Sometimes it seems that manufacturing a great-looking and sounding record takes equal parts art, science, and magic. The unlikely return of this 70-year-old analog technology has led to many experiments to speed up, digitize, and improve the record pressing process, but at its core vinyl is manufactured the exact same way as it was in the 1970s.
There are seven steps to the vinyl manufacturing process, and each one is essential to having a record that sounds great and looks amazing. Here is how records are manufactured:
Audio premastering
Perhaps the most important factors in how good a record sounds are premastering and lacquer cutting (also called mastering). The physics of cutting a groove into a lacquer that ends up being a 12” (or 7”) record demands that certain compromises may need to be made to fit all your music on that record and have it sound good.
During premastering, a mastering engineer carefully listens to your album to understand its dynamics – volume, bass, treble, length, and number of songs. The engineer then applies their skill and experience (art, science, and magic) to plan out the lacquer cutting process.
To make a record sound good, some EQ tweaks frequently need to be made. Bass (which creates more modulation of the groove, and therefore can limit program length on a record) may need to be rolled off slightly. High frequencies may need to be processed with a de-esser to reduce sibilance. For longer programs, overall levels may need to be reduced to fit your program onto the record.
This premastering is essential for a good-sounding record, and because of all the work involved can take significantly longer than the length of your album. Consider our mastering service so we can take care of this step for you.
Lacquer cutting
Lacquer cutting is when we cut the actual groove that will eventually be played by your fans’ record players. We start with a lacquer — a really flat aluminum disc coated with lacquer to form a very flat, smooth disc. While your music is played back, the electric energy from your music is converted into mechanical energy — sounds converted to “jiggles” that form the groove.
The mastering lathe in our SoundLAB is a classic — a 1957 Neumann frame with all new electronics. While the lacquer spins on the turntable, the cutting head of the lathe cuts the groove into the lacquer.
The engineer manually inserts the lead-in, lead-out, and crossover grooves between the tracks, and closely monitors the depth and modulation of the groove being cut.
After your lacquers are cut (one for each side of the record), the engineer carefully checks the groove under a microscope to ensure there are no overcuts that could lead to a record that skips once it’s pressed. Once the lacquer is checked, it is carefully packed and awaits the next step in the process.
Plating
The lacquer has the groove that contains your music, but how does it actually get onto the record? That’s where plating comes in. This is the process of making the stamper that will be used to press your records. During plating the stamper is first coated with a thin layer of silver to harden the surface, and then it is electroplated in a chemical solution containing nickel. Due to an electric charge, the nickel adheres to the lacquer. When there is enough nickel on the lacquer, it is peeled off to create a stamper (or a “father”). What was a groove in the lacquer is now a negative of that groove (a ridge) on the stamper.
Depending on the size of your order, plating may be done as a “one-step” (where for very small orders the stamper coming off the lacquer is used to press the records), “two-step” (where the stamper is plated again making a “mother,” which can be used to make more stampers in the future), or for very long runs of tens of thousands (or more) records, “three-step” where the original plate is kept as a “father,” which can be used to make multiple “mothers,” each of which can make multiple stampers.
During plating, it is essential to have a well-controlled environment with a careful chemical and pH balance, as well as a highly consistent process, to ensure a quality stamper that will press a great-sounding record.
Vinyl test pressings
During record pressing with Disc Makers, you have a choice of whether to get test pressings or not. If you select test pressings, we mount your stampers on the press and press five copies, which we ship to you with blank labels (they make a great premium collectors’ item for fans!). Listen to those test pressings carefully to make sure the record sounds to your liking.
For most of our small orders under 500 units, we do an in-house “test and run.” We skip the test pressing stage and instead put your record on press for the 100 or 200 or 300 copies you ordered. While your record is on press, we will take a few copies to our quality control room and carefully listen to the record to ensure that it plays well and sounds good.
Why do we skip the test pressing stage on small orders? For one, test pressings add cost. Doing the stamper setup, pressing five copies, taking stampers off the press again, and shipping those five copies to you costs money. It also takes time; a test pressing tends to add two weeks or so to your pressing time. We have excellent results with our in-house test and run program, and we guarantee every record we press will play beautifully. However, if you prefer to wait (and pay a bit extra) for test pressings on a small vinyl order, we’ll be happy to do it for you.
Album jacket printing
The first thing every music fan will notice about your record is the jacket. At Disc Makers we start by printing your jacket on grade A (extra white) C1S (coated one side) board. We print on HP Indigo digital presses which — unlike inkjet presses — use liquid ink for amazing detail and vibrant colors. Larger runs over 2,000 units may be offset-printed.
After the board is printed, we coat it with a protective and decorative coating to make it look great and prevent scuffing.
We offer three finishes: satin finish aqueous (water-based), super shiny gloss UV, and silky matte UV. Once the board has been coated, it gets die-cut into its finished shape, then folded and glued into the finished jacket.
Record label printing
Every record includes two labels — an A side and a B side. These labels are printed on special stock. Prior to getting pressed onto the records, the labels are baked in an oven to eliminate any and all moisture from the paper. That moisture can cause blistering or cracking of the label when it meets the hot vinyl under the extreme pressure of the record press, so baking is a carefully managed process.
Record pressing
Once all the parts — stampers, labels, and jackets — are complete, we’re ready to press your records! Your stampers will be mounted in the hydraulic press — one on the bottom, one on top. The vinyl is melted and extruded in the shape of a hockey puck, then inserted into the press with a record label on either side. As the hydraulic pressure closes the mold, the vinyl is slowly squeezed out to the sides of the record. Cool effects can be created by manually (or automatically) combining multiple colors of vinyl into or onto the puck prior to pressing the records.
The mold, which is hot during pressing, remains closed for approximately 30 seconds, during which cold water is circulated through the mold to cool the record. Then, the mold opens up, the rough edge gets trimmed off the record, and voila! A warm, freshly pressed record with beautiful labels has just been born.
Before the records are packed, they are usually stacked with a weighted plate to ensure that they remain flat as they cool.
Packaging
Most vinyl records are hand-assembled. The first step is sleeving. The packaging operator does a quick visual check for defects on both sides of the record, then inserts it into the inner sleeve of your choosing. Then that is inserted into your jacket. Once completed, the record and jacket are inserted into plastic wrap which is run through an oven that shrinks the wrap to tightly seal your record. Your jackets are then inserted into cartons and carefully shipped to you.
Next step: You and your delighted fans get to enjoy a great-looking and sounding record!
Learn more about shipping vinyl records here