It has been suggested that Children's gramophone records be merged into this article or section. (Discuss)

A 12-inch record (left), a 7-inch record (right), and a CD (above)

Two 7" singles (left), two colored 7" singles (middle), and two 7" singles with large spindle holes (right).

A gramophone record (also phonograph record, or simply record) is an analogue sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed modulated spiral groove starting near the periphery and ending near the center of the disc. Gramophone records were the primary medium used for commercial music reproduction for most of the 20th century. They replaced the phonograph cylinder as the most popular recording medium in the 1900s, and although they were supplanted in popularity in the late 1980s by digital media, they continue to be manufactured and sold as of 2007. Gramophone records remain the medium of choice for some audiophiles, and specialist areas such as electronica. Image File history File links Mergefrom. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Gramophone record. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1004x684, 91 KB) Summary A 12 record, a 7″ record, and a CD-ROM. Un disque 30cm, un disque 17cm et un CD-ROM Licensing File links The following pages link to this file: Talk:Please Please Me Talk:Bookends Talk... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1004x684, 91 KB) Summary A 12 record, a 7″ record, and a CD-ROM. Un disque 30cm, un disque 17cm et un CD-ROM Licensing File links The following pages link to this file: Talk:Please Please Me Talk:Bookends Talk... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 487 pixels Full resolution (928 × 565 pixel, file size: 420 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) My records. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 487 pixels Full resolution (928 × 565 pixel, file size: 420 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) My records. ... An analog or analogue signal is any time continuous signal where some time varying feature of the signal is a representation of some other time varying quantity. ... Sound is a disturbance of mechanical energy that propagates through matter as a wave. ... The terms storage (U.K.) or memory (U.S.) refer to the parts of a digital computer that retain physical state (data) for some interval of time, possibly even after electrical power to the computer is turned off. ... A disk or disc may be: Look up disc, disk in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The earliest method of recording and reproducing sound was on phonograph cylinders. ... Digital audio comprises audio signals stored in a digital format. ... An audiophile, from Latin audire[1] to hear and Greek philos[2] loving, can be generally defined as a person dedicated to achieving high fidelity in the recording and playback of music . ... Electronica refers to a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; but unlike electronic dance music, is not specifically focused on the dance floor. ...

The terms LP record (LP, 33, or 33⅓ rpm record), EP, 16⅔ rpm record (16), 45 rpm record (45), and 78 rpm record (78) each refer to specific types of gramophone records. Except for the LP and EP (which are acronyms for Long Play and Extended Play respectively), these type designations refer to their rotational speeds in revolutions per minute (rpm). LPs, 45s, and 16s are usually made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and hence may be referred to as vinyl records or simply vinyl. An LP Long playing (LP), either 10 or 12-inch diameter, 33 rpm (actually 33. ... // Extended play (EP) is the name typically given to vinyl records or CDs which contain more than one single but are too short to qualify as albums. ... For other uses, see Revolutions per minute (disambiguation). ... Polyvinyl chloride Polyvinyl chloride, (IUPAC Polychloroethene) commonly abbreviated PVC, is a widely used thermoplastic polymer. ...

[edit] History

[edit] Early history

Edison cylinder phonograph ca. 1899

A 10-inch gramophone blank for self recording with 78 rpm, 1948, brand as material "Decelith" with special surface for hardening

A device utilizing a vibrating pen to graphically represent sound on discs of paper, without the idea of playing it back in any manner, was described by Charles Cros of France in 1877, but never built. In 1877, Thomas Edison independently built the first working phonograph, a tinfoil cylinder machine, intending to use it as a voice recording medium, typically for office dictation. The phonograph cylinder dominated the recorded sound market beginning in the 1880s. Lateral-cut disc records were invented by Emile Berliner in 1888 and were used exclusively in toys until 1894, when Berliner began marketing disc records under the Berliner Gramophone label. The Edison "Blue Amberol" cylinder was introduced in 1912, with a longer playing time of around 4 minutes (at 160 rpm) and a more resilient playing surface than its wax predecessor, but the format was doomed due to the difficulty of reproducing recordings. By November 1918 the patents for the manufacture of lateral-cut disc records expired, opening the field for countless companies to produce them, causing disc records to overtake cylinders in popularity. Disc records would dominate the market until they were supplanted by the Compact Disc, starting from the 1980s. Production of Amberol cylinders ceased in the late 1920s. Edison cylinder phonograph, from de wikipedia GFDL according to de wikipedia. ... Edison cylinder phonograph, from de wikipedia GFDL according to de wikipedia. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 553 pixelsFull resolution (1024 × 708 pixel, file size: 447 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Template:Ccs-by-2. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 553 pixelsFull resolution (1024 × 708 pixel, file size: 447 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Template:Ccs-by-2. ... Charles Cros (October 1, 1842 - August 9, 1888) was a French poet and inventor. ... “Edison” redirects here. ... The earliest method of recording and reproducing sound was on phonograph cylinders. ... Emile Berliner with disc record gramophone. ... 1897 Berliner Gramophone Record by George W. Johnson A more detailed description of this record Berliner Gramophone was an early record label, the first company to produce disc gramophone records (as opposed to the earlier phonograph cylinder records). ... CD redirects here. ...

