How do the grooves on a record make sound?

As the record turns, the stylus falls into the tiny cut grooves, causing it to vibrate. As the stylus vibrates, so does the cartridge that it’s attached to. The cartridge is a transducer, this creates an electrical current that changes depending on the stylus’ vibrations.

How do vinyl records create sound?

Vinyl record players are electromagnetic devices that change sound vibrations into electrical signals. When a record spins, it creates sound vibrations that get converted into electrical signals. Electric amps vibrate and feed the resulting sound into speakers, which amplify it and make it louder.

How do records have music on them?

Records are recorded onto a master, and then pressed into vinyl. Record players have a stylus, usually made from diamond or sapphire, which is attached to a tone arm (the thing you pick up and move to start playing a record). Many record collectors say the sound is “warmer” than digital music.

How does a record needle work?

How do record players work? A stylus touches the top of the record and rides around the disk. It picks up vibrations that are then sent to a cartridge, which then converts them into electrical signals. These signals are sent to an amplifier which converts the signals back to sound through speakers.

How do records spin?

An LP and normal records are virtually the same so they will both spin clockwise as they follow the grooves on the record. LPs can only play music by following the grooves in the records so the player has to turn the same way to get the music to play properly.

Which way does vinyl spin?

How does a vinyl record work?

The grooved vinyl record is placed on a turntable, which rotates at a constant speed, and a tiny stylus is placed in the groove. This stylus traces a tight spiral, leading it from the record’s outer edge to its inner diameter, following subtle groove modulations (squiggles) along the way.

What does pitch mean on a vinyl record?

To a vinyl-cutting engineer, “pitch” means “amount of space between grooves.” If a record’s grooves are too far apart, space is wasted and side length isn’t maximized. But if the grooves are so close together that they collide (a phenomenon called an overcut), skipping and mistracking become likely.

What do grooves look like on an LP?

To the naked eye, the grooves look like thin, even lines, but that’s not the case as you’ll see below. Your LP’s music is physically stored on the walls of the groove. Exact images of soundwaves (or undulations) are cut and imprinted on both sides of the groove wall.

How does the stylus work on a record player?

A typical record player has a stylus (similar to the needle in Edison’s machine) that bumps up and down in the groove of a vinyl ( plastic) disc. The stylus is a tiny crystal of sapphire or diamond mounted at the very end of a lightweight metal bar. As the crystal vibrates in the groove,…