If you are anything like us, sometimes when you get deep enough into a hobby you begin to think about things like the history, how it is made, or even who thought of it. At Vinyl Bro we hope to be able to answer all of those questions for you when it comes to vinyl records. Today we seek to at least fully answer one of these questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The process is a cool one that has not changed very much in the last 50 years. Most people may think it is a super hard or complicated process but it is pretty straight forward. To put it simply you record your track, make a master disc, and press your poly vinyl chloride pellet biscuit. Boom, now you have a record! We know though if you have landed here you are looking for much more detail, the way we usually break it down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is a whole process in its own right. We could probably write an entire post on the cost and process to begin recording your album but since this post is about how vinyl records are made we will summarize it as best as we can. Generally speaking, you would find a studio in your budget and ask them about their specific process however it should look a lot like the process outlined below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are several phases to the recording of just one song. You need to record your backtrack which is usually your general beat and chord progression. From there you will move into rhythm, harmony, and melody. Once you have recorded everything you move on to editing and mixing your album. Congratulations you have now recorded your album! Let’s move on to production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A vinyl master is the first cut and most important part of the vinyl record creation process. In this process, the artist works with their sound or mastering engineer to create and master a recording for vinyl<\/a>. Once this mastering is completed the vinyl mastering begins. This is where a master lacquer will be cut using a cutting lathe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Those master lacquers are what are sent over to the pressing plant for manufacturing. When cutting master they use 1 lacquer per side. So if you have a double 12 inch LP they used four 14 inch lacquers to create the full album. They use 14 inches for a 12 inch LP because it allows the engineers room on the lacquer for safe handling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After the master engineer and artist have agreed on the cut to use the album is moved on to plating. If you are more curious about this master lacquer or master disk process this video does a great job at breaking it down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n