LP record
- For albums titled "LP", see LP (album)
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 A typical LP, showing its center label |
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| Media type | Audio playback |
| Encoding | Analog grooves |
| Capacity | Up to 45 minutes per side; 2 sides |
| Read mechanism | Stylus |
| Dimensions | 12 in (30 cm); 10 in (25 cm) |
| Weight | 90-200 grams |
| Usage | Audio storage |
| Extended from | 1948 |
Long-playing (LP) record albums are 33⅓ rpm, typically vinyl, gramophone records (phonograph records), generally either 10 or 12 inches in diameter. They were introduced unsuccessfully by RCA in 1931 and successfully by Columbia in 1948, and served as a primary release format for recorded music until the compact disc began to significantly displace them by beginning of 1988. In the 21st century, a renewed interest in vinyl has occurred and the demand for the medium has been on a steady increase yearly in niche markets.[1] The long-playing record is an analog format.
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History and physical aspects
Vitaphone
The first prototype of the LP were the phonograph discs used in the Vitaphone sound motion picture process, developed by Western Electric and introduced in 1926. The four-minute limit of a conventional 78 rpm disc was not acceptable. The discs needed to play at least 11 minutes, long enough to accompany a thousand-foot reel of 35 mm film at 24 frames per second. The diameter of the disc was increased from 10 inches (25 cm) to 16 inches (41 cm), and the speed was slowed to 33⅓ revolutions per minute. The main differences from later LPs were that the stylus moved from the center of the Vitaphone disc outward, and a standard-width groove was used, similar to 78s, requiring a relatively heavy steel needle for recording and playback. By 1930, all movie studios were recording on optical soundtracks, although they continued to distribute Vitaphone versions of their films to certain theaters as late as 1936.[2]
Radio transcription discs
From the mid-1920s until the adoption of magnetic tape recordings in the late 1940s and early 1950s, the radio industry used 16-inch and 12-inch discs, revolving usually at 33⅓ rpm, to transcribe radio broadcasts, either for archival purposes or to distribute copies to individual radio stations. These records were either aluminum core with lacquer, glass with lacquer (when there were aluminum shortages during World War II), or later, vinyl.[3]
RCA Victor
RCA Victor introduced an early version of a long-playing phonograph record in September 1931. The disc played at 33⅓ revolutions per minute, used almost double the number of grooves of a 78 rpm disc, could hold up to 15 minutes per side, and was pressed on a new composition that reduced the surface noise of the needle. 10- and 12-inch versions were released, and used one or both sides of the disc. Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, performed by the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra under Leopold Stokowski, was the first recording. The New York Times wrote, "What we were not prepared for was the quality of reproduction.…incomparably fuller." The invention lasted two years before being pulled off the market.[4][5][6] Overall record sales in the U.S. had crashed from a high of $105.6 million in 1921 to $5.5 million in 1933, due to competition from radio and the effects of the Great Depression.[7]
Columbia
CBS Laboratories head research scientist Peter Goldmark led Columbia's team to develop a phonograph record that would hold at least 20 minutes per side.[8] Research began in 1941, was suspended during World War II, and then resumed in 1945.[9] Columbia Records unveiled the LP at a press conference in the Waldorf Astoria on June 19, 1948 in two formats: 10 in (25 cm) in diameter, matching that of 78 rpm singles, and 12 in (30 cm) in diameter.[10] Although they released 100 simultaneously to allow for a purchasing catalogue, the first catalogue number for a ten-inch LP, CL 6001, was a reissue of the Frank Sinatra 78 rpm album set The Voice of Frank Sinatra; the first catalogue number for a twelve-inch LP, ML 4001, was the Mendelssohn Concerto in E Minor for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 64, played by Nathan Milstein with the Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra of New York conducted by Bruno Walter. These two albums are therefore the first long-players.
Owing to marketing attitudes at the time, the 12-inch format was reserved solely for higher-priced classical recordings and Broadway shows; popular music appeared only on 10-inch records. Executives believed classical music aficionados would leap at the chance to finally hear a Beethoven symphony or a Mozart concerto without having to flip a seemingly endless series of four-minute per-side 78s, but popular music fans, used to consuming one song per side at a time, would find the shorter time of the ten-inch LP sufficient. This belief would prove to be mistaken in the end, and by the mid-1950s the 10 inch LP, like its similarly sized 78 rpm record, would lose out in the format wars and be discontinued. Ten-inch records would reappear as mini-albums in the late 1970s and early 1980s in the United States and Australia as a marketing alternative.