[edit] Materials

Early disc records were made of various materials including hard rubber. From 1897 onwards, earlier materials were largely replaced by a rather brittle formula of 25% "shellac" (a material obtained from the secretion of a southeast Asian beetle), a filler of a cotton compound similar to manila paper, powdered slate, and a small amount of a wax lubricant. The mass production of shellac records began in 1898 in Hanover, Germany. Shellac records were the most common until the 1950s. Unbreakable records, usually of celluloid (an early form of plastic) on a pasteboard base, were made from 1904 onwards, but they suffered from an exceptionally high level of surface noise. This does not cite any references or sources. ... Look up shellac in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A strong paper or thin cardboard with a smooth finish, usually buff in color, made from Manila hemp or wood fibers similar to it. ... For other uses, see Slate (disambiguation). ... candle wax This page is about the substance. ... , Hanover(i) (German: , IPA: ), on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen), Germany. ... Celluloid is the name of a class of compounds created from nitrocellulose and camphor, plus dyes and other agents, generally regarded to be the first thermoplastic. ... The clipboard is a software program that is used for short-term storage of data as it is transferred between documents or applications, via copy and paste operations. ...

In the 1890s the early recording formats of discs were usually seven inches (nominally 17.5 cm) in diameter. By 1910 the 10-inch (25.4cm) record was by far the most popular standard, holding about three minutes of music or entertainment on a side. From 1903 onwards, 12-inch records (30.5cm) were also commercially sold, mostly of classical music or operatic selections, with four to five minutes of music per side. Historically there have beem hundreds of recording media and formats. ... An inch (plural: inches; symbol or abbreviation: in or, sometimes, ″ - a double prime) is the name of a unit of length in a number of different systems, including English units, Imperial units, and United States customary units. ... A stilt-walker entertaining shoppers at a shopping centre in Swindon, England Entertainment is an event, performance, or activity designed to give pleasure or relaxation to an audience (although, for example, in the case of a computer game the audience may be only one person). ... Classical music is a broad, somewhat imprecise term, referring to music produced in, or rooted in the traditions of, European art, ecclesiastical and concert music, encompassing a broad period from roughly 1000 to the present day. ... For other uses, see Opera (disambiguation). ...

Such records were usually sold separately, in plain paper or cardboard sleeves that may have been printed to show the producer or the retailer's name and, starting in the 1930s, in collections held in paper sleeves in a cardboard or leather book, similar to a photograph album, and called record albums. Empty record albums were also sold that customers could use to store their records in. Cardboard is a generic non-specific term for a heavy duty paper based product. ... Modern leather-working tools Leather is a material created through the tanning of hides and skins of animals, primarily cattlehide. ...

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 that is flexible and unbreakable in normal use. However, the vinyl records are easier to scratch or gouge, and much more prone to warpage. 78s come in a variety of sizes, the most common being 10 inches (25 cm), and 12 inches (30 cm) in diameter (sometimes 6–8 inches in the UK), 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 a 7-inch (17.5 cm) diameter, the earlier copies being sold in paper covers. For other uses, see Revolutions per minute (disambiguation). ...

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.^[1] RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony BMG Music Entertainment. ... For other uses, see The Great Depression (disambiguation). ...

However, vinyl's lower surface noise level than shellac was not forgotten, nor was its durability. In the late 30's, radio commercials and prerecorded radio programs being sent to disc jockeys started being stamped in vinyl, so they would not break in the mail. In the mid-40's, special DJ copies of records started being made of vinyl also, for the same reason. These were all 78 RPM. 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. In the 40's, radio transcriptions, which were usually on 16 inch records, but sometimes 12 inch, were always made of vinyl, but cut at 33 1/3 rpm. Shorter transcriptions were often cut at 78 rpm. Look up shellac in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A radio commercial (often called an advert in the United Kingdom) is a form of advertising in which goods, services, organizations, ideas, etc. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... V-Disc was a record label produced during the World War II era by special arrangement between the United States government and various private U.S. record companies. ...

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 album was introduced by the Columbia Record at a dramatic New York press conference. In 1949, RCA Victor released the first 45 RPM single, 7" in diameter, with a large center hole to accommodate an automatic play mechanism on the changer, so a stack of singles would drop down one record at a time automatically after each play. Early 45 RPM records were made from either vinyl or polystyrene. Columbia Records is the oldest brand name in recorded sound, dating back to 1888, and was the first record company to produce pre-recorded records as opposed to blank cylinders. ... Peter Carl Goldmark (December 2, 1906 – December 7, 1977) was a Hungarian-born, American engineer who, during his time with Columbia Records, was instrumental in developing the long-playing (LP) microgroove 33-1/3 rpm vinyl phonograph discs which defined home audio for two generations. ... Columbia Records is the oldest brand name in recorded sound, dating back to 1888, and was the first record company to produce pre-recorded records as opposed to blank cylinders. ... Polystyrene (IPA: ) is a polymer made from the monomer styrene, a liquid hydrocarbon that is commercially manufactured from petroleum by the chemical industry. ...

During the reign of the Communist Party in the former USSR, records were commonly homemade using discarded medical x-rays. These records, nicknamed "Bones", were usually inscribed with illegal copies of popular music banned by the government. They also became a popular means of distribution among Soviet punk bands; in addition to the high cost and low availability of vinyl, punk music was politically suppressed, and publishing outlets were limited. The Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Russian: Коммунисти́ческая Па́ртия Сове́тского Сою́за, transliterated Kommunisticheskaya Partiya Sovetskogo Soyuza, acronym: КПСС (KPSS)) was the ruling political party in the Soviet Union. ... In the NATO phonetic alphabet, X-ray represents the letter X. An X-ray picture (radiograph) taken by Röntgen An X-ray is a form of electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength approximately in the range of 5 pm to 10 nanometers (corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 PHz... Punk rock is an anti-establishment music movement beginning around 1976 (although precursors can be found several years earlier), exemplified and popularised by The Ramones, the Sex Pistols, The Clash and The Damned. ...

