Production of phonograph records

Physical mass production of phonograph records In the production of phonograph records – discs that were commonly made of shellac, and later, vinyl – sound was recorded directly onto a master disc (also called the matrix, sometimes just the master) at the recording studio. From about 1950 on (earlier for some large record companies, later for some small ones) it became usual to have the performance first recorded on audio tape, which could then be processed and/or edited, and then dubbed on to the master disc. Background The grooves are engraved into the master disc on a mastering lathe. Early versions of these master discs were soft wax, and later a harder lacquer was used. The mastering process was originally something of an art as the operator had to manually allow for the changes in sound which affected how wide the space for the groove needed to be on each rotation. Sometimes the engineer would sign his work, or leave humorous or cryptic comments in the lead-out groove area, where it was normal to scratch or stamp identifying codes to distinguish each master. Mass producing Production of phonograph records The original soft master, known as a "lacquer", was silvered using