LISTSERV mailing list manager LISTSERV 16.0

Help for ARSCLIST Archives


ARSCLIST Archives

ARSCLIST Archives


[email protected]


View:

Message:

[

First

|

Previous

|

Next

|

Last

]

By Topic:

[

First

|

Previous

|

Next

|

Last

]

By Author:

[

First

|

Previous

|

Next

|

Last

]

Font:

Proportional Font

LISTSERV Archives

LISTSERV Archives

ARSCLIST Home

ARSCLIST Home

ARSCLIST  August 2014

ARSCLIST August 2014

Subject:

Re: Wax & Wane: the Tough Realities Behind Vinyl's Comeback

From:

H D Goldman <[log in to unmask]>

Reply-To:

Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>

Date:

Tue, 5 Aug 2014 09:49:03 -0500

Content-Type:

text/plain

Parts/Attachments:

Parts/Attachments

text/plain (59 lines)

Hi Tom,

I'm still puzzled.  The fellas I know at Acoustic Sound told me that there were no pressing plant parts of merit to them available in the US after those they purchased.  Perhaps I heard incorrectly but my impression was that after they purchased additional presses & boilers from Europe, there was little that remained there as well.

Hence my question.  I'm surely not going to be unhappy with the production of more vinyl records ;>).  Guess it makes sense if you look at low-mid priced turntable sales the past few years.  The numbers are impressive, at least to me, for a dead format.

Happy listening,

Duane

H D Goldman Lagniappe Chemicals Ltd. 
PO Box 37066 St. Louis, MO 63141 USA
v/f 314 205 1388 [log in to unmask]


On Aug 5, 2014, at 6:05 AM, Tom Fine <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Hi Duane:
> 
> No idea. I assume United is buying mothballed presses from some former plant. Apparently, not so many old vinyl presses got scrapped. I'm guessing that at least half of what existed circa 1980 still exists in one form or another. I would think, if you owned a plant like United or even Chad's or RTI, you need a lot of spare parts, so there must be many parts donors out there. Something like Ampex 300 tape machines -- not that many restored to front-line every-day usability, but lots of parts donors still out there. I don't know any of this for a fact.
> 
> Just sayin' ... someone with a bit of journalist in them (ie report just facts, verify facts, etc) could do an interesting little piece for ARSC Journal about the current state of vinyl. Who are the players? What equipment are they using? Why are things like colored discs able to be made better nowadays (remember how horrible picture discs sounded back in the day?)? How does a typical plant work nowadays, and could an old-timer contrast that with vinyl mass-media heyday workflows? What do the plant owners think about vinyl as an artifact vs a high-fidelity medium (I bet Chad Kassem would answer this very differently from the guys at United)? Do the press owners see a plateau to the vinyl trend (fad or continual upward trend?)? If anyone gets interested in the topic, I have a few-years-old list of all the vinyl plants I could verify were operating at the time (circa 2012). I would definitely read this article if it were well-reported, but I do not have time to do this kind of thing for no pay.
> 
> -- Tom Fine
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "H D Goldman" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Tuesday, August 05, 2014 12:50 AM
> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Wax & Wane: the Tough Realities Behind Vinyl's Comeback
> 
> 
>> Hi Tom,
>> 
>> Being familiar with the effort it took Chad to locate the presses he has, where are these "new" units coming from?
>> 
>> Regards,
>> 
>> Duane Goldman
>> 
>> H D Goldman Lagniappe Chemicals Ltd.
>> PO Box 37066 St. Louis, MO 63141 USA
>> v/f 314 205 1388 [log in to unmask]
>> 
>> On Aug 4, 2014, at 7:44 PM, Tom Fine <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>> 
>>> Three observations, both one man's opinions ...
>>> 
>>> 1. If United goes through on their plan to add 16 presses, others would be foolish to expand for the time being. My bet is, 16 new presses at a high-output place like United will be enough capacity for now. The article also neglected to mention Chad Kassem's state of the art new pressing facility in Kansas. I think Chad custom-build enough presses to do at least what Gotta Groove does per day.
>>> 
>>> 2. Chad told me that it's tricky, but colored vinyl can now be done so it doesn't sound any worse than black vinyl. I have to say that the Record Store Day colored vinyl release of Velvet Underground "Loaded" didn't sound any worse than the CD from which it was mastered.
>>> 
>>> 3. The article does a good job enumerating the "art" aspects of pressing records. Ambient humidity, press temperature, the consistency of the water heating system, etc, all play major roles in quality. Also, operator care with pressing cycles, centering of labels, etc. The article did not touch on what is needed to MASTER a good LP record. Too many new-issue vinyl releases are made from toothpaste-compressed masters the same as the CD and/or download releases. These sound particularly bad on vinyl because of the nature of mechanical mastering and playback. It's also odd that the Cleveland place is doing so much work for ambient and minimalist artists. Those genres benefit the most from digital technology -- super-quiet backgrounds behind the subtle soundscapes. I suspect the vinyl releases are driven by artifact-hunting and general hipsterism.
>>> 
>>> One other thing -- the article failed to mention that there are at least two large-scale pressing plants in Europe. The biggest one, in Germany, has been block-booked by UMG twice in recent years for the massive production cycles associated with Beatles box sets. I suspect this has a bearing on the long lead times at US plants.
>>> 
>>> -- Tom Fine
>> 
> 

