Choosing the right turntable can be an intricate and complex process, requiring careful consideration of several critical factors. Here, we delve deeper into the key factors to help you make an informed decision when making your selection.
Vinyl records have been around for almost a century now, and while they may have gone through some ups and downs in popularity, their charm remains unparalleled. If you’ve ever looked closely at a vinyl record, you may have noticed that the centre label is different from the rest of the record’s surface. This is because the centre label paper is baked in a kiln to remove moisture. In this blog post, we’ll explore why this process is necessary and…
Here at Well Tempered we work with the three best pressing plants in Europe to ensure that your records are pressed to schedule and cost, and also of optimum quality. The standard turnaround time from all three suppliers is seven weeks from receipt of lacquers – this is industry standard. We hear that a lot of artists and labels elsewhere are getting frustrated with production times of up to twelve weeks. This should not be the case, there is simply…
Here at Well Tempered we always advise on checking your test pressings thoroughly before the finished run of artwork copies is pressed. When Approving Test Pressings you are approving the work that the cutting engineer has done, and also the galvanic process at the plant. But what exactly are you checking for? Years ago an acetate would be cut by the engineer at the time of mastering, so the artist would be able to check the test press against this….
According to The Independent, “Manufacturers are struggling to keep up with the resurgence in vinyl records” In other words, the vinyl manufacturing industry is having serious difficulty keeping up with demand. I’m not sure that the plant owners would agree with The Independent that the machinery they are using is old and creaky, but the message is sound – lead times are increasing, and this is kicking down the supply chain and hitting the labels. What used to be a four…
DMM (Direct Metal Mastering) became popular during the 80’s but was soon less favourable as more cutting engineers went back to lacquer. It was co-developed by Neumann and Teldec, and instead of engraving the groove into a soft metal lacquer-coated aluminum disc, a DMM lathe engraves the audio signal directly onto a hard metal copper-plated master disc. The difference between a DMM cut and a lacquer cut is that the DMM is more precise, with sharper transients and better image “edge…
With so many music distribution deals available today, choosing the right partner can be a difficult task. It is important not to jump into the first deal offered to you, but to take your time and make sure you have explored all options available to you. It is important that you ask the right questions to your potential new distributor, here are just some of the questions that you should be asking: Vinyl Distribution: What main territories do you cover? Do…
This is a great and very unique looking record. The 78 sized centre label has been used for this 12″, which is substantially smaller than the standard 12″ label. The lacquers had to be prepared extra carefully in order to cater for the surface of the vinyl that isn’t normally visible. The purple colour was mixed with a tiny percentage of white to create that wispy marbled effect. It comes complete in a paper sleeve with a hand-stamped Japanese Kanji…
Shackleton – Music For The Quiet Hour / The Drawbar Organ EPs – Woe To The Septic Heart For those who want to know the background, it is something like this. I bought an Italian drawbar organ module around two years ago. Apparently Italian organs from that period had a bad reputation but I was so happy with it that it appeared on most of the tracks I had been working on. I thought I had an album together and…
About Critical Music: Conceived by D&B visionary Kasra back in 2002, in a front room in north London, the Critical Music name has since blossomed into one of the most successful independent record labels in the UK today. Grown from a simple idea driven by a commitment to putting out the best music the scene has to offer, it has now become one of the most well respected electronic dance music labels in the UK. With its ongoing label residency…