How To Make A Vinyl Record By Caden

How To Make A Vinyl Record By Caden Lindblom

Forward Vinyl records have been one of the more popular formats of audio recording and reproduction in history. In this presentation/recipe, we will examine how a record is made and what materials and processes are used in their creation.

Ingredients -Vinyl pellets -Recorded sound -Paper -Ink -Acetate mold

The Label and Design The first step of production is making the label. The label is a sticker placed in the center of the record, and usually contains information like the artist, songs, record label, or other noteworthy information about the album.

Acetate Mold The next step is to make the mold for pressing. The master tapes (or any other audio source) are sent into a lathe. The lathe then cuts the grooves for the record in reverse into an acetate disc covered in aluminum. Think of this disk as a waffle iron, and the plastic it will mold into a record as the waffle mix.

Pressing The next step is pressing the record. The acetate mold, now covered in aluminum, is put inside a pressing machine. This is where the waffle iron analogy really comes into play. The vinyl pellets shown to the right are melted into a ball, and then place into the press (also pictured to the right). The press squeezes down the ball of hot vinyl into the grooves of the aluminum master disc, trims off excess vinyl from the sides, and then slides it down a ramp onto a spindle, where it awaits packaging.

Packaging The final step of the production of a vinyl record is packaging. The records are typically put into a cardboard sleeve, with whatever information or imagery the band or record label wants to put on it. After that, it is shrinkwrapped in plastic, and is shipped off to a record store near you. To the right are some of my favorite albums with good artwork on the package.