When initially introduced, 12-inch LPs played for a maximum of 45 minutes, divided over two sides. However, in 1952, Columbia Records began to bring out extended-play LPs that played for as long as 52 minutes, or 26 minutes per side. These were used mainly for the original cast albums of some Broadway musicals, such as Kiss Me, Kate and My Fair Lady, or in order to fit an entire play, such as the 1950 production of Don Juan in Hell, onto just two LPs. The 52+ minute playing time remained rare, however, because of mastering limitations, and most LPs continued to be issued with a 30- to 45-minute playing time throughout the lifetime of their production. However, some albums would eventually exceed even the 52-minute limitation, with single albums going to as long as ninety minutes in the case of Arthur Fiedler's 1976 LP 90 Minutes with Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops, made by Radio Shack. However, such records had to be cut with much narrower spacing between the grooves, which allowed for a much smaller amount of dynamic range on the records, and meant that playing the record with a worn needle could damage the record. It also resulted in a much quieter sound. (Other notably long albums included La Monte Young's Dream House 78' 17", whose two sides were each just under 40 minutes; Bob Dylan's 1976 album Desire, with side two being just shy of thirty minutes; Brian Eno's 1975 album Discreet Music, whose A-side exceeded thirty minutes; and Todd Rundgren's Initiation, totalling 67:32 over two sides). Spoken word and comedy albums, not having a wide range of musical instrumentation to reproduce, can be cut with much narrower spacing between the grooves; for example, The Comic Strip, released by Springtime Records in 1981, has a Side A lasting 38:04 and a Side B lasting 31:08, for a total of 69:12.
In any case, the standard 45-minute playing time of the LP was a significant improvement over that of the previous dominant format, the 78 rpm single, which was generally limited to three to four minutes. At around 14 minutes per side for 10-inch and 23 minutes per side for 12-inch, LPs provided a measured time to enjoy a recording before having to flip discs.
Some record turntables, called record changers, could play a stack of records piled on a specially designed spindle and arm arrangement. Because of this, many multiple-record sets were released in what's called "automatic sequence." A two-record set would have Side 1 and Side 4 on one record, and Side 2 and Side 3 on the other, so the first two sides could play in a changer without the listener's intervention, and then they could simply flip the stack over. Larger boxed sets used appropriate automatic sequencing (1+8, 2+7, 3+6, 4+5 for example) to allow for ease of continuous playback, but difficulties if searching for an individual track.
In contrast to compact disc players, very few record players, e.g., laser turntables, could provide a per-track programmable interface, so the record albums play in the same order every time. As the LP achieved market dominance, musicians and producers began to pay special attention to the flow from song-to-song, to keep a consistent mood or feel, or to provide thematic continuity, as in concept albums.
Vinyl records are much more vulnerable to being scratched than CDs. On a record, a scratch can cause popping sounds with each revolution when the needle meets the scratch mark. Deeper scratches can cause the needle to jump out of the groove altogether. If the needle jumps ahead to a groove further inward, information gets skipped. And if it jumps outward to the groove it just finished playing, it can repeat in an infinite loop, serving as the simile for things that continuously repeat ("like a broken record"). Additionally, records used in radio stations can suffer cue burn, which is a result of putting the needle on the record and then backing it up approximately a quarter turn so that it will play at the proper speed when the DJ starts the song. When this is done repeatedly, a hissing sound will preface the start of the actual song.
The large surface area of the record, being vinyl and therefore susceptible to becoming statically charged, pulls dust and smoke suspended particles out of the air, also causing crackles, pops and (in the worst cases of contamination) distortion during playback. Records may be cleaned before playing, using record cleaner and/or antistatic record cleaning fluid and anti-static pads. [1]
Since LP discs are delicate, as well as heavy for their size, people are less inclined to lug a stack of them around—for example, when visiting friends or when traveling—than a similar quantity of music compiled onto 90-minute cassettes, compilation-tapes or today's digital formats.
The average LP has about 1,600 feet (about 488 metres) of groove on each side, or about a third of a mile. The tangential needle speed relative to the disc surface is approximately one mile per hour, on average. It travels fastest on the outside edge, unlike audio CDs, which change their speed of rotation to provide constant linear velocity (CLV). (By contrast, CDs play from the inner radius outward, the reverse of phonograph records.) This allows the lock groove effect used by The Beatles on Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, on which the last track, A Day in the Life, runs into a continuous loop, that will repeat as long as the record player is on.
The RIAA equalization curve (used since 1954) de-emphasizes the bass notes, allowing closer spacing of record grooves and hence more playing time. Turntable cartridge pre-amplifiers reverse the RIAA curve to flatten out the frequencies again.
