The
following exhibition features photos from a number of different years showing
the various stages involved in making records – the processes have essentially remained
the same. All the pressing-plant photos were taken at the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft
factory.
How is a record made?
During recording, the sound waves created by the performer are engraved into a recording material with a stylus.The workers at record-making companies then produce copies from those templates in galvanic baths. Ever since 1922 this has been done on the father-mother-son principle. The father is a negative copy of the master template, the mother is a positive copy, and then the son-negative, copied in turn from the mother (and also known as a “stamper”), becomes the matrix for producing the discs. Since 1897, discs had been made of a mixture of shellac, stone dust, cotton fibres and carbon black. From the second half of the 1950s onwards, polyvinyl chloride(PVC) – vinyl for short – was used as the basic material for records. The prepared material is put in a press, where printing is carried out using two matrices. Then random testing is carried out on the records before they are packed and dispatched.
The recording studio (c. 1965)Deutsche Grammophon
Matrix production
First the music is recorded. View of a recording studio from the control room (1950s).
Recordings are transferred to lacquered discs (1950s)Deutsche Grammophon
Tape recording replaced engraving in wax in the late 1940s. In a further production stage, the recordings are transferred to lacquered discs.
Lacquering of discsDeutsche Grammophon
The recorded lacquered disc which is to be reproduced goes for galvanic processing. The first stage in the process is the silvering of the disc to make it conduct electricity (seen here c.1960).
Electroplating (1920s)Deutsche Grammophon
Electroplating (1920s).
Electroplating (c. 1960)Deutsche Grammophon
Electroplating (1920s).
Heinrich Strecker: Drunt' in der Lobau Op. 290 (1936) (1936)Deutsche Grammophon
Heinrich Strecker: Drunt' in der Lobau Op. 290 (1936)
Separating two galvanized plates (1950s)Deutsche Grammophon
Separating two galvanised plates (1967) – this was a task that required very careful handling.
Matrix grinding works (1967)Deutsche Grammophon
The stampers are trimmed at the pressing plant (1957)…
Stampers (1957)Deutsche Grammophon
… and then carefully cleaned (c.1950).
Mixing device (1950s)Deutsche Grammophon
Material production
Mixer in which the components of the shellac compound were combined (1938).
Production of the record material (1938)Deutsche Grammophon
The shellac mixture was heated, rolled out, and cut into rectangular pieces (1938).
Production of the shellac plates (1938)Deutsche Grammophon
These were heated again (1938)…
Production of the shellac plates (1938)Deutsche Grammophon
.… and ended up in the press as slabs of shellac. The labels were pressed on at the same time – the same applies to records made of vinyl or vinyl pellets (1950s).
Record with pressed edge (1950s)Deutsche Grammophon
Record with pressed edge (1950s).
Visual examination of the records (1950s)Deutsche Grammophon
The records were then visually checked (1938).
Acoustic revisionDeutsche Grammophon
Audio checks (shown here c.1965) were done on a random basis.
Packaging of records (1926)Deutsche Grammophon
The packing process (1967).
Dispatching of the records (1938)Deutsche Grammophon
Dispatch 1909-style, using the original horse power!
Texts by Gabriela Kilian
Based on the exhibition 78, 45, 33 – vom sanften Ton zum starken Sound at Museum Energiegeschichte(n)