On a small number of early phonograph systems and radio transcription discs, as well as some entire albums, such as Goodbye Blue and White by Less Than Jake, the direction of the groove is reversed, beginning near the centre of the disc and leading to the outside. A small number of records (such as Jeff Mills' Apollo EP or the Hidden In Plainsight EP from Detroit's Underground Resistance) were manufactured with multiple separate grooves to differentiate the tracks (usually called 'NSC-X2'). X2 was pioneered by Ron Murphy and Heath Brunner from Sound Enterprises (formerly National Sound Corporation), a record mastering company in Detroit. Goodbye Blue and White, album by Less Than Jake I Think I Love You 2:04 Losing Streak 1:56 Mixology of Tom Collins 2:06 Modern World 2:03 Yo-Yo Ninja Boy 1:05 Dopeman (Remix) 2:32 Rock-N-Roll Pizzeria [7 Version) 1:54 Were... Less Than Jake is an American ska punk band from Gainesville, Florida. ... Please wikify (format) this article or section as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ... Motto: Speramus Meliora; Resurget Cineribus (We Hope For Better Things; It Shall Rise From the Ashes - this motto was adopted after the disastrous 1805 fire that devastated the city) Nickname: The Motor City and Motown Location in Wayne County, Michigan Founded Incorporated July 24, 1701 1815  County Wayne County Mayor... Underground Resistance (commonly abbreviated to UR) are a musical collective from Detroit, Michigan, in the United States of America. ... Ronald Ron Murphy (born April 10, 1933 in Hamilton, Ontario) is a retired former professional ice hockey player who played for the New York Rangers, Chicago Black Hawks, Detroit Red Wings and Boston Bruins over the course of an 889-game NHL career. ... Motto: Speramus Meliora; Resurget Cineribus (We Hope For Better Things; It Shall Rise From the Ashes - this motto was adopted after the disastrous 1805 fire that devastated the city) Nickname: The Motor City and Motown Location in Wayne County, Michigan Founded Incorporated July 24, 1701 1815  County Wayne County Mayor...

[edit] Speeds

The earliest rotation speeds varied widely. Most records made in 1900–1925 were recorded at 74–82 revolutions per minute (RPM). However a few unusual systems were deployed. The Dutch Philips company introduced records whose rotational speed varied such that the reproducing "needle" ran at a constant linear velocity (CLV) in the groove. These records also, unusually, played from the inside to the outside. Both of these features were to be emulated by the modern day Compact Disc. The London Science Museum displays a Philips record marked as "Speed D". It is one of these CLV disks. For other uses, see Revolutions per minute (disambiguation). ... Philips HQ in Amsterdam Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Royal Philips Electronics N.V.), usually known as Philips, (Euronext: PHIA, NYSE: PHG) is one of the largest electronics companies in the world, founded and headquartered in the Netherlands. ... Constant Linear Velocity (CLV) refers to how information is written to or read from a rotating data disk. ... CD redirects here. ...

In 1925, 78.26 rpm was chosen as the standard because of the introduction of the electrically powered synchronous turntable motor. This motor ran at 3600 rpm with a 46:1 gear ratio which produced 78.26 rpm. In parts of the world that used 50 Hz current, the standard was 77.92 RPM (3000 rpm with a 38.5:1 ratio), which was also the speed at which a strobe disc with 77 lines would "stand still" in 50 Hz light (92 lines for 60Hz). Thus these records became known 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, an example of a retronym. 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. Gears on a piece of farm equipment, gear ratio 1:1. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... A retronym is a type of neologism coined for an old object or concept whose original name has come to be used for something else, is no longer unique, or is otherwise inappropriate or misleading. ... The earliest method of recording and reproducing sound was on phonograph cylinders. ...

Columbia and RCA's competition extended to equipment. 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.

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 the 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—typically 0.001" (25 µm) wide, compared to 0.003" (76 µm) for a 78—so the new records were sometimes called Microgroove. In the mid-1950s all record companies agreed to a common recording standard called RIAA equalization. Prior to the establishment of the standard each company used its own preferred standard, requiring discriminating listeners to use preamplifiers with multiple selectable equalization curves. 45 rpm record insert Image copyright ©2004 by Daniel P. B. Smith and released under the terms of the Wikipedia license. ... 45 rpm record insert Image copyright ©2004 by Daniel P. B. Smith and released under the terms of the Wikipedia license. ... RCA, formerly an acronym for the Radio Corporation of America, is now a trademark owned by Thomson SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Thomson. ... Columbia Records is the oldest brand name in recorded sound, dating back to 1888, and was the first record company to produce pre-recorded records as opposed to blank cylinders. ... For the magazine, see Marketing (magazine). ... RCA, formerly an acronym for the Radio Corporation of America, is now a trademark owned by Thomson SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Thomson. ... The record industry is the part of the music industry that earns profit by selling sound recordings of music. ... The RIAA equalization curve for playback of vinyl records. ...

