I can sort of understand records mimicing the sound of instruments, but voices are so unique, how did we ever figure out the exact carving of a piece of vinyl that when you drag a needle across it, you’ll get the same sound as x or y person’s voice exactly?
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Top comment is wrong. And doesn’t actually explain anything.
The real reason: one groove filled with ridges to perform every sound on the album from every instrument imaginable. One needle to play every instrument possibly at the same time including individual voices. How?
All sound is condensed into a single waveform. All sound is frequencies, so any sound can be played back with those same frequencies. My voice has a different frequency than yours does for instance. By vibrating a needle at that frequency, you can literally carve the necessary waveform into a medium such as a wax cylinder or a vinyl sheet. Applying a needle to the groove made by the first needle will effectively replay the waveform. It is far from perfect, and doesn’t last long as the needle going over the groove will slowly distroy the groove over time.
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