which completely bypassed use of magnetic tape in favor of a
"purist" transcription directly to the master lacquer disc.

During the late 1970s, an audiophile-focused niche market for "half-speed

mastered" and "original master" records, using expensive state-of-the-art
technology.

During the early 1980s, an audiophile-focused niche market for "DBX-

encoded" records, which were completely non-compatible with standard
record playback preamplifiers, relying on a sophisticated DBX noise reduction
encoding/decoding scheme to virtually eliminate playback noise and increase
dynamic range. A similar and very short-lived scheme involved using the
CBS-developed "CX" noise reduction encoding/decoding scheme.
During the late 1970s and 1980s, the use of highly advanced disc cutting
equipment to improve the dynamic range and reduce inner-groove distortion
of mass-produced records, using techniques marketed as the CBS
Discomputer and Teldec Direct Metal Mastering.

The record mastering and pressing process

Recording the disc

For the first several decades of disc record manufacturing, sound was
recorded directly on to the master disc (also called the matrix, sometimes
just the master) at the recording studio. From about 1950 on (earlier for
some large record companies, later for some small ones) it became usual to
have the performance first recorded on audio tape, which could then be
processed and/or edited, and then dubbed on to the master disc.

A record cutter would engrave the grooves into the master disc. Early on
these master discs were soft wax, later on a harder lacquer was used.

Mass producing records

The soft master would then usually be electroplated with a metal, commonly
a nickel alloy. When this metal was removed from the master, it would be a
negative master (in some companies' terminology, this was called the master;
note difference from master disc above). In the earliest days the negative
master was used as a mold to press records sold to the public, but as
demand for mass production of records grew, another step was added to the
process.

The negative master mold is used to create metal positive discs, each called a
mother or matrix. These mothers would then in turn be used to make more
negatives, each called a stamper. The stampers would be used as the molds
for the discs sold to the public. The advantages of this system over the
earlier more direct system included ability to make more records more
quickly by having multiple stampers pressing records at the same time, more
records could be pressed from each record since much used molds would
eventually wear out, and spare mothers as back ups.
Disc limitations

Shellac 78s were extremely brittle and would break into several pieces if
dropped. Typically, they would break into several wedge-shaped pieces; if
the glued label did not tear, they might remain loosely connected by the
label. Breakage was a very common accident, but one that usually induced a
sharp pang of loss. Even careful owners usually lost some records to
breakage. In the 1934 novel, Appointment in Samarra, the protagonist—
admittedly drunk—

broke one of his most favorites, Whiteman's Lady of the Evening... He

wanted to cry but could not. He wanted to pick up the pieces. He
reached over to pick them up, and lost his balance and sat down on
another record, crushing it unmusically. He did not want to see what it
was. All he knew was that it was a Brunswick, which meant that it was
one of the oldest and best.

A poignant moment in J. D. Salinger's 1951 novel The Catcher in the Rye

occurs after the adolescent protagonist buys a record for his younger sister
because "I knew it would knock old Phoebe out." But "I dropped the record,
and it broke into pieces... I damn near cried, it made me feel so terrible, but
all I did was, I took the pieces out of the envelope and put them in my coat
pocket."

Vinyl records were less subject to breakage. However, the vinyl material was
an effective insulator and very prone to acquiring a static charge and
attracting dust, which was very difficult to remove completely. The soft
material was easily scratched. Dust and scratches caused audio clicks and
pops. In extreme cases, they could cause the needle to skip over a series of
grooves, causing the player to skip over a segment of the audio track; or,
worse yet, cause the needle to skip backwards, creating a "locked groove"
that would repeat the same portion of track over and over again. Locked
grooves were not uncommon and were even heard occasionally in
broadcasts. Locked grooves formed the subject of jokes ("Machines never
make a mistake... make a mistake... make a mistake...") and became a
common metaphor (a repetitious complainer might be accused of being "a
broken record" or "a stuck gramaphone record").
Vinyl records could be warped by heat, improper storage, or manufacturing
defects such as excessively tight plastic shrinkwrap on the album. A small
degree of warp was common, and allowing for it was part of the art of
turntable and tonearm design. "Wow" (once-per-revolution pitch variation)
could result from warp, or from a spindle hole that was not precisely
centered.

As a practical matter, records provided excellent sound quality when treated

with care. They were the music source of choice for radio stations for
decades, and the switch to digital music libraries by radio stations has not
produced a noticeable improvement in sound quality. Casual ears cannot
detect a difference in quality between a CD and a clean new LP played on
good equipment. Audiophiles take great care of their records, playing them
on expensive equipment to get the best sound and impart the least wear to
the disc. However, even with the best of care, keen ears can detect the
inherent surface noise. Nevertheless some aficionados believe that under the
very best conditions LP sound is superior to CD (see Analog vs. Digital sound
argument). The limitations of recording and mastering techniques had a
greater impact on sound quality than the limitations of the record itself, at
least until the 1980s.

Records were easy and inexpensive to manufacture, so they could be mass-

produced. Also, with the advent of long-playing records, the album cover
became more than just packaging and protection, and album cover art
became an important part of the music marketing and consuming
experience.

Columbia and RCA duked it out in the center of the record. Some turntables
included spindle size adapters, but other turntables required snap-in inserts
like this one to adapt RCA's larger 45 rpm spindle size to the smaller spindle
size available on nearly all turntables.

Recording medium comparison

Format Length*

78 record 3 minutes

45 record 3 minutes

33 "LP" record 20 minutes

Audio cassette 40 minutes

Compact disc 70/74/80 minutes

MP3 Player Various**

*Approximate, maximum, and per side, if applicable.