A number of recordings were pressed at 16⅔ RPM, but these were mostly used for radio transcription discs or narrated publications for the blind and visually impaired, and were never widely commercially available, although it was common to see turntables with a 16 RPM speed setting produced as late as the 1970s.

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. As late as the 1970s, some children's records were released at the 78 rpm speed.

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" (175 mm) /45 rpm disc. 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.) A format war describes competition between mutually incompatible data storage devices and recording formats for electronic media, often forcing content publishers to take sides. ...

Eventually the 12" (300 mm) 33⅓ rpm LP prevailed as the predominant format for musical albums, and the 7" (175 mm) 45 rpm disc or "single" established a significant niche for shorter duration discs, typically containing one song on each side. The 45 rpm 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 (though typically 15 to 20 minutes). The 45 rpm discs also came in a variety known as Extended play (EP) which achieved up to 10-15 minutes play at the expense of attenuating (and possibly compressing) the sound to reduce the width required by the groove. // Extended play (EP) is the name typically given to vinyl records or CDs which contain more than one single but are too short to qualify as albums. ...

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 player with changer (78, 45, 33⅓, and sometimes 16⅔ rpm); a combination cartridge with both 78 and microgroove styluses; and some kind of adapter for playing the 45s with their larger center hole. The large center hole on 45s allows for easier handling by jukebox mechanisms. RCA 45s can also be adapted to the smaller spindle of an LP player with a plastic snap-in insert known as a "spider"; such inserts were prevalent starting in the 1960s. A Zodiac jukebox A jukebox is a partially automated music-playing device, usually a coin-operated machine, that can play specially selected songs from self-contained media. ...

Deliberately playing or recording records at the wrong speed was a common amusement. For example, playing the song "I'm on Fire" from Bruce Springsteen's 33⅓ LP at a 45 speed gives the singer a falsetto singing voice that sounds very much like Dolly Parton. Conversely, playing a 45 rpm recording of Dolly Parton at 33⅓ gives her a voice a husky, almost masculine tone. Im on Fire is a song written and performed by American rock singer Bruce Springsteen. ... Springsteen redirects here. ... Falsetto is a singing technique that produces sounds that are pitched higher than the singers normal range, in the treble range. ... Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is a Grammy-winning and Academy Award-nominated American country singer, songwriter, composer, musician, author, actress, and philanthropist. ...

This effect was used in 1966 by Cork Marcheschi of California group the Ethix (and later of Fifty Foot Hose), who issued an experimental single, "Bad Trip", which could be played at any speed. Canadian musician Nash the Slash also took advantage of this speed/tonal effect with his 1981 12" disc Decomposing, which featured four instrumental tracks that were engineered to play at any speed (with the playing times listed for 33⅓, 45 and 78 rpm playback). Faster playback made the tracks sound like punk rock or power pop, while slower speeds gave the songs a thick, heavy metal effect. Cauldron album cover Fifty Foot Hose were a psychedelic rock band that formed in San Fransisco in the late 1960s. ... Nash the Slash Nash the Slash is a Canadian progressive rock, classical, and alternative musician. ... Punk rock is an anti-establishment music movement beginning around 1976 (although precursors can be found several years earlier), exemplified and popularised by The Ramones, the Sex Pistols, The Clash and The Damned. ... Power pop is a long-standing musical genre that draws its inspiration from 1960s British and American pop music. ... Heavy metals, in chemistry, are chemical elements of a particular range of atomic weights. ...

[edit] Sound enhancements

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. While the stylus moves horizontally when reproducing a monophonic disk recording, on stereo records the stylus moves vertically as well as horizontally. Label for 2. ... Company Masthead Logo Logo until circa 1969, also current logo on company web site Logo 1969-1983 Western Electric (sometimes abbreviated WE and WECo) was a U.S. electrical engineering company, the manufacturing arm of AT&T from 1881 to 1995 . ...

rill with sound only on left channel

One could envision a system in which the left channel was recorded laterally, as on a monophonic recording, with the right channel information recorded with a "hill-and-dale" vertical motion; such systems were proposed but not adopted, due to their incompatibility with existing phono pickup designs (see below). In the Westrex system, each channel drives the cutting head 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] Image File history File links Plattenschrift_en. ... Image File history File links Plattenschrift_en. ...

It is helpful to think of the combined stylus motion in terms of the vector sum and difference of the two stereo channels. Effectively, all horizontal stylus motion conveys the L+R sum signal, and vertical stylus motion carries the 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.

This system was invented by Alan Blumlein of EMI in 1931 and patented the same year. EMI cut the first stereo test discs using the system in 1933. It was not used commercially until a quarter of a century later. Alan Dower Blumlein was an electronics engineer who made a great many inventions in telecommunications, sound recording, stereo, television and radar. ... For other uses, see EMI (disambiguation). ...

Stereo sound provides a more natural listening experience where the spatial location of the source of a sound is, at least in part, reproduced.

