How Vinyl Records Are Made

music comes from the musician and is sent to the mastering studio this is the first step in the production of vinyl records we receive the music from the musicians and we're going to put it in the player and we're going to proceed to play and actually measure the volume level on the vu meters we also can receive tapes not only in digital form but also in analog form in the form of an actual and a log tape which you see here is a tape machine and we are actually starting the record and what you see here are the grooves being actually cut into the vinyl disk remember each groove is like a fingerprint no two are identical and a groove can be up to a half a mile long or approximately seven football fields and links and now we finished cutting the master and this is the complete one this will be sent to the manufacturing plant and it will be the master that will be used to replicate all of the vinyl records from while we're cutting is actually the grooves is actually cut into it and what you see here is the actual chip that is removed as we cut all of the grooves into the record under the scope you can see where the groove gets really thin and then it kind of fattens up what you see here are the grooves of the record the needle of your turntable follows those grooves and turns those grooves into the music that comes out of your speakers now that we have finished the master we're going to remove it from the turntable and the cutting machine and it goes into the actual shipping box and this goes to the actual pressing plant where they make the metal parts after the mastering process the master vinyl record goes to plating here a Stamper is created that will stamp out each record in the press you gotta be careful with them they're very soft and what I'm going to do is process them just place it on the turntable roll it down we said that to just love the walk that line and you can see where it's minutes and now it's ready for the fighting process after the lacquer is sanded it is placed in several solutions after each solution the lacquer is rinsed from the lacquer a mother a master and a Stamper is created the Stamper is the actual metal part that goes into the press and is used to stamp out each record therefore it needs to be very strong here you see the spraying tank spraying silver on to the actual lacquer the lacquer needs a silver coat so that later it can be plated with nickel with both these metals adhered to the lacquer it becomes very strong and the other metal parts are created from this one lacquer after the lacquer has been coated with silver it is placed into a plating tank that bonds nickel to the silver lacquer through chemistry and electricity the lacquer is the cathode which is a negative the nickel in the tank is the positive the current flows from positive to negative the current will go through the nickel in those baskets and the electrodes will break it down into an ion and transfer the nickel metal onto the silver lacquer this is how the lacquer becomes coated and ready to become a Stamper in the press and this is the master this is the part where the staffer gets trimmed so it fits nicely in the press after the Stamper is trimmed is then sanded on its backside so that it operates correctly in the press here you see the Stamper being coined it is coined in the center and on the outer edge with a small lip this slip ensures that the Stamper stays in place in the press and presses each record correctly this is the last step in the operation now we'll send it across the way to start making records the next step in the process of making vinyl records is printing the labels this machine is printing the round labels that will go in the center of each record on each side after the labels are printed they are carefully put into a machine and cut for the first time after they are cut by this machine they are put into another machine that cuts them into the round shapes that you see at the top of the screen those are the labels that go in the center of the records after the labels are cut they are placed in a very hot oven during this time all the moisture from the ink is dried out after this the labels are loaded onto the press and ready to be put in the center of each record the press begins with little tiny pieces of vinyl they are melted together to create a hockey puck shape each hockey puck gets two labels one for each side side a inside beep the press presses the labels into the hot vinyl hockey puck then the hockey puck becomes a pancake it gets put into the press even further on either side of the pancake is a stamper the stampers contain the grooves which is what the needle of your turntable follows the result is one of the longest running formats of American music the vinyl record after it is pressed it is trimmed like a can opening the excess vinyl gets recycled and reused to make new records then the record comes off and is put on a spindle from the spindle it is taken to the inspection site where each record is inspected for any dust or imperfections while the records are being pressed stickers are being printed these stickers give any special information about the record they are used to put on to the record after it is shrink-wrapped or on to a plastic sleeve that accompanies the record after the records are pressed they are checked for blemishes and any scratches they are then inserted into the sleeve after they are inserted into the sleeve they are then put into the jacket the jacket holds the most information about each record jackets can be colorful full of artful design or photography the jackets to me are the most interesting part of the record besides the actual music after the jackets are all put into stacks they are taken to the warehouse to be shrink-wrapped after the records are shrink-wrapped stickers are placed on the outside packaging in this case this record does not require a special sticker after their records have been shrink-wrapped stickered counted and put into boxes the boxes are stacked and ready to go on a pallet from the pallet they are wrapped and ready to go on to the truck from the truck they are shipped to record stores and record labels all over America and internationally vinyl records are a very important part of American music history so do your part and listen to music the good old-fashioned way on vinyl

Channel: Anna Fitzgerald

Views: 579,831

Rating: 4.878643 out of 5

Keywords: #educational #vinyl #soundsynapses #musicnerd

Id: y_OUkLbSs24

Length: 14min 54sec (894 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 27 2016