**Generally in the several hundred hour range.

The typical duration of a vinyl album was around 15 to 20 minutes per side.
The limit of around 40-45 minutes, later constricted to similar duration due
to the compact cassette format often influenced the arrangements of tracks,
a typical album having 4 "sweet spots" of the opening and closing tracks of
each side. Bands like Genesis took track layout to the extreme having a fairly
rigid form for tracks across a number of albums. With the advent of compact
discs, the restriction became the 70/74/80 minute form, perhaps leading to
a less critical approach to allowing tracks onto albums.

Vinyl albums had a large 12" album cover, which also allowed cover
designers scope for imaginative designs, often including fold-outs and
leaflets.
Beyond the 1990s: Records versus the digital
media

Groove recordings, first designed in the final quarter of the 19th century,
held predominant sway for an impressive amount of time - just about a
century. Even the technologies designed to supersede the record - reel tapes,
the 8 track and the audio cassette - could not fully kill it. Only now, in the
age of the CD and the iPod, has the record been fully replaced on a
commercial level.

However, there are holdouts...

Arguments about sound fidelity

Vinyl records continue to be manufactured and sold today, although it is

considered to be a niche market comprised of audiophiles, collectors, and
disc jockeys (DJs). Punk and hardcore bands also often produce their albums
and singles on vinyl.

In the early days of compact discs, vinyl records were still prized by
audiophiles because of better reproduction of analog recordings; however,
the drawback was greater sensitivity to scratches and dust. Early compact
discs were perceived by some as screechy, distorting sounds on the high
end, and not as "warm" as vinyl especially in recordings that require a wide
dynamic range (e.g. classical recordings). This resulted in a slower
acceptance of digital music in its early years by some listeners.

Though digital audio technology has improved over the years, some
audiophiles still prefer what they perceive as the warmer and more detailed
sound of vinyl over the harsher sound of CDs. Some listeners were also
disappointed by what they considered to be unfaithful remastering of analog
recordings. The advent of higher-quality digital formats, notably SACD,
offers the tantalizing possibility of combining the high-quality sound of the
best analog recordings with the convenience and durability of the CD. Many
artists still release recordings, in limited pressings, on vinyl.

The arguments about the superior quality of vinyl records are wide-ranging.
Proponents of analog audio argue that, unlike CD audio, it is not affected by
the sharp frequency cutoff and phase characteristics, including group delay,
near the Nyquist frequency and the quantization noise of 16-bit linear
quantization, but that analog recording has a more gradual frequency cutoff,
and what they consider to be a more natural descent into the analog noise
floor.

Proponents of digital audio state that these differences are generally

inaudible to normal human hearing, and the lack of clicks, hiss and pops
from digital recordings greatly improved sound fidelity. They also state that
more modern anti-aliasing filters and oversampling systems used in modern
CD recordings greatly reduce the problems observed with early CDs.

The "warmer" sound of analog records is generally believed on both sides of

the argument to be an artifact of the dynamic harmonic distortion
characteristic of vinyl recording. It is thought by supporters of digital audio
that the fans of vinyl got so used to it they think it is actually a more
"faithful" to the real sound, when it is actually the other way around. (This
phenomenon of a preference for the sound of a beloved lower-fidelity
technology is not new; a 1963 review of RCA Dynagroove recordings notes
that "some listeners object to the ultra-smooth sound as ... sterile... such
distortion-forming sounds as those produced by loud brasses are eliminated
at the expense of fidelity. They prefer for a climactic fortissimo to blast their
machines...")

Nevertheless, critics of compact disc audio have observed that more recent
digital audio systems are being designed to use higher sampling rates (for
example, 96kHz) and finer quantization (for example 24 rather than 16 bits
per sample), and state that this would not be being done if it did not bring
some audible improvement to the output.

Deejays

For DJs, mostly in the electronic dance music or hip hop genres, vinyl has
another advantage over the CD: the direct manipulation of the medium. While
with CDs or cassettes one normally has only indirect manipulation options
(the play/stop/pause etc. buttons), with a record one can put the needle a
few tracks farther in- or outwards and accelerate/decelerate the spinning or
even reverse the direction (if the needle and record player is built to
withstand it). However some professional CD players now have this
capability.

ELP, a Japanese-based company, has developed a player that uses a laser

instead of a needle to read vinyl discs. In theory, it eliminates the possibility
of scratches and attendant degradation of the sound, but its expense limits
use primarily to digital archiving of analog records.

Preservation of disk recordings

Due to the nature of the recording medium, playback of disks can cause
degredation of the recording. In some cases, the equipment for playback of
certain formats (e.g. 16 and 78 RPM) is no longer manufactured leading to
increased difficulty in finding equipment to play the recordings.

In an attempt to preserve the historic content of the recordings, disks can be

read optically, processed with software that calculates the velocity that the
stylus would be moving in the mapped grooves and converted to a digital
recording format. The resulting sound clip in most cases sounds better than
stylus playback from the original disk. Having an electronic version of the
original recordings enables archivists to open access to the recordings to a
wider audience. This technique also has the potential to allow for
reconstruction of damaged or broken disk. (Fadeyev & Haber, 2003)

See also

• DJ
 The Voyager Golden Record

• Voyager Golden Record

• Turntablism
• Sound recording
• Magnetic cartridge

Further reading

• From Tin Foil to Stereo -- Evolution of the Phonograph by Oliver Read

and Walter L. Welch
• Where have all the good times gone? -- the rise and fall of the record
industry Louis Barfe

References
 • Fadeyev, V., and C. Haber (2003). "Reconstruction of mechanically
recorded sound by image processing". Journal of the Audio Engineering
Society 51 (December): 1172.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has more media related to:

Vinyl records

• Creating a vinyl record

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