Under the direction of C. Robert Fine, Mercury Records initiated a minimalist single microphone monaural recording technique in 1951. The first record, Kubelik/Chicago's performance of "Pictures at an Exhibition" was described as "being in the living presence of the orchestra" by The New York Times music critic. The series of records was then named “Mercury Living Presence”. In 1955 Mercury began three-channel stereo recordings, still based on the principle of the single microphone. The center (single) microphone was of paramount importance, with the two side mics adding depth and space. Record masters were cut directly from a three-track to two-track mixdown console, with all editing of the master tapes done on the original three-tracks. In 1961 Mercury enhanced this technique with three-microphone stereo recordings using 35mm magnetic film instead of half-inch tape for recording. The greater thickness and width of 35mm magnetic film prevented tape layer print-through and pre-echo and gained extended frequency range and transient response. The Mercury Living Presence recordings were remastered to CD in the 1990s by the original producer, using the same method of 3-to-2 mix directly to the master recorder. Mercury Records was a record label founded in Chicago, Illinois in 1945 by Irving Green, Berle Adams and Arthur Talmadge. ... The New York Times is a daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed internationally. ... A music critic is someone who reviews music (including printed music, performances and recorded music) and publishes writing on them in books or journals (or on the internet). ... Pre-echo is a psychoacoustic phenomenon where an unusually noticeable artifact is heard in a sound recording from the energy of time domain transients smeared backwards in time after processing in the frequency domain due to the Gibbs phenomenon. ... The frequency range is defined as the range of frequencies in which the device is allowed to operate. ... In electrical engineering, a transient response or natural response is the electrical reponse of a system to a change from equillibrium. ...

The development of quadraphonic records was announced in 1971. These 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, phase-detection circuits in the amplifiers were able to decode the signals into four separate channels. There were two main systems of matrixed quadraphonic 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 (not to be confused with compact disc), by RCA, encoded rear channel information on an ultrasonic carrier, which required a special wideband cartridge to capture it on carefully-calibrated pickup arm/turntable combinations. Typically the high frequency information inscribed onto these LPs wore off after only a few playings, and CD-4 was even less successful than the two matrixed formats. 4 channels quadraphonic label Quadraphonic sound uses four channels in which speakers are positioned at all four corners of the listening space, reproducing signals that are independent of each other. ... This article is about the broadcast network. ... Sansui Electric Co. ... Multichannel audio is the name for a variety of techniques for expanding and enriching the sound of audio playback by recording additional sound channels that can be reproduced on additional speakers. ... Super Audio CD (SACD) is a read-only optical audio disc format aimed at providing much higher fidelity digital audio reproduction than the compact disc. ... A 3 metres/119 inch projection screen with a high-definition television image. ... 4 channels quadraphonic label Quadraphonic sound uses four channels in which speakers are positioned at all four corners of the listening space, reproducing signals that are independent of each other. ... CD redirects here. ...

In the late 1970s and 1980s, a method to improve the dynamic range of mass produced records involved highly advanced disc cutting equipment. These techniques, marketed as the CBS DisComputer and Teldec Direct Metal Mastering, were used to reduce inner-groove distortion. For other uses, see Dynamic range (disambiguation). ... CBS Labs in Stamford, CT CBS Laboratories or CBS Labs (later known as the CBS Technology Center) was the technology research and development organization of CBS. Innovations developed at the labs included many groundbreaking broadcast, industrial, and consumer technologies. ...

Also in the late 1970s, "direct-to-disc" records were produced, aimed at an audiophile niche market. These completely bypassed the use of magnetic tape in favor of a "purist" transcription directly to the master lacquer disc. Also during this period, "half-speed mastered" and "original master" records were released, using expensive state-of-the-art technology. A further late 1970s development was the Disco Eye-Cued(TM) system used mainly on Motown 12" singles released between 1978 and 1980. The introduction, drum-breaks or choruses of a track were indicated by widely separated grooves, giving a visual clue to DJs mixing the records. The appearance of these records is similar to an LP, but they only contain one track each side. In a general sense, lacquer is a clear or coloured coating, that dries by solvent evaporation only and that produces a hard, durable finish that can be polished to a very high gloss, and gives the illusion of depth. ... Motown Records, Inc. ...

The early 1980s saw the introduction of "dbx-encoded" records, again for the audiophile niche market. These were completely incompatible with standard record playback preamplifiers, relying on the dbx compandor encoding/decoding scheme to greatly increase dynamic range (dbx encoded disks were recorded with the dynamic range compressed by a factor of two in dB: quiet sounds were meant to be played back at low gain and loud sounds were meant to be played back at high gain, via automatic gain control in the playback equipment; this reduced the effect of surface noise on quiet passages). A similar and very short lived scheme involved using the CBS-developed "CX" noise reduction encoding/decoding scheme. The logo represents both the company and its noise reduction system dbx is a noise reduction system for analog tape recording, North American TV broadcasting, and, less commonly, vinyl LPs. ... A compandor is an electronic circuit to compress or expand the dynamic range of an analog electronic signal such as sound. ... Automatic gain control (AGC) is an electronic system found in many types of devices. ... CX is a form of noise reduction for recorded audio in the analog domain. ... It has been suggested that this article be split into multiple articles accessible from a disambiguation page. ...

ELPJ, a Japanese-based company, has developed a player that uses a laser instead of a stylus to read vinyl discs. In theory the laser turntable eliminates the possibility of scratches and attendant degradation of the sound, but its expense limits use primarily to digital archiving of analog records. Various other laser-based turntables were tried during the 1990s, but while a laser reads the groove very accurately, since it does not touch the record, the dust that vinyl naturally attracts due to static charge is not cleaned from the groove, worsening sound quality in casual use compared to conventional stylus playback. ELPJ is a Japanese audio equipment company started by Sanju Chiba. ... A laser turntable is a phonograph that plays gramophone records using a laser beam as the pickup, rather than a stylus in mechanical contact with the disc. ...

