Production of phonograph records
The mastering process was originally something of an art as the operator had to manually allow for the changes in sound which affected how wide the space for the groove needed to be on each rotation.
Sometimes the engineer would sign his work, or leave humorous or cryptic comments in the lead-out groove area, where it was normal to scratch or stamp identifying codes to distinguish each master.
This coating provided the conductive layer to carry the current for the subsequent electroplating, commonly with a nickel alloy.
In this, the current would be raised at regular intervals until it reached between 110 A and 200 A, depending on the standard of the equipment and the skill of the operators.
After separating from the master, a new mother was polished with a fine abrasive to remove (or at least round-off) the microscopic "horns" at the top of the grooves, produced by the cutting lathe.
Stampers produced from the mothers after separating were chrome plated to provide a hard stain-free surface.
Since the master was the unique source of the positive, made to produce the stampers, it was considered a library item.
Singles are typically sold in plain or label-logo paper sleeves, though EPs are often treated to a cover in similar style to an LP.
Few albums have had records packaged inside with a 3 mil polyethylene plastic sleeve, either square or round-bottomed (also called U-shaped), and an accompanying 11×11 paper insert with the additional artwork, photography, and/or lyrics as described above.
These sleeves are constructed in two parts: a laminated front section is wrapped around a separate back panel.
This is the method generally used for all subsequent releases in the vinyl age and is considered superior not only because of the additional ease allowed in the use of a single component, but also because the fully laminated finish offers far better protection from discolouration caused by exposure to natural light.
The label area on the disc itself may contain themed or custom artwork rather than the standard record company's logo layout.
For most bands today, using any of the large manufacturing plants, it is not cost-effective to produce less than one thousand records.
Stock is expensive, so only large city center stores can afford to have several copies of a record.
While records are generally pressed on plain black vinyl, the album itself is given a much more ornamental appearance.
In the 1970s successful musicians sought greater control, and one way they achieved this was with their own labels, though normally they were still operated by the large music corporations.
These allowed smaller bands to step onto the ladder without having to conform to the rigid rules of the large corporations.
It was "rather unstable technology" which produced poor sound quality in comparison to shellac records and was rarely used after 1935.
These phonographs featured a large counterbalanced tone arm with horseshoe magnet pick-up.
The Empire State Building's 86th floor observatory in New York City, Coney Island, NY and Conneaut Lake Park, PA are some of the locations which had such machines.
Gem Razors also created thousands of free Voice-O-Graph records during wartime for the troops to send home to their families.
The Gakken Company in Japan also offers the Emile Berliner Gramophone Kit, and while it does not record actual records, it enables the user to physically inscribe sounds onto a CD (or any flat, smooth surface) with a needle and replay them back on any similar machine.
Home recording equipment made a cameo appearance in the 1941 Marx Brothers film, The Big Store.