Disc jockeys (or DJs) in clubs still rely heavily on vinyl records, as there is no efficient way to cue tracks from cassette tapes, and CDs did not allow creative playback options until quite recently. The term "DJ," which has always meant a person who plays various pieces of music on the radio (originally 78s, then 45s, now cuts from CDs or tracks on a computer) — a play on the horse-racing term "jockey" — has also come to encompass all kinds of skills in "scratching" (record playback manipulation) and mixing dance music, rapping over the music or even playing musical instruments, but the original dance club (non-radio) definition was simply somebody who played records (LP tracks or 12" singles) in a club, alternating between two turntables. The skill came in subtly matching beats or instruments from one song to the next, providing a consistent dance tempo. DJs also made occasional announcements and chatted with patrons to take requests while songs were actually playing, similar to what radio disc jockeys have been doing since the 1940s.
Public reception
When the LP was introduced in 1948, the 78 was the conventional format for phonograph records. By 1952, 78s accounted for slightly more than half of the units sold in the United States, and just under half of the dollar sales. The 45, oriented toward the single song, accounted for 30.2% of unit sales and 26.5% of dollar sales. The LP represented 16.7% of unit sales and 26.2% of dollar sales.[11]
Ten years after their introduction, the share of unit sales for LPs in the U.S. was 24.4%, and of dollar sales 58%. Most of the remainder was taken up by the 45; 78s accounted for only 2.1% of unit sales and 1.2% of dollar sales.[12]
Fidelity and formats
The audio quality of LPs increased greatly over time, and a contingent of music fans maintain that the analog sound found on well-maintained LPs is superior to the finitely accurate digital sound used for CDs and MP3s. Early LP recordings were monaural, but stereo LP records became commercially available in 1957. In the 1970s, quadraphonic sound (four-channel) records became available. These did not achieve the popularity of stereo records, partly because of scarcity of consumer playback equipment, competing and incompatible quad record standards (which played fine on regular two-channel stereo equipment) and partly because of the lack of quality in quad-remix releases. Quad never escaped the reputation of being a "gimmick". Three-way and quadrophonic recordings, which were favored and championed by artists like Leopold Stokowski and Glenn Gould[13], are only now making a small comeback with older masters being turned into multi-channel Super Audio CDs.
Besides the standard black vinyl, specialty records are also pressed on different colors of PVC (red, yellow, green, blue, white, clear, pink, multi-color and more) or special "picture discs" with a cardboard picture sandwiched between two clear sides. Records in different novelty shapes are also produced.
Although most LPs play at 33⅓ rpm, some "super fidelity" discs were designed to play at 45 rpm. There were also, early in the evolution of the LP, some records (primarily spoken word) designed to play at 16⅔ rpm, and from the 1950s to the 1970s it was possible to purchase playback systems with four speeds: 16, 33, 45, and 78 rpm.
The composition of vinyl used to press records has varied considerably over the years. Virgin vinyl is preferred, but during the petrochemical crisis in the late 1970s, it became commonplace to use recycled vinyl, melted unsold records with all of the impurities. Sound quality suffered, with increased ticks, pops and other surface noises. Other experiments included reducing the thickness of LPs, leading to warping and increased susceptibility to damage. Using a bead of 130 grams of vinyl had been the standard, but some labels experimented with as little as 90 grams per LP. Today, high fidelity pressings follow the Japanese standard of 160, 180 or 200 grams.
See also
- Record Store Day
References
- ↑ McGeehan, Patrick (December 7, 2009). "Vinyl Records and Turntables Are Gaining Sales". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/07/nyregion/07vinyl.html. Retrieved May 11, 2010.
- ↑ "Frequently Asked Questions", The Vitaphone Project.
- ↑ Marlin's Radio Transcription Record Collections.
- ↑ "Phonograph Disks Run for Half-Hour", The New York Times, Sept. 18, 1931, p, 48.
- ↑ "Newly Recorded Music", The New York Times, Sept. 20, 1931, p. X10.
- ↑ "Not So New", The Billboard, June 5, 1948, p. 17.
- ↑ "Happy Tunes on Cash Registers", The New York Times, March 16, 1958, p. XX14.
- ↑ Goldmark, Peter. Maverick inventor; My Turbulent Years at CBS. New York: Saturday Review Press, 1973.
- ↑ "Columbia Diskery, CBS Show Microgroove Platters to Press; Tell How It Began", Billboard, June 26, 1948, p. 3.
- ↑ Marmorstein, Gary. The Label: The Story of Columbia Records. New York: Thunder's Mouth Press; p.165.
- ↑ "78 Speed On Way Out; LP-45 Trend Gaining", The Billboard, August 2, 1952, p. 47.
- ↑ "Happy Tunes on Cash Registers", The New York Times, March 16, 1958, p. XX14.
- ↑ Gould Radio Portrait of Stokowski for CBC
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