How to a master record made
How It's Made - Clip of Master and Vinyl Audio Records
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vinyl records have an ever-increasing
following among audiophiles collectors
and DJs
some say they sound better than digital
CDs and mp3s to cater to this market
some record companies are releasing more
music on vinyl a manufacturing process
that's interesting and fun to watch the
first step is to cut a master record
this flat disc is made of aluminum and
it will be the core of the master the
surface has a gritty texture early on
but they sanded down and polish it
smooth they place the aluminum discs on
a conveyor belt and they ride towards
the device that will coat them with a
veneer of lacquer
the disk enters the Curtin coder
nitrocellulose lacquer a similar
substance to nail-polish loses out of a
long thin opening forming a veil or
curtain as the disk passes through the
curtain its later'd with a lacquer
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rollers with scrapers catch the run off
the excess lacquer they collect is
reused the lacquer starts to dry
immediately the solvents evaporate and
the veneer hardens into a nail polish
like finish but like any manicure job
there are often flaws at this inspection
station workers scrutinize each like or
disk for pits bumps or dirt even a minor
imperfection won't be tolerated
so the rejection rate is high about 50%
they recycle the rejects
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they rim the good masters with plastic
edging it will stop the discs from
rubbing together during stacking and
damaging the finish next a worker holds
the disc under a hydraulic puncher that
cuts a hole in the center then handling
it carefully so he doesn't disturb the
finish he places it on a spindle a
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robotic arm slides a plastic ring down
the spindle depositing it around the
center hold the disc like the plastic
edging the ring will also space the
disks apart now the master disks are
ready to take a trip to the studio the
lacquer disc is about to be cut the
engineer places it on the recording
machine called a lathe he peels the
protective ribbing away from the rim he
places a vacuum line at the center which
suctions to the underside of the disk
and holds it in place the engineer now
moves the cutter and a microscope above
the disc
he lowers the cutter on to the outer
edge of the disc and it does a test cut
he positions a microscope just above the
test group and then peers into it to get
a good look at the cut he makes
adjustments to the cut and then he's
ready to record the lathe cuts the lead
in groove and the music begins the
Sapphire tip cutter h's the sound into
the surface of the disc from start to
finish the recording will be one
continuous groove in the record a
computer monitors the cutting and
adjusts the spacing between the grooves
where needed a little vacuum draws up
scrap as the cutter carves the groove
some believe this sound is warmer and
has more depth than digital recordings
but making music fit on an analog disc
is sometimes challenging to reproduce
bass the cutter has to make big wide
grooves that take up a lot of space
and although the grooves can touch they
can't cut across one another at the end
of the recording the cutter lifts and
the master disc is ready for inspection
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if it's acceptable the engineer places a
sliding platform on it and scribes a
unique serial number into the lacquer
soon this master disc will be used to
make more records
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the master disk has just been cut but
the lacquer surface is far too delicate
to play it's been produced solely to act
as a mold it will literally be pressed
into service to make tougher versions of
the recorded grooves and this will
enable the manufacturers to make many
copies from just one
in the next step they wash the lacquer
discs with soap and water they spray it
with tin chloride and liquid silver the
tin chloride is a sensitizer that helps
the silver stick to the lacquer they
wash away little bits of silver that
don't stick in seconds one side of the
lacquer has become a stunning silver
disc with the grooves intact but next
they'll add a dollar metal to the
silvered side in order to really stiffen
the disk they fastened it to a spindle
on the underside of a tank lid the disc
spins and they rinse it one more time
the water in the tank below is green
because these nickel nuggets are
dissolving into it they lower the lid
and the spinning disk is immersed in the
solution an electric charge fuses the
nickel to the silver
and the nickel settles neatly into the
grooves now they've removed it from the
tank and pry the metal layer away from
the original lacquer disc this metal
layer is a Stamper that will be used to
press vinyl records and the lacquer disc
which is served as its mold is discarded
now they look for the exact center of
the Stamper a worker places it under the
microscope which is part of an optical
centering punch as the Stanford disc
spins he aligns the grooves with a guide
in the viewfinder when he finds the
center he punches a hole there
next they clamp the stanford disc into a
trimming machine the disc turns in a
cutting wheel trims the edge cutting the
stanford disc to a diameter of 12 and a
half inches
now the stampers are ready to make their
mark
but first the labels must be prepared a
punch pours into the center of a stack
of em making holes
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then they place the labels on a mini
press it rises to another cutter which
rounds them out
they pour black polyvinyl chloride
pellets into a hopper the pellets fall
into an extruder which turns them into
hot rubbery patties called biscuits
voice above and below push labels to
each side of the biscuit suction cups
hold them there while the carriage moves
the biscuit forward and drops the
biscuit and labels in the press to
stampers mounted in the press apply 100
tons of pressure
the stampers are searing 380 degrees
Fahrenheit they melt and mold the
biscuit into a record a quick cooling
cycle hardens it and bonds the labels to
the vinyl a carriage then transports it
to a trimming table the table spins the
record against a knife as it cuts away
the ragged edges
then the table takes the trimmed record
to the finished stack and the process
begins again
this is really a well choreographed
musical production as one record is
lifted out of the press the next one
goes in
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the pressing and trimming of a vinyl
record takes just 28 seconds but it's
sure to get hours of play by enthusiasts
who refuse to buy into the digital
revolution and still believe that vinyl
is a cut above
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