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A History Lesson About The Record Player

A gramophone cartridge with stylus for use on ...
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These days we’ve got digital video disks , compact disks, MP3s, and of course the internet for all of our music needs. But none of them would have been possible without the advent of the record player, one of the more significant components of technology of all time. It was so cutting edge that after its invention in 1877, it took almost 100 years for it to be replaced by new technologies. And even now, record players have a vintage musical feel that ensures they are still extremely popular with fans of music everywhere. Nowadays, anytime someone thinks of a record player, it’s often the Technics or the Crosley Record Player. But more than a hundred years ago, the name that mattered most was Thomas Edison.

In 1877, Edison developed what he referred to as the phonograph. Edison’s initial records had been made of tinfoil. These records had a spiral groove that went up and down the surface area. A hand-cranked appliance with a pin, or stylus, was utilized to read the grooves of the record, vibrating based on the feel. This became eventually referred to as the hill-and-dale method. The vibrations ran up the stylus, through a metal tube, all the way to a large speaker. These early speakers made the vibrations into more audible sound.

At the time Edison completed his creation, he was much more interested in its numerous scientific purposes as opposed to what it could do with music. This left further enhancements to other inventors.

10 years later, Emile Berliner made the first disk record, and patented it in 1896. Berliner’s design took its origin from Edison’s, but instead of using the traditional hill-and-dale method, which had the grooves go up and down, his method, named the varying lateral direction method, featured textures on the edges of the grooves. The VLD caught on very quickly, and soon Edison’s original hill-and-dale method was no longer in use.

It was not long before mass production of records became possible when Emile Berliner invented the matrix record. This master copy enabled duplicate records to be manufactured indefinitely. At this time, record players were still hand-cranked. But with the late 19th century came the nationwide use of electricity. Then soon after the electric-powered record player was unveiled. Contrary to the hand-turned players that would range in speed based on the strength of the person, electronic record players provided consistent speed. This resulted in no variation in the tempo of the music.

Eventually, record players got so well liked that whole households gathered around them in order to enjoy quality entertainment. Early versions of the previous-song and skip-song functions of today’s waterproof Mp3 players were introduced during this time period. To be able to choose which tune was to play, a person placed the stylus in one of the blank grooves in between the textured ones. And for many years, the record player won the hearts of music fans.

With the seventies came cassette-tape decks and 8-tracks, and soon thereafter, records and record players seemed to be phasing out. However, when DJs became all the rage in dance clubs and discos, the turntable remained strong.

No matter what technology throws at us, music fans will always appreciate the record player!