Vinyl Curiosities

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Omaar

Guest
Yesterday morning one of the conservators at the library where I work showed us this pretty impressive 16 inch record - apparently these were used during the 40s to record radio shows. It also played from the inside to the outside. I was pretty blow away by how massive it was, and couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to DJ with slabs of vinyl this large. You could play some tunes of pretty epic length.
Any other strange encounters with peculiar pieces of vinyl to recount?
 
O

originaldrum

from start till done
i once went to a bar in auckland (blues bar i think) which had on the wall in descending order about seven or more recods at least two either side of the 12" and 7"

any kiwis from from ponsonby area around?
 
M

minikomi

pu1.pu2.wav.noi
I was thinking about starting a post about something similar, but slightly different again, but my friend has a version of the bellyass riddim (i think..) in which during the cutting of the master something had gone terribly wrong with the master tape in the middle of the track (pitches up and down then silence, a few tape squawks)... but suddenly rights itself about 30 secconds later! Funny to hear pressed to record. . anyone else know of anything similar? the closest point of reference i have is that kid606 track where his hard drive crashed during rendering or something 'remixing' the track, and he released it anyways (although it is complete pants....)
 
nomos

nomos

Administrator
I ran into a stack of 16-inch (?) records in a antique shop in a small town in Minnesota about a dozen years ago. If I remember correctly they were produced by the US military during the Second World War. Can't remember though if they were for broadcast or recordings of broadcasts. Apparently the latter are called transcription recordings and this fellow will convert them to CD or mp3 for you.

T-Tsml.jpg


I've also read about the earliest tape machines used by the US military. The tape was copper I think. It was huge and it often broke which lead to numerous severed limbs. They had to keep the machines in cages.

Minikomi: I've got a Malcolm X record from Paul Winley Records that couldn't be more weird. The label on the vinyl is the only normal part. The cover was clearly printed for another release but has had the catalogue number scribbled over and a giant black and white image of of Malcolm plastered over the original art. The record itself is another story. I think the speech was recorded on two separate machines running at different speeds and then spliced together at another speed. As a result, Malcolm's voice keeps pitching up and down at intervals as he talks and never sounds right unless you diligently work the pitch slider for the duration.
 
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hamarplazt

100% No Soul Guaranteed
minikomi said:
I was thinking about starting a post about something similar, but slightly different again, but my friend has a version of the bellyass riddim (i think..) in which during the cutting of the master something had gone terribly wrong with the master tape in the middle of the track (pitches up and down then silence, a few tape squawks)... but suddenly rights itself about 30 secconds later! Funny to hear pressed to record. . anyone else know of anything similar? the closest point of reference i have is that kid606 track where his hard drive crashed during rendering or something 'remixing' the track, and he released it anyways (although it is complete pants....)
Click to expand...
Well, on the one side of the Cyberchrist-7" on Agent Orange (AO9), microseconds of the sound drop out repeatedly throughout the track. Very annoying. And not that extraordinary, I'll admit.

Of course, we all know vinyl where the hole is placed somewhere not quite in the centre of the record, making the sound wobbly. But is there any records where this is done deliberately? Some UR probably. Actually, it happens on my version of Drexciyas "The Unknown Aquazone", and for a long time I thought it was deliberate. It sounds quite spooky.
 
nomos

nomos

Administrator
If you play one of the tunes on Squarepusher's "Vic Acid" EP even just slightly off the correct speed, a high pitched ringing starts up. Clever Dr. Jenkinson.
 
Woebot

Woebot

Well-known member
minikomi said:
I was thinking about starting a post about something similar, but slightly different again, but my friend has a version of the bellyass riddim (i think..) in which during the cutting of the master something had gone terribly wrong with the master tape in the middle of the track (pitches up and down then silence, a few tape squawks)... but suddenly rights itself about 30 secconds later! Funny to hear pressed to record. . anyone else know of anything similar? the closest point of reference i have is that kid606 track where his hard drive crashed during rendering or something 'remixing' the track, and he released it anyways (although it is complete pants....)
Click to expand...

quite a few of my JA-pressed jamaican records (most notable African Dub Chapter One) have what sounds like BBC Radio in the background throughout the whole record. maybe it was a sensitive tone-arm at the mastering picking up the engineers radio signals, or like those stories you hear about people's fillings picking up certain radio frequencies.
 
