how vinyl records work

Vinyl records are physical media for storing sound recordings. They are made from a plastic compound called vinyl and are cut with grooves. A record player has a needle, also called a stylus, which is placed on the record and follows the grooves. As the needle moves, it vibrates and creates sound waves. The grooves on a record are engraved with a continuous, spiral pattern that starts from the edge of the record and spirals inwards. This pattern is known as the ‘lacquer master’, which is the original recording of the sound. The needle follows the pattern and translates the vibrations it picks up into sound. Think of a record as a long, continuous audio track. As the needle travels along the record, it’s like the needle is playing different parts of the track. The larger the record, the longer the track. A fun fact about vinyl records is that they were the first type of media to be mass-produced. They were invented in the late 1800s and have been around ever since.