I recently got the thought into my head that I would like to give record players a try. I think it stemmed from the fact that I was feeling a bit of a disconnection with my music. With everything being digital now, there is nothing tangible to associate with the sounds I'm hearing. What I like about records is the interaction. You pull out the big black disk, set it down on the turntable, and move the needle to your desired track. So much better than clicking buttons and skipping through tracks. And on top of that, you get the great full-size artwork that comes on the album covers. That sure beats some text on the screen.
I decided to indulge this notion by visiting a local record store, Twist & Shout. Its the kind of place you expect music to come from. It was filled with acres of new and used CD's and vinyl; mainstream to obscure; something for everyone. There were vintage stereo amps for sale and turntables along the wall to test out your latest find. I got the feeling that I usually get when I enter a bookstore and I want to pick up an examine every item there. But, alas, I did not. I had only intended to find a record or two that I really liked. It didn't take long before I had picked out 4 LP's and 3 singles and I decided to pay an leave before I started putting some things I own up on craigslist in order to fund my new habit.
After examining the contents of each package, the records sat in my closet for a few weeks since I had no way of playing them. This weekend I found some time to make it on to the local Goodwill circuit to search for my new turntable. I thought I was in severe danger of being disappointed; people don't buy many record players anymore so why would they give them away in great quantities. But I did spot one, only one, and it was quite a piece of work. It was built as part of a stereo system unit and so it had only a single propritary connector on the back. There were no audio outputs and there wasn't even a power supply in the thing. But for $7 how could I go wrong?
I got the thing home, chopped of the connector and spliced in RCA jacks for the outputs and dug up a 15V DC power supply I had lying around and wired that in. I fired it up, the lights came on, I got a nice hum from the speakers, but the table did not turn. The belt was gone. I could have tracked down a replacement, but then I would forfeit my goal of a cheap-as-possible record player. So I swiped some rubber tubing from work, glued it into a ring of the right size, and I was in business!
What a sweet sound I got, even from this cobbled together piece of junk. I love all the extras you get; the hisses, squeaks, and pops. It makes the sound so much more real and alive. What I love the most is the simplicity of the system. It's just a needle bouncing up and down on some grooves, a magnetic pickup creating an electric signal, an amplifier, and some speakers. It is so much more elegant than today's brute-force, over-engineered sound systems. I'm ready to grab a pair of headphones and disappear into a pile of vinyl for the rest of the evening.
Soundtrack: The Blues Brothers - Soul Man
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
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