Skip (in record player)

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A skip is when a phonograph or gramophone or CD player malfunctions or is disturbed so as to play incorrectly, causing a break in sound or a jump to another part of the disk.

A "skip" or "jump" is when the needle of a record player or laser of a CD player cannot read the faulty groove or block of data. this causes a record usually to make a crackling and clicking noise. with a CD, it depends on the player's instruction codes.

CD players may do one of the following:

repeat the previous block of audio
skip the faulty block
try and retry to read it causing a stopping and starting of the music
make a series of clicking noises.

Any of these methods may produce a slight click. this is the slight discontinuation of the sound and also the slight failure of the laser hitting that block.

Skips are usually caused by marks blocking the path of the disc e.g. a finger mark, hair, dirt in general, or a scratch. In a computer, the CD-ROM drive is governed by the program playing it. The drive itself has very little instruction, apart from direct instructions, such as spin up, read data etc. Normally, in a computer, if a media player is playing a CD and there is a fault on the disc, because the player reads ahead, the player will already be performing a checksum, maybe a CRC check. If it is wrong, the audio is usually stopped depending on the player.

Some musicians, including Nicolas Collins and Oval, use skipping-type sounds deliberately in their music.