Vinyl Records
We are doing commodity-chain presentations in my Sociology class, and one presentation was on vinyl records. While the presentation itself had nothing much to do with our class, the history of the vinyl record caught my interest and started me thinking about the connection between sound and touch.
Vinyl records were in their heyday from about 1930 to the 1980's, and they are still quite popular today. The idea behind their invention was to get longer playing music available to the public. I don't want to get too deep into the technicalities, because I don't quite understand the significance of the rpm's, although I know that is the rate of rotation that produces the noise; I want to get into why vinyl records really became popular. Some would say it is because of the scratchy, crackly, velvety, smooth, warm, full sound. Others might say it is the tangibility of the actual records. You can organize your records alphabetically, by the colors on the jacket sleeve, by band, by genre, but the fun is in the touching and playing and handling of the record. I think vinyl records have a deep connection to both sound and touch.
You pick a record up off the shelf, take it out of the sleeve, maybe blow off imaginary dust, put it down on the turntable, lift up the arm, set it down and turn it on. I don't know what song you're playing, but I can imagine the sound (everybody knows that sound). It envelops you, and maybe sends you on some sound-tingly mind journey during whatever you happen to be doing. It is a very different sound from an mp3 on your computer, or from that pop song on the radio, or even the cassette tape you still have hanging around. It is an entirely different experience too, from all of those, since it is more physical than most of them. Of course you have to touch some buttons on your computer or the radio, and even pick up the cassette and put it into the slot, but the entire process of the vinyl record is physical. From buying it and taking off the plastic, to pulling it out of its sleeve for the first time, to flipping it over in your hands, to putting it on the shelf, to setting it up to play on the turntable. You have a connection to it that goes deeper than "it's just a good song." It is a good process, and one that ties your body to the sound. I think that is why vinyl records are so popular, and maybe even important in our lives today, because of the lack of touch we have with all our other music (not live music obviously), and the connection that that touch brings to us (Sound!). There is nothing quite like a vinyl record.
(I love The Doors.)
Vinyl records were in their heyday from about 1930 to the 1980's, and they are still quite popular today. The idea behind their invention was to get longer playing music available to the public. I don't want to get too deep into the technicalities, because I don't quite understand the significance of the rpm's, although I know that is the rate of rotation that produces the noise; I want to get into why vinyl records really became popular. Some would say it is because of the scratchy, crackly, velvety, smooth, warm, full sound. Others might say it is the tangibility of the actual records. You can organize your records alphabetically, by the colors on the jacket sleeve, by band, by genre, but the fun is in the touching and playing and handling of the record. I think vinyl records have a deep connection to both sound and touch.
You pick a record up off the shelf, take it out of the sleeve, maybe blow off imaginary dust, put it down on the turntable, lift up the arm, set it down and turn it on. I don't know what song you're playing, but I can imagine the sound (everybody knows that sound). It envelops you, and maybe sends you on some sound-tingly mind journey during whatever you happen to be doing. It is a very different sound from an mp3 on your computer, or from that pop song on the radio, or even the cassette tape you still have hanging around. It is an entirely different experience too, from all of those, since it is more physical than most of them. Of course you have to touch some buttons on your computer or the radio, and even pick up the cassette and put it into the slot, but the entire process of the vinyl record is physical. From buying it and taking off the plastic, to pulling it out of its sleeve for the first time, to flipping it over in your hands, to putting it on the shelf, to setting it up to play on the turntable. You have a connection to it that goes deeper than "it's just a good song." It is a good process, and one that ties your body to the sound. I think that is why vinyl records are so popular, and maybe even important in our lives today, because of the lack of touch we have with all our other music (not live music obviously), and the connection that that touch brings to us (Sound!). There is nothing quite like a vinyl record.
(I love The Doors.)
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