Top of Message | Previous Page | Permalink

Advanced Options


Options

Log In

Log In

Get Password

Get Password


Search Archives

Search Archives


Subscribe or Unsubscribe

Subscribe or Unsubscribe


Archives

March 2024
February 2024
January 2024
December 2023
November 2023
October 2023
September 2023
August 2023
July 2023
June 2023
May 2023
April 2023
March 2023
February 2023
January 2023
December 2022
November 2022
October 2022
September 2022
August 2022
July 2022
June 2022
May 2022
April 2022
March 2022
February 2022
January 2022
December 2021
November 2021
October 2021
September 2021
August 2021
July 2021
June 2021
May 2021
April 2021
March 2021
February 2021
January 2021
December 2020
November 2020
October 2020
September 2020
August 2020
July 2020
June 2020
May 2020
April 2020
March 2020
February 2020
January 2020
December 2019
November 2019
October 2019
September 2019
August 2019
July 2019
June 2019
May 2019
April 2019
March 2019
February 2019
January 2019
December 2018
November 2018
October 2018
September 2018
August 2018
July 2018
June 2018
May 2018
April 2018
March 2018
February 2018
January 2018
December 2017
November 2017
October 2017
September 2017
August 2017
July 2017
June 2017
May 2017
April 2017
March 2017
February 2017
January 2017
December 2016
November 2016
October 2016
September 2016
August 2016
July 2016
June 2016
May 2016
April 2016
March 2016
February 2016
January 2016
December 2015
November 2015
October 2015
September 2015
August 2015
July 2015
June 2015
May 2015
April 2015
March 2015
February 2015
January 2015
December 2014
November 2014
October 2014
September 2014
August 2014
July 2014
June 2014
May 2014
April 2014
March 2014
February 2014
January 2014
December 2013
November 2013
October 2013
September 2013
August 2013
July 2013
June 2013
May 2013
April 2013
March 2013
February 2013
January 2013
December 2012
November 2012
October 2012
September 2012
August 2012
July 2012
June 2012
May 2012
April 2012
March 2012
February 2012
January 2012
December 2011
November 2011
October 2011
September 2011
August 2011
July 2011
June 2011
May 2011
April 2011
March 2011
February 2011
January 2011
December 2010
November 2010
October 2010
September 2010
August 2010
July 2010
June 2010
May 2010
April 2010
March 2010
February 2010
January 2010
December 2009
November 2009
October 2009
September 2009
August 2009
July 2009
June 2009
May 2009
April 2009
March 2009
February 2009
January 2009
December 2008
November 2008
October 2008
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006
April 2006
March 2006
February 2006
January 2006
December 2005
November 2005
October 2005
September 2005
August 2005
July 2005
June 2005
May 2005
April 2005
March 2005
February 2005
January 2005
December 2004
November 2004
October 2004
September 2004
August 2004
July 2004
June 2004
May 2004
April 2004
March 2004
February 2004
January 2004
December 2003
November 2003
October 2003
September 2003
August 2003
July 2003
June 2003
May 2003
April 2003
March 2003
February 2003
January 2003

ATOM RSS1 RSS2



LISTSERV.LOC.GOV

CataList Email List Search Powered by the LISTSERV Email List Manager