Making gramophone records

In 1887, German American inventor Emile Berliner (1851–1929) introduced the gramophone, a technology for recording and playing back sound. 

But the machine was just half the equation. The grooves inscribed in records stored the sounds that gramophone machines played back. 

Early recording involved etching grooves in wax discs. As the turntable spun it also moved sideways under the ‘cutting head’, the stylus slicing a groove into the wax from the outer edge toward the centre.

Once cut, the wax discs—now ‘masters’—were inspected and processed. In this photo, we can see two technicians carefully inspecting the grooves of the wax master to ensure the absence of obvious flaws that might spoil the recording.

The result? A copper negative that could be used to stamp grooves into a record.

To help ensure the longevity of the stamp, the copper was plated with nickel and a heavy steel backing was affixed to each stamp. Here, a technician uses hydraulic pressure to affix a backing.

Until at least the 1940s, gramophone discs were pressed in shellac. This photo shows a worker feeding the shellac mixture through hot rollers, making it pliable and ready for pressing.

Once pressed and hardened, stacks of records were individually trimmed...

... wiped clean of dust and shellac fragments...

Making records was just one part of a larger equation. Record companies also had to meet increasing demand for gramophone machines.

Here, technicians at the HMV factory in Hayes, Middlesex, work to complete more than 20,000 gramophone players due to ship over the coming days.