[edit] Formats

The protective cover of the Voyager Golden Record, containing abstract information on how it is to be played.

A 7" 45 rpm EP.

Download high resolution version (893x817, 393 KB)NASA picture of the Golden Record that was attached to Voyager from: http://voyager. ... Download high resolution version (893x817, 393 KB)NASA picture of the Golden Record that was attached to Voyager from: http://voyager. ... The Voyager Golden Record. ... Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ...

[edit] Common formats

Note: Before the mid-1950s, the 33⅓ rpm LP was most commonly found in a 10" (25 cm) format. The 10" LP remained a common format in some markets until the mid-1960s. For the record label, see 12 Inch Records. ... // Extended play (EP) is the name typically given to vinyl records or CDs which contain more than one single but are too short to qualify as albums. ... A collection of various CD singles In music, a single is a short recording of one or more separate tracks. ... // Extended play (EP) is the name typically given to vinyl records or CDs which contain more than one single but are too short to qualify as albums. ...

[edit] Less common formats

Main article: Unusual types of gramophone records

The overwhelming majority of records manufactured have been of certain sizes (7, 10, or 12 inches), playback speeds (33â…“, 45, or 78 RPM), and appearance (round black discs). ...

[edit] Structure

The normal commercial disc is engraved with two sound bearing concentric spiral grooves, one on each side of the disc, running from the outside edge towards the centre. Since the late 1910s, both sides of the record have been used to carry the grooves. The recording is played back by rotating the disc clockwise at a constant rotational speed with a stylus (needle) placed in the groove, converting the vibrations of the stylus into an electric signal (see magnetic cartridge), and sending this signal through an amplifier to loudspeakers. The Clockwise direction A clockwise motion is one that proceeds like the clocks hands: from the top to the right, then down and then to the left, and back to the top. ... Rotational speed (sometimes called speed of revolution) indicates for example how fast the motor is running. ... Modern stylus, used for touch-screen enabled devices such as the Nintendo DS and personal digital assistants Styli used in writing in the Fourteenth Century. ... A magnetic cartridge is a device used for the playback of gramophone records on a turntable or phonograph. ... Mission Cyrus 1 Hi Fi integrated audio amplifier An audio amplifier is an electronic amplifier that amplifies low-power audio signals (signals composed primarily of frequencies between 20 hertz to 20,000 hertz, the human range of hearing) to a level suitable for driving loudspeakers and is the final stage... For the Marty Friedman album, see Loudspeaker (album) An inexpensive low fidelity 3. ...

The majority of records are pressed on black vinyl. The colouring material used to blacken the transparent PVC plastic mix is carbon black, the generic name for the finely divided carbon particles produced by the incomplete burning of a mineral oil based hydrocarbon. Carbon black increases the strength of the disc and renders it opaque. Chemical structure of the vinyl functional group. ... Polyvinyl chloride Polyvinyl chloride, (IUPAC Polychloroethene) commonly abbreviated PVC, is a widely used thermoplastic polymer. ... Carbon black is a material, today usually produced by the incomplete combustion of petroleum products. ... Mineral oil or liquid petrolatum is a by-product in the distillation of petroleum to produce gasoline. ...

Some records are pressed on coloured vinyl or with paper pictures embedded in them ("picture discs"). These discs can become collectors' items in some cases. Certain 45-rpm RCA or RCA Victor "Red Seal" records used red translucent vinyl for extra "Red Seal" effect. During the 1980s there was a trend for releasing singles on coloured vinyl — sometimes with large inserts that could be used as posters. This trend has been revived recently and has succeeded in keeping 7" singles a viable format. RCA Red Seal Records is a prestigious classical music label and is now part of Sony BMG Masterworks. ...

Vinyl record standards for the United States follow the guidelines of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).^[3] The inch dimensions are nominal, not precise diameters. 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). The RIAA Logo. ...

Records made in other countries are standardized by different organizations, but are very similar in size. The record diameters are typically 300 mm, 250 mm and 175 mm.

There is an area about 6 mm (0.25″) wide at the outer edge of the disk, called the lead-in where the groove is widely spaced and silent. This section allows the stylus to be dropped at the start of the record groove, without damaging the recorded section of the groove.

Between each track on the recorded section of an LP record, there is usually a short gap of around 1 mm (0.04") where the groove is widely spaced. This space is clearly visible, making it easy to find a particular track. For other uses, see Song (disambiguation). ...

Colored splatter vinyl, NOFX-HOFX (Fat Wreck Chords)

Towards the label centre, at the end of the groove, there is another wide-pitched section known as the lead-out. At the very end of this section, the groove joins itself to form a complete circle, called the lock groove; when the stylus reaches this point, it circles repeatedly until lifted from the record. On some recordings (for example Spice by Eon), the sound continues on the lock groove, which gives a strange repeating effect. Automatic turntables rely on the position or angular velocity of the arm, as it reaches these more widely spaced grooves, to trigger a mechanism that raises the arm and moves it out of the way of the record. Image File history File links HOFXyellowsplatter3. ... Image File history File links HOFXyellowsplatter3. ... NOFX is an American punk rock band formed in Los Angeles, California (now based in San Francisco), in 1983. ... HOFX is a 12single by NOFX that includes two songs from the Punk in Drublic period. ... Fat Wreck Chords is a San Francisco, California based independent record label, focused on punk rock, which was started by Fat Mike the lead singer and bassist of the punk rock band NOFX and his wife Erin, in 1990. ... The overwhelming majority of records manufactured have been of certain sizes (7, 10, or 12 inches), playback speeds (33â…“, 45, or 78 RPM), and appearance (round black discs). ... // Also known as Ian Loveday this house and techno pioneer released a seminal cd Void Dweller (Sept 1992) with dark and hard driving beats, with samples of Dune and themes from the classic horror movie Basket Case (film). ... Angular velocity describes the speed of rotation and the orientation of the instantaneous axis about which the rotation occurs. ...