G

gabriel

The Heatwave
minikomi said:
I was thinking about starting a post about something similar, but slightly different again, but my friend has a version of the bellyass riddim (i think..) in which during the cutting of the master something had gone terribly wrong with the master tape in the middle of the track (pitches up and down then silence, a few tape squawks)... but suddenly rights itself about 30 secconds later!
Click to expand...

knowing ward 21 i wouldn't be surprised if that was deliberate, though obviously i haven't heard how fucked it sounds :cool:
 
Woebot

Woebot

Well-known member
WOEBOT said:
quite a few of my JA-pressed jamaican records (most notable African Dub Chapter One) have what sounds like BBC Radio in the background throughout the whole record. maybe it was a sensitive tone-arm at the mastering picking up the engineers radio signals, or like those stories you hear about people's fillings picking up certain radio frequencies.
Click to expand...

here's one with a bit of radio in it.

not bad tune either :)
 
F

francesco

Minerva Estassi
hamarplazt said:
Of course, we all know vinyl where the hole is placed somewhere not quite in the centre of the record, making the sound wobbly. But is there any records where this is done deliberately?
Click to expand...

"pagan muzak" by Boyd Rice has two hole, one in the center and one off the center, you choose what to use....
 
M

M1(c)r0 D.T

No, don't take those...
Unusual Vinyl

Monty Python's Matching Tie and Hankerchief has three sides!

This is because side 2 has two concentric grooves, both about ten minutes at length which will play randomly depending how the needle first falls.

I've got some great 78's, but you have to pitch them digitally, otherwise they sound demented.

Actually, that's not a bad idea...
 
philblackpool

philblackpool

gamelanstep
Just digging through the archive & came across this thread...I'm quite interested in these sort of anomalies.

Different-sized records: you can pretty much have anything you want. Youtube has some footage of the White Stripes now very expensive doll's house-size ones from a few years back. I've got many 3"CDs, at least one 5" vinyl record (C*ck ESP Vs Evil Moisture), 6" flexis, 7", 8" (78s & lathes, I think), 9" (NIN), 10", 11" (Alien Sex Fiend) & 12" records, shaped (including shaped CDs - theres a Flaming Lips single & I think some others too), picture discs, coloured vinyl...

I was also always kinda fond of those records that are normal sized but have weirdly balanced use of the space too...ie; you get some 78s with tiny little labels & grooves right up to them, then theres the 10"-pressed-onto-a-12" thing which seemed popular for early jungle stuff, & recently you've had a bunch of Spanish rave stuff on 12" with massive labels & die-cut sleeves designed to show them off...

Then theres the weird grooves...concentrics were mentioned...theres also ones where the record has been cut so the needle glides over the vinyl during the music...one called "Stylus Flight" by Equitek on R&S is particularly pronounced (& a great record).

Locked grooves - theres even more records just featuring these than I previously thought. The Non one mentioned with the offset centre has some on, theres the RRR100 & RRR500 classics, a Stock Hausen & Walkman 7" (a bit throwaway), loads of dance music ones...type 'lock groove' or 'locked groove' into discogs & you get loads.

The reggae records with radio playing through them MIGHT be reused vinyl...I've heard about existing records being cut into again & some of the previous record playing through...I think thats more people making their own lathe cuts though...

Finally (for the moment), I'm quite interested in playable etchings, of which there are very few that I know of...its kinda a noise thing....this probably started with the Savage Pencil one on that Lee Ranaldo album, but theres also one on Wolf Eyes "F*** the Old Miami" (the record is stamped over the etching or vice versa, so its music not noise created by the etching...it DOES play through, despite what people might tell you) & Emil Beaulieu's "Greatest American Noise Artist" (or whatever its called) opens a couple of sides with an etching that looks like a nail was used to make scratches into the master...needle just kinda goes RRRrrrHHHHHHRRrrrTtt & then settles into the next track!! :D
 
philblackpool

philblackpool

gamelanstep
Good link, cheers...

Yeah, I've heard about those chocolate records. You can make yr own record out of anything...I know Smell & Qu*m used to have some they carved out of wood...obviously the noises weren't exactly musical, but an interesting idea!
 
P

petergunn

plywood violin
WOEBOT said:
quite a few of my JA-pressed jamaican records (most notable African Dub Chapter One) have what sounds like BBC Radio in the background throughout the whole record. maybe it was a sensitive tone-arm at the mastering picking up the engineers radio signals, or like those stories you hear about people's fillings picking up certain radio frequencies.
Click to expand...

funny, i always noticed that on african dub vol 1, too... the faint background voices.... strange..... i always wondered if it was intentional, but i doubt it, it's not a wild dub record like vol 4 is...
 
B

Brother Randy Hickey

formerly Dubversion
i've got some 5" singles Sympathy For The Record Industry put out - El Vez, Man Or Astroman?, that sort of thing. Even with short tracks, the quality is pish, but then it's garage rock so it doesn't matter a whole lot :D
 
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