There’s nothing that beats being able to use a turntable to play some records. It doesn’t only add some retro vibe to the setting; it also provides you with the opportunity to listen to some of your grandpa’s old vinyl that has been sitting in the attic for some time. Turntables are a class of their kind. They add that classy, romantic feeling that cannot be easily achieved by your generic mp3 player or futuristic home studio system. What’s more, they can be conveniently integrated into your existing home audio system, allowing you that extra capability to go back to a time when life—including music—was still so simple. Yet, before we get into such a mellow mood, we have to know—how do turntables work?
How Do Turntables Work
Sounds are like pressure waves that travel through a medium such as water or air. This phenomenon can be explicitly explained by what occurs to your body as you stand right in front of a huge speaker playing a loud audio piece. You’d feel the vibrating feedback of the giant speaker, from your head down to your toes. Such a phenomenon was discovered by Thomas Edison, the man who created and introduced the oldest turntable, the phonograph, back in the late 1800s. Nowadays, you can purchase modern versions of the turntable player that are still integrated with the capacity to play grandpa’s astounding collection of ancient vinyl records. This record player comprises several main parts—the turntable, the needle, and the tonearm.
Older versions of the turntable were installed with a metal cylinder to play music, while current variants use a rotating flat platter. Likewise, phonographs used a small motorized apparatus to move the gears attached to the middle of the belt or the platter, which caused its rotation. This technology is still being used by some turntables today. However, this older mechanism causes the play first to move slowly and eventually gather adequate speed. Such a more straightforward method makes the player stop abruptly once you switch it off. Your mp3 player is the new version of the ancient phonograph. It adopts the same primary mechanism that lets the older variant read and produce music.
The Base
The turntable’s base is the part of your equipment that holds the motor either directly or through a wheel or belt system. Its motor moves the platter—the rotating plate or surface that keeps your vinyl. Most manufacturers use the base to present their brand’s trademark creativity. They either use lacquered rigs or natural wood. The base is an essential part of your turntable because it is the component that allows the turntable to function.
Second in importance to the base is your turntable’s platter. It’s the part of your turntable’s system that maintains an uninterrupted and consistent speed, enabling your turntable to play your record. This part is the most expensive component in the whole turntable system because it is made out of high-value metals, of which ultra-weighted aluminum is the most coveted one. Heavy platters are most preferred because they create and maintain steady and noise-free sound. Lighter platter alternatives tend to make the record rattle—and create unwanted noise. To further ensure smoother feedback, a rubber mat acts as a stopper that permits records to remain in place without the risk of scratches.
The best speed for turntable platters is 45 RPM which is also the most common speed that most record players use. Hence, a lot of vinyl records are referred to as ‘forty-fives’ as well.
The Arm
While the turntable’s base is where most mechanical functions occur, the arm is where a more comprehensive technology happens. Connected at its spot to the base, it is also sufficiently far from the platter to avert any shaking when playing a record. This tiny component is where the strength of the turntable lies. The arm must be both adequately heavy and sufficiently flexible because it needs to effortlessly move the record without being affected by the rotating platter. It should also prevent friction from disrupting its function and maintain its angle to reduce the possibility of damage to the record. While the arm’s function has remained unchanged, still functioning in the way it was made to do so, its angle and weight vary among the modern turntable variants.
Digital Recording
Most audio files are now stored in computers and various digital systems. A lot of them can fit into a tiny computer without difficulty. In today’s technology, everything is stored as numbers. Music is stored in number forms, as well. Your computer’s hard drive uses a small electromagnetic arm to discern information from disk spinning at top speed. The same component records that data in tiny magnetic zones. Like all other files, music can be stored in compressed formats that may be read even without a power source. Nevertheless, digital records are far less robust than analog ones.
Mechanical Recording
While digital recording offers you the capacity to record and store data in the tiniest and most comprehensive ways, mechanical records are done differently. Phonographs use the needle to make a mechanical etch of sound waves on a tinfoil cylinder. Then, the cylinder gets rotated using a hand crank, and the needle cuts a corresponding groove to the tinfoil to record the sound wave’s signal. An amplifier and a needle get to reverse the recording process, allowing the record to be played.
Conclusion
Turntables are classy age-old audio equipment that is still heavily popular today. While such antique pieces cost a fortune, you can purchase modern turntable variants that offer you the same function, allowing you to play those old records which you’ve recently found in the attic. While computers get to store multiple music files in their systems and even compress them into smaller file formats, mechanically recorded music offers a more robust quality that more modern audio players rarely reproduce.
