|
Please explain
what you are doing
What things should
I take care of to get the most out my record
Which plate format should I choose
What kind of material do you use
What’s the difference between your
records and an acetate/laquer/dubplate
What are the maximum playing times
What format should I send my material on
Is there any difference in quality between
your plates
Can I have different tracks on each side
Why is it so important for mixes to be
in phase and the bass being in mono
How do I know if my mix is out of phase
What does mastering mean
I want to get copies of my precious acetates
and vinyls - any tips for recording
I can't use LPs in a club, they pick up
feedback - can you help
I'm into DnB, will your records be loud
enough
Is there anything I should take care of
on an album or EP
How do you know that your plates will
last
How long are you doing this now
Will your 45s play fine in my jukebox
What is your turnaround time
What methods of payment do you accept
Name and shame
When are you on holiday
How much are 100 12inch records
How about the weight of your plates |
|
Please explain
what you are doing |
We
make one-off vinyl records, which don't deteriorate
- send us your music on CD, DAT, cassette or email it
(mp3 to vinyl) and we will put it onto a single piece
of 7inch, 10inch or 12inch vinyl. We don't do pressings
in large quantities, only custom records. |
What things
should I take care of to get the most out my record?____top |
| The
longer the music, the quieter it has to be cut.
Though we will always make it as loud as possible, we
suggest the following maximum playing times:
7” - 3-4min
10” - 5-6min
12” - 6-7min
Please leave about 2dB headroom on your tracks,
don't use any maximizing-plugins such as waves L1 -
we will make your tracks as loud as possibe in the last
stage of the mastering chain.
The loudness of your record has nothing to do with the
digital level on your master cd. It only depends on
playing time and bass content.
If the meters are at maximum and show
no real movement all the time, it’s impossible
to do any mastering without lowering the level first
– this will result in a loss of punch.
Try to avoid stereo bass and phase problems
(see the corresponding questions below)
Please note - there is no difference in
quality between small or large hole 7inch records. |
| Which
plate format should I choose?____top |
It
depends on the type and length of music
we recommend:
7 inch - band stuff/pop/rock/punk/reggae/soul/radio
tracks
10 inch - short dance tracks/reggae/dub
12 inch - dance tracks/drum&bass
Please note – a 12” will always
sound better than a smaller plate, this is due to the
higher groove speed at the outer grooves.
Try listening to any 12” record and compare the
beginning of the plate with the end, there will be much
more hi-end at the beginning.
For loud dance music with lot of bass
and loud hi-hats we definitely recommend a 12”
plate. Particularly for drum&bass, where loudness
+ lots of bass are most important.
Scratch records are preferably cut on
12inch, though sometimes a 10inch will do the job as
well. |
|
What kind
of material do you use?____top |
Our
plates are made of a pvc-compound, so hard that you
can play them as often as normal vinyls, but soft enough
to cut directly onto them as well. |
| What’s
the difference between your records and an acetate/laquer/dubplate? |
|
An acetate is an aluminium disc with a
thin layer of soft laquer.
The music is cut into this laquer, using a sapphire.
The playback stylus damages the laquer and the quality
deteriorates with each play, you can’t scratch
with acetates at all.
We are using a diamond to cut directly
into a harder material, therefore our dubs last like
normal vinyls and scratching is no problem, either. |
| What
are the maximum playing times for all type of plates____top |
| |
very
good |
ok |
possible
|
| 7” |
3
min |
4
min |
6
min |
| 10” |
5:30
min |
6:30
min |
8
min |
| 12” |
6:30
min |
8
min |
23
min |
|
| What
format should I send my material on?____top |
You
can upload files to our ftp server or send us your tracks
on:
-audio cd (44.1 kHz)
-cd rom (.wav or .aif - 44.1 or 96 kHz)
-high quality .mp3, .wma, .rm (44.1 kHz - minimum bitrate
128kbps)
-DAT (44.1 or 48kHz), (additional charges)
-DVD (additional charges)
[we currently cannot use audio cassette or minidisc] |
| Is
there any difference in quality between your plates?____top |
No,
the sound quality is equally high on all type of plates. |
| Can
I have different tracks on each side?____top |
Yes |
| Why
is it so important for mixes to be in phase and the bass
being in mono? |
Phase
is more or less irrelevant to cd but for best quality
vinyl cutting it’s very important.
If the mix is in phase, the cutter stylus will move
from left to right - if the mix is out of phase it causes
the stylus to move up and down. Too much up and down
movement will produce a groove that's too shallow or
interrupted. This will cause the playback needle to
jump.
Especially the bottom end is very critical.
If the bass is in stereo, the cutter stylus will leave
the surface of the record – the plate will be
unusable. |
| How
do I know if my mix is out of phase?____top |
Most
software has a built in phase meter: it should stay
in the positive range.
Try listening to your tracks in mono,
ideally there shouldn’t be a big difference when
listening to your tracks in stereo vs mono, if there
is – especially at the bottom end – you
might have a problem.