Record label area

The catalog number and stamper ID is written or stamped in the space between the groove in the lead-out on the master disc, resulting in visible recessed writing on the final version of a record. Sometimes the cutting engineer might add handwritten comments or their signature, if they are particularly pleased with the quality of the cut. Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 376 pixels Full resolution (2516 × 1183 pixel, file size: 777 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Detail of vinyl record label area and lead out groove File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 376 pixels Full resolution (2516 × 1183 pixel, file size: 777 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Detail of vinyl record label area and lead out groove File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on...

When auto-changing turntables were commonplace, records were typically pressed with a raised (or ridged) outer edge and label area. This would allow records to be stacked onto each other, gripping each other without the delicate grooves coming into contact, thus reducing the risk of damage. Auto changing turntables included a mechanism to support a stack of several records above the turntable itself, dropping them one at a time onto the active turntable to be played in order. Many longer sound recordings, such as complete operas, were interleaved across several 10-inch or 12-inch discs for use with auto-changing mechanisms, so that the first disk of a three-disk recording would carry sides 1 and 6 of the program, while the second disk would carry sides 2 and 5, and the third, sides 3 and 4, allowing sides 1, 2, and 3 to be played automatically, then the whole stack reversed to play sides 4, 5, and 6. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

[edit] Vinyl quality

The sound quality and durability of vinyl records is highly dependent on the quality of the vinyl. During the early 1970s, as a cost-cutting move towards use of lightweight, flexible vinyl pressings, much of the industry adopted a technique of reducing the thickness and quality of vinyl used in mass-market manufacturing, marketed by RCA Victor as the "Dynaflex" (125 g/m²) process, considered inferior by most record collectors.^[4] Most vinyl records are pressed on recycled vinyl. Chemical structure of the vinyl functional group. ... BIC pen cap, about 1 gram. ...

New "virgin" or "heavy" (180-220 g/m²) vinyl is commonly used for modern "audiophile" vinyl releases in all genres. Many collectors prefer to have 180 g/m² vinyl albums, and they have been reported to have a better sound than normal vinyl. These albums tend to withstand the deformation caused by normal play better than regular vinyl^{[citation needed]}. 180 g/m² vinyl is more expensive to produce and requires higher-quality manufacturing processes than regular vinyl. A genre [], (French: kind or sort from Greek: γένος (genos)) is a loose set of criteria for a category of literary composition; the term is also used for any other form of art or utterance. ...

Since most vinyl records are from recycled plastic, impurities can be accumulated in the record, causing a brand new album to have audio artifacts like clicks and pops. Virgin vinyl means that the album is not from recycled plastic, and will theoretically be devoid of these impurities. In practice, this depends on the manufacturer's quality control.

The orange peel effect on vinyl records is caused by worn moulds. Rather than having the proper mirror-like finish, the surface of the record will have what looks like an orange peel texture. This introduces noise into the record, particularly in the lower frequency range. It should be noted that with direct metal mastering (DMM) the master disc is cut on a copper-coated disc which can also have a minor "orange peel" effect. As this "orange peel" originates in the master rather than being introduced in the pressing stage, there is no ill-effect.

While most vinyl records are pressed from metal discs known as 'stampers', a technique known as lathe-cutting is used to create the original discs. A lathe is used to cut microgrooves into an aluminium disc coated with a soft lacquer. This lacquer disc is then electroplated with nickel to form a negative known as a 'master' disc, which has a protrusion rather than a groove. The lacquer disc is destroyed when the nickel impression is separated. This master disc is then electroplated with nickel to form a a positive disc known as a 'mother'. Many mothers can be grown from a single master before the master deteriorates beyond use. In their own turn the mothers are nickel plated to produce more negative discs known as 'stampers'. Again a single mother can grow many stampers before they deteriorate beyond use. It is these stampers that are then used to mould the final vinyl discs. ^[5] In this way several million vinyl discs can be produced from a single lacquer original. For production of discs where a relatively small quantity is required, the first nickel negative grown from the lacquer original is used directly as a stamper. Production by this latter process (known as the 'half process') is limited to a few hundred vinyl discs.

[edit] Limitations

[edit] Shellac

Shellac 78s are brittle, and must be handled carefully. In the event of a 78 breaking, the pieces might remain loosely connected by the label and still be playable if the label holds them together, although there is a loud 'pop' with each pass over the crack, and breaking of the stylus is likely. Look up shellac in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Breakage was very common in the shellac era. In the 1934 novel, Appointment in Samarra, the protagonist "broke one of his most favorites, Whiteman's Lady of the Evening ... He wanted to cry but could not." 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 but drops it and "it broke into pieces ... I damn near cried, it made me feel so terrible." A sequence where a school teacher's collection of 78 RPM jazz records is smashed by a group of rebellious students is a key moment in the film Blackboard Jungle. Appointment in Samarra, published in 1934, is the first novel by John OHara. ... 1928 Columbia Records label with caricature of Paul Whiteman Paul Whiteman (March 28, 1890 – December 29, 1967) was a popular american orchestral leader. ... Jerome David Salinger (born January 1, 1919) is an American author best known for his 1951 novel The Catcher in the Rye, as well as his reclusive nature; he has not published any new work since 1965 and has not granted a formal interview since 1980. ... The Catcher in the Rye is a novel by J. D. Salinger. ... For other uses, see Jazz (disambiguation). ... Blackboard Jungle is a 1955 social commentary film about teachers in an inner-city school. ...

