Vinyl master help

[Lee]

I have a band I’m working with and we want to release their album on vinyl. When it’s done we will have 4 songs per side equal to less then 15 minutes each side. I need to understand the process a little better. Once I’ve mixed it and it’s ready for mastering who creates the vinyl master and test pressing? Would it be the mastering engineer or the replication plant? Also who in Australia should I be talking to about getting them made? The band just want to start a small run to sell at gigs and for Freinds. I’m hoping that more bands I produce in the future do this so I’m trying to do a costing for them. All help accepted.

[chrisp]

Didn't our very own Rick O'Neal score a vintage german master cutting machine a few year back? Found it in a barn down NSW country as I recall.

[berkfinger]

For short run you may be looking at Zenith in Melbourne. Last time I spoke to them they
Refused to take an external master - they simply take your “CD” master and do their own
Tweaked master for vinyl. Then they do a test pressing and once you are cool with it they
do the run.

The expensive but maybe more proper way is to have an actual vinyl mastering engineer (with a lathe)
Cut a master and then send that disc to the factory where they copy it. Guy Davie at
Electric in the UK has done a great job for me in the past. The master has to be stored in a fridge and
Used within two weeks or it’s ruined!!

Most big factories will have a Sizeable minimum run and are overseas, mostly in Europe...

Also be aware the longer your album the slimmer the grooves so the smaller the sound -
Someone like Rick will be able to tell you about that probably. There are tricks such as Songs
with less bass (like an acoustic Number) at the end of each side, I think to prevent bass popping
the needle out of the groove When the stylus angle gets tight...

I heard the previously mentioned lathe might be part of a new plant currently being built in
SYDNEY???

[wez]

The first thing you want to do is make sure you use a mastering guy who is experienced with prepping for vinyl. Coincidentally I've just sent off the masters for a big vinyl project so it's certainly on my mind at the moment.

Someone like Rick who's been doing it forever would be a great choice. But any experienced mastering engineer (not a jack of all trades) will understand the requirements (and there are a few... it's not just a simple matter of backing off the limiter).

In most cases your mastering engineer will provide a continuous file for each side (although different places have different requirements, you need to check), and then the pressing plant will take over from there and provide test pressings etc (unless your mastering guy happens to have their own cutting lathe). They may need to make some changes at the cutting stage (elliptical EQ for example) but probably not if the mastering engineer knows what they're doing and has prepped a master specifically for vinyl (not just a quieter version of the CD master, although sometimes that is sufficient).

Oh and 15 mins per side at 33 1/3 rpm is good, you shouldn't need to make any compromises in terms of volume or bass. You could almost do 45rpm but you'd be pushing it.

[Drumstruck]

Is this really such a forgotten art? It sounds like discussing a legend....

This thread makes me feel so old........ we used to call them records

[walding]

Is this really such a forgotten art? It sounds like discussing a legend....

This thread makes me feel so old........ we used to call them records

I still call them records, and I still play lots of them

[Chris H]

My boys have got more LP's than I ever bought and i bought a lot! Very surprised at their eclectic tastes as well including obscure recordings from 1970's African bands.

[Lee]

I’m hoping Rick can chime in on this process?

[Drumstruck]

dredging back through some brain cells that haven't been activated for many years........

the master (tape in the old days) would be created by the mastering engineer including a series of test tones at specified levels that would be used to calibrate the disc cutting lathe..... from this a mother would be cut (i.e. cut with a cutting needle) and from that a number of stampers would be made (these are essentially negatives of the mother).

The more info you put on a record, the closer together and shallower the grooves must be, which reduces level. A long record was 45 minutes - I'd say 40-42 minutes would have been average.

Beware of phase - the more out of phase signal you have the more excursion for the needle, and thus the wider the grooves.

There used to be a standing joke about the disc mastering engineer and their liberal use of compression killing all the work the recording engineer did to get dynamics - can't remember the joke words...

Rick can certainly tell you lots more

http://www.audiomasterclass.com/newslet ... -pressings

[Lee]

So if zenith for ex@mple created 150 records for a first pressing for the band and they all sell will they have to create a new master? Do I get the master from them to keep just in case I want to take it to another duplication place? These are probably questions for zenith.

[OPP]

Lee: Nah - you'll definitely get another couple of runs out of those stampers.

As for the stampers fitting other factory's presses - that's a tricky one. Maybe if you're lucky, and maybe with a little modification

[rick]

Sorry I forget I own this sandbox sometimes and ignore it for months

Look I know everything about the process
I have nobody to recommend , lest of all the mob in Melbourne
I had reason to test them recently
They left my client wanting for quality .. badly

Tried to explain to me their standards were high enough
I had it done in Germany ..they slayed Melbourne

So f@#$ em

I make vinyl masters right for a factory to cut flat .

I don’t have a lathe anymore .

The rumours of the sydney plant are true but it’s not something
You can walk through yet .
It’s not mine but I am a consultant/ friend of the people involved

[Lee]

How long until one can walk through this place roughly Rick? If it’s not to far off I’d consider waiting.