If you switch between stereo and mono, kick/bass should
stay in the center. |
| What
does mastering mean?____top |
|
Mastering means to improve the sound quality
and do necessary corrections.
We don't just insert some plugins - our experienced
engineers use state of the art analogue equipment and
full range monitoring to make your tracks sound great.
Mastering is included in all of our prices. |
| I
want to get copies of my precious acetates and vinyls
- any tips for recording? |
-Record
them at a good level, but never too high - The level
in your computer has nothing to do with the level of
your future record.
-Don't use the eq of your mixer, leave
it flat.
-Always record them into stereo files
- even if the tracks are in mono. This has to do with
the vertical movement of the cutter stylus and helps
us to get rid of clicks and pops more efficiently.
-Don't truncate the noise at the beginning
and the end of the track, leave about 1-2sec of hiss,
crackles and pops
-Use an elliptical playback stylus. It
will follow the grooves better than a spherical one
- this will result in lower distortions (especially
when recording tracks with loud vocals)
-On highly abused acetates (the ones where
you can see the metal coming through) it helps, to spray
them with water before/during recording. The stylus
kind of 'swims' in the groove, recording less noise. |
| I
can't use my LPs in a club, they pick up feedback - can
you help?____top |
Due
to it's length, the recording level on an LP is very
low - hence you need a lot of gain. On large sound systems,
this can cause the playback needle to pickup feedback.
The grooves are very shallow and dense, too - the needle
jumps quite easily.
The same tracks will be fine, when recorded
off this LP and back to another format. On shorter tracks,
even a 7" will solve the problem.
For recording an LP, please take a look
at the previous question. |
| I'm
into DnB, will your records be loud enough?____top |
Beginning
of 2003 we've spent about half a year cutting nothing
else than DnB - and learned to cut as loud as possible.
During this time, a couple of big name drum and bass
djs helped us to improve the quality of our records.
We know that very loud cuts are vital - especially if
you're playing in big clubs, where you can't mess with
the gains. |
| Is
there anything I should take care of on an album or EP?____top |
Put
the most important tracks first – every record
sounds best at the beginning (outer grooves). The quieter
tracks should be at the end of the record. |
| How
do you know that your plates will last?____top |
The
oldest existing plate is now about 9 years old and still
gets played in clubs regularly.
We’ve also tested a plate with a locked groove
by mounting a counter on the platter of the deck.
After thousands of plays, the quality deteriorated at
the same degree than a normal vinyl.
Many people scratched single sections of our plates
for 15min or more without having any wear whatsoever. |
| For
how long are you doing this now?____top |
We
have started our record cutting business in 2002.
Werner has worked as a sound engineer since 1988. |
| Will
your 45s play fine in my jukebox?____top |
Yes,
our 7" jukebox records behave very well in machines
like Wurlitzer, NSM, Rock-Ola, Seeburg, AMI, Rowe and
Chantal. We have small and large (american style) centreholes.
Because our records are very solid, they don't get warped
in valve-operated machines which generate a lot of heat.
We will ensure, that the mechanism of
your machine will work correctly (i.e. it won't cut
off the music too early) |
| What’s
your turnaround time?____top |
|
UK customers 2-3 days
EU customers 2-5 days
US and AU customers 1 week |
| What
methods of payment do you accept?____top |
All
major credit cards with PayPal. Cheque, money order
or bank transfer. |
| Name
and shame |
|
We sometimes do post records which have
not been paid for in advance. This is based on mutual
trust, so if you don't pay we will let people know about
your immature behaviour.
This happens after we write letters, emails and ring
about 10 times ...
Be careful
doing business with these people - they don't pay:
MAT
WILKINSON (singer/songwriter)
104 First Avenue, Bush Hill Park, Enfield, Middlesex,
EN1 1BP
phone: 07963 116910, email: crashmat666@hotmail.com
--------->
nice one - we paid for your b'day present, Kerry! <---------
CRAIG
DAVID DICKSON (21year old house DJ Craig Dickson)
24 Lansdowne Road, Longlands, Middlesbrough, TS4 2LN
phone: 07763 681941, email: cdpromo2005@hotmail.com
SIMON
LEIGH
73 Hampsfell Drive, Morecambe, LA4 4TP (Northern Soul
DJ)
phone: 01524 420064, email: simonicle@btinternet.com
he blames PayPal
but refuses to contact them ... |
| When
are you on holiday?____top |
Usually
in August and X-mas
|
| How
much are 100x or 1000x 12inch records?____top |
We
don’t do pressings, only one-off vinyls (everlasting
dubplates, custom records).
Every single record requires the same process - hence
they don't get much cheaper with quantity.
Our dubplate service is aimed at about 1-10 copies of
a track - a great substitute for testpressings. |
| How
about the weight of your plates?____top |
|
7” = 60g
10” = 115g
12” ultralight clear = 85g [currently
unavailable]
12” black + clear = 180g |
to
compare with normal records
12” vinyl = 130-185g
12” acetate = 240g |
| one-off
vinyl records home |
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