Fnord Incorporated

How Vinyl records are made… and How Vinyl records are NOT made…

Ever wanted to see how vinyl records are created? well, i will give you a couple of choices here. both processes are incredibly similar but the first one is more painstaking.

Option 1:
Wanna see Duke Ellington and his Orchestra slap together a recording straight to vinyl? Well, watch this film from 1937 and make sure to smile. Most of the work is done using hand presses and tools, and requires a significant amount of repetition. this film worries significantly less on perfection as opposed to process, and you are able to see people smiling and showing off their work. it is a nice little time capsule piece to watch.

Get the latest Flash Player to see this player.

Option 2:
From the Discovery Channel’s “How is it made” TV show, this short goes through the modern processes and gives step by step information about how companies go from sound waves to pressed vinyl. This one is sorely lacking when it comes to Duke Ellington, but there is one bonus: The version here is the UK edition of the show, with a pleasant male voice. The US version has a terrible female voice that sounded incredibly bad. there is far less repetition in this modern process. unlike the Duke film above, this one is very sterile. no one looks at the camera and it is cool to watch, but doesnt feel as lively as the other. sterile, that really is a great description for it.

Get the latest Flash Player to see this player.

Option 3:
It appears that the folks over at REWSIC.com have created the following film showing a Japanese master in training. Horioka is an artisan who is learning the skill of Onkoku vinyl record engraving by hand. This is the “documentary” which shows his high skill and style of work. This is definitely NOT how records are made but cracked me up and needed to be included.

The video is labeled on their site with the term NINGEN which translates pretty close to Earthling or Human
Onkoku seems to have some relevance to the term “domestic” and in reference to the video would only redundantly point out that he is working by hand as opposed to being in a factory.

Get the latest Flash Player to see this player.