How is sound recorded onto a vinyl record??? I get the general concept that it’s in the grooves (pun not intended) and the needle plays it, but HOW is it recorded and played????? I just can’t grasp my head around it.
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The speed is consistent when played back. So they can calculate what noise the needle will make when it drags across grooves of certain size, shape.
This knowledge is factored into a specially calibrated cutting lathe, that interprets the recorded sound and determines how to cut grooves into a master record (which is then used as a template). It looks similar to a record being played but it is making the initial cuts to form the grooves.
This is how the term “cutting a record” originated.
Back in the day, the live sound would be interpreted by this machine to cut into the record, where pitch, volume and frequency would determine how the lathe moved and ultimately cut the record, but now the recorded sound goes through editing and mastering first.
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