[edit] Vinyl

Single-Record (45 rpm)

Vinyl records do not break easily, but the soft material is easily scratched. Vinyl readily acquires a static charge, attracting dust that is difficult to remove completely. Dust and scratches cause audio clicks and pops. In extreme cases, they can cause the needle to skip over a series of grooves, or worse yet, cause the needle to skip backwards, creating a "locked groove" that repeats the same 1.8 seconds of track (at 33⅓ rpm) over and over. Locked grooves were not uncommon and were even heard occasionally in broadcasts. ImageMetadata File history File links Record. ... ImageMetadata File history File links Record. ... Look up dust in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...

Vinyl records can be warped by heat, improper storage, or manufacturing defects such as excessively tight plastic shrinkwrap on the album cover. 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. For other uses, see Heat (disambiguation) In physics, heat, symbolized by Q, is energy transferred from one body or system to another due to a difference in temperature. ... Shrinkwrap is a material made up of polymer plastic, usually PVC with a mix of polyesters. ... Wow is a relatively slow form of flutter (pitch variation) which can affect both gramophone records and audio cassettes. ... Pitch is the perceived fundamental frequency of a sound. ... The word spindle might (or might not) have several meanings: A spindle (shrub), a poisonous shrub or small tree of the genus Euonymus. ...

As a practical matter, records provide excellent sound quality when treated with care ^{[citation needed]}. 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 ^{[citation needed]} (note that most radio stations severely reduce the dynamic range in their broadcasts). Casual ears cannot detect a difference in quality between a CD and a clean new LP played in a casual environment with background noise ^{[citation needed]}. There is controversy about the relative quality of CD sound and LP sound when the latter is heard under the very best conditions (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 ^{[citation needed]}. A radio station is an audio (sound) broadcasting service, traditionally broadcast through the air as radio waves (a form of electromagnetic radiation) from a transmitter to an antenna and a thus to a receiving device. ... Electronic music is a loose term for music created using electronic equipment. ... Alternative meanings: Library (computer science), Library (biology) Modern-style library In its traditional sense, a library is a collection of books and periodicals. ... Dynamic range compression also called DRC (often seen in DVD player settings), audio level compression, volume compression, compression, or limiting, is a process that manipulates the dynamic range of an audio signal. ... The tone or style of this article or section may not be appropriate for Wikipedia. ...

A further limitation of the record is that with a constant rotational speed, the quality of the sound may differ across the width of the record because the inner groove modulations are more compressed than those of the outer tracks. The result is that inner tracks have distortion that can be noticeable at higher recording levels.

7" singles were typically poorer quality for a variety of the reasons mentioned above, and in the 1970s the 12" single, played at 45 rpm, became popular for DJ use and for fans and collectors.

Another problem arises because of the geometry of the tonearm. Master recordings are cut on a recording lathe, where a sapphire stylus moves radially across the blank, suspended on a straight track and driven by a lead screw. Most turntables use a pivoting tonearm, introducing side forces and pitch and azimuth errors, and thus distortion in the playback signal. Various mechanisms were devised in attempts to compensate, with varying degrees of success. See more at phonograph. Azimuth is the horizontal component of a direction (compass direction), measured around the horizon, from the north toward the east (i. ... Tonearm redirects here. ...

[edit] Frequency response and noise

In 1925, electric recording extended the recorded frequency range from acoustic recording (168-2000 Hz) by 2½ octaves to 100-5000 Hz. Even so, these early electronically recorded records used the exponential-horn phonograph (see Orthophonic Victrola) for reproduction. Victor logo with the famous Nipper dog. ...

The frequency response of vinyl records may be degraded by frequent playback if the cartridge is set to track too heavily, or the stylus is not compliant enough to trace the high frequency grooves accurately, or the cartridge/tonearm is not properly aligned. The best cartridges and styli have response up to 76 kHz.^{[citation needed]} The RIAA has suggested the following acceptable losses: down to 20 kHz after one play, 18 kHz after three plays, 17 kHz after five, 16 kHz after eight, 14 kHz after fifteen, 13 kHz after twenty five, 10 kHz after thirty five, and 8 kHz after eighty plays. While this degradation is possible if the record is played on improperly set up equipment, many collectors of LPs report excellent sound quality on LPs played many more times when using care and high quality equipment.^{[citation needed]}CD-4 LPs contain a frequency modulated carrier that extends up to 30 kHz. Many record collectors report that the CD-4 carrier is still playable, even though the records have been played extensively and are in excess of 30 years old.^{[citation needed]} It should be noted that many of these records were only played with super-compliant styli.^{[citation needed]} The RIAA Logo. ... A kilohertz (kHz) is a unit of frequency equal to 1,000 hertz (1,000 cycles per second). ... 4 channels quadraphonic label Quadraphonic sound uses four channels in which speakers are positioned at all four corners of the listening space, reproducing signals that are independent of each other. ...