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A Short History of The Vinyl Record

Where did the Vinyl Record Originate?


Commonly said among music lovers is that listening to an album on vinyl is an experience that just cannot be recreated. Even though we live In an era where streaming music consists of subscription based services like Spotify, in which all the musical world is just a couple of clicks away, a growing movement of music lovers say that the music quality of Vinyl is the best, especially if its on a newly calibrated turntable


Throughout the west, vinyl records have made a significant return. Independent labels, who some never stopped pressing vinyl, were quick to see the changing tide and drive the need for a new ear of short run vinyl pressing services. Once the major labels followed suit it was obvious that the vinyl resurgences were not going anywhere. Now new vinyl pressing factories are sprouting, some recommissioning Soviet-era record presses to help meet the growing demand.


Now we will look at where Vinyl records originated from.


Back to the time of Edison-Scott



In 1857, a fantastic French inventor whose name was Edouard-Leon Scott, invented a specialist device which utilized a vibrating pen which graphically represented sounds onto small paper discs. It was called the Phonautograph and was mainly used to get a clearer understanding of the characteristics of sound. It wasn’t until Thomas Edison began showing an interest in the Phonautograph however that things began to develop. In 1878, Edison took the concept and made it into a device that could replay the sounds that it recorded. This device utilized a stylus that was to designed to cut grooves of sound onto cylinders and discs made of tinfoil.


The Gramophone.




100 years later, German born American inventor Emile Berliner patented the very first record player – the Gramophone. This machine was operated manually at 70 RPM and it functioned by playing a rubber vulcanite disc, 7 inches in size with small lateral grooves cut into its exterior.


The Red Seal Line



Over the next 13 years, records would go through a number of material and formatting changes until 1901 where the Victor Company released it Red Seal Line, able to play shellac records in the form of 10-inch, 78 RPM records. In terms of formatting, the 78 RPM format proved superior for the next half a decade.


LPs as We Know Them



In 1948, thanks to CBS, we got to meet the world’s first LP (Long Play) vinyl record. Created by Peter Goldmark, this vinyl record had a capacity of around 21 minutes on each side and was 12 inches wide, playing at a speed of 33 1/3 RPM. This altered the face of the music industry to the album-centric format we know to and strictly use today. Soon after, RCA Victor introduced their own LP, which turned at 45 RPM and was just 7 inches in size. These record formats are the exact same as what we use today and as we said before, is growing in popularity.


The Vinyl record format is still widely names the best in sound quality and pleasure when it comes to listening, plenty of challengers have come and gone but records have survived and thrived in the test of time like nothing else.


Interested in learning more about Vinyl?


Follow my Instagram @cratediggin_scotland, and Facebook Crate Diggin’ Scotland to see previews and background information on some of most interesting sounding records I have in my collection.


Stay connected with me and other Vinyl Heads out here in the Burgh!



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