Releasing Your Album On Vinyl??!!

Here are a few things to think about, courtesy Disc Makers:

This information from Disc Makers is SO good, I've made it available here on RHR.

Please be sure to visit the Disc Makers blog for more great information: https://blog.discmakers.com/

This video is a "must watch" for you if you are considering having your album released on vinyl:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADsDFF60Cs8

To summarize the video:

CD's can hold over 70 minutes of music and streaming sites have albums that are MUCH longer!

But vinyl records are a different animal, and here are some guidelines for vinyl records:

 

(A 12" 45 RPM record is called a "Maxi-Single")

When it comes down to the actual cutting process, more bass means more room needed!
(So less songs per album side.)

Audio is in the grooves:

Vinyl Grooves

  Spaces between the grooves are called land:

Land

 High modulation (with more low end) needs more space than low modulation:

High Modulation / Heavy Bass
Low Modulation

Grooves "kissing" or "Over-Cut" are bad, as that leads to a defective record due to the needle jumping the groove!

Over-Cut Kissing Grooves

The Mastering Engineer, responsible for the vinyl master, has to insure this does not happen.

Also, to have longer album sides, the Mastering Engineer will need to cut shallower grooves:

Shallow Cut Means More Space

Shallow Cut Means More Space

Shallower grooves mean the engineer needs to alter the EQ slightly to prevent modulation and the record could
skip more over time.

The vinyl Mastering Engineer is responsible for:

  • a LOT of prep work BEFORE the grooves get cut

  • the program and timing are listened to and taken into account

  • looks at the number of tracks and plans the groove spacing

  • Makes some EQ adjustments - as needed - to make the songs play nice on the album
    (Songs with more high end need to be on the outside as high end distorts more on the inside grooves.)

  • Doing all this makes it all fit and all sound good - all BEFORE the cutting stylus is ever engaged.

  • Longer album sides take more prep, and thus longer amounts of prep time!

Yes - you are limited in how many songs you can put on a vinyl record.

Yes - you may have to drop a few songs off the album list to save money on vinyl costs - or -
spring double the cost for a double album.

But - if the record is made correctly, you may never listen to MP3's or Spotify ever again!!

Peace, Love and Vinyl,
Mark

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