Record Formats

Records (78's, 45's, 33's)

JVC QL-Y5F Turntable: Rosewood finish, quartzlock direct drive, electro-servo controlled fully automatic 2 speed: 33 & 45 RPM - I won't go into a history of record players here, but there is quite a history.

Records: 3 types, defined by the number of Revolutions Per Minute (RPM) that they spun on the player.

The 78 RPM record was first produced in the early 1900's, 10 inches wide, The record was made of a mixture of shellac (a secretion from the lac beetle) and slate dust. Usually contained 2-5 minutes of music per side.
The 33 RPM record was introduced in 1948, 12 inches wide, made of vinyl and was widely known as the Long Play (LP) record. It usually contained 5 songs on each side for a total of 45 to 60 minutes of music.
The 45 RPM record was introduced in 1949, 7 inches wide - with a 1.5 inch center hole. Usually contained one 2-3 minute song on each side. Commonly played at parties and jukeboxes for variety.
On the bottom right hand corner of the turntable is a Monkees cardboard record, which could be found printed on the back of cereal boxes and then cut out to be played.

Record Jackets and Covers: The record was first enclosed in a paper or plastic sleeve to protect the disk. It was then inserted into a cardboard jacket containing the artwork for the record. LP's usually contained the words to the songs on the inside of the jacket or on the paper cover.

Record Production: Music for a record was first recorded and mixed on a tape recorder. The master tape was feed to a lathe which would cut a continuous sprial groove into a blank vinyl disk. After the master disk was "cut" a mold was made and subsequent records were "stamped" out by the millions. The needle in at the end of the players arm rode in the groove of the record which contained etchings on both sides of the groove. The needle vibrated as it rode the groove containing the etchings sending sound back to an amplifier and heard through a speaker. Records were first made in 1948 and were Mono, but by 1958, High Fidelity (HiFi) Stereophonic records became the new standard. Records were quickly phased out in the early 1980's - to be replaced by Compact Disks (CDs).