Z E N I T H R E C O R D S
We live in a fast world these, we get what we want when we want it.
Zenith Records is a small factory trapped in a different time period where things
weren’t instantiations and everything took time and patience. Even though we can click a virtual button and have an entire album on any device we choose within seconds, people still willingly go out of their way to buy vinyl. A true
testament to the dedication and appreciation of the craft and of the vinyl record.
The first step in making a vinyl record is to convert the digital tracks from nothing more than compressed code into a physical grove that
contains the sound. Some tweaking is needed to the new digital tracks
as some digital frequency’s need to be removed or added depending.
Zenith has the latest and most cutting edge equipment used for this process, this meaning that their conversion machine was built in the late
seventies. There are no one click presents and modes but rather large
plug in presents required to convert to different record sizes and speed.
These machines are almost impossible to find, Zenith has one of three in Australia with the other two being in audio museums and not in use. This
means that everything has to be done with extreme caution and mistakes
have to be avoided as replacement parts don’t come up often and the men and women who designed this machines are either dead or unreachable.
Once the digital files have been corrected the conversion can begin, the technician will cut a master record into a fresh clean vinyl plate using an
extremely sharp and tiny diamond needle. Monitoring the whole process and if needed to live mixing anything that needs to be corrected as the
waveforms of the files are converted and etched into the fresh master record.
Sometimes after the digital conversion there are still issues with frequencies that
simply don’t work on vinyl and create a popping sound or a spike. To remove these after the master has already been etched the technician will view the master record under
a super microscope and identify where the frequency spike is physically, then mark that spot with a razor blade just enough that it will push the spike back down into the
vinyl and eliminate the mistake but still preserve the rest of the sound on the records.
The next step is to create a master plate that can be fitted to the pressing machines. This has the master record that was just cut to be bathed in a special chemical bath
of zinc. This can take up to 48 hours and needs to be watched and taken care of throughout the proccess. Galvanizing the record in a thin but strong metal coat, this
is then removed like the top of can of soup with what is essentially a giant can opener.
Peeling away the metal casing carefully reveals the master record inside in the same condition as it was when it went into the bath and the new metal plate to be an exact
copy of the records grooves. After a lot of polishing and trimming of the metal plate it can finally be fitted into the pressing machines to be used in the last step of production.
The final process in creating a vinyl record can also be the most time consuming. The metal
plate that was produced from the mast record needs to fit to the pressing machine and this can take hours sometimes for no other reason than the machines are old and temperamental.
They require a lot of love and patience, trimming of the record and machine new parts every now and then just to get the plate to securely stick to the top of the pressing plate.
The master pate has to be polished over and over again to make sure that there is absolutely no dust on it as even the smallest speck of dust would create a spot on the record and distort the sound.
Once the master plate is finally installed the test pressing can begin. A melting machine is fed granules of raw PVC and vinyl and it churns out a black putting that can be grabbed
by the handful for a short period of time and placed on the pressing plate of the machine, the lid is pulled down and a massive amount of heat presses and flattens the grooves
from the master plate into the black putting. Shortly after water rushes through the plate cooling it down rapidly and hardening the putting into the black disc that we all know.
The record is pulling from the machine quickly whilst it still holds a small amount of heat
before it sticks to the master plate. Then placed on a spinning can opener like machine the record gets it edges trimmed won and sharpened by a super sharp razor blade, the record is then pulled from the machine and inspected thoroughly to check for any mistakes. If the
record is fine it gets labeled as a test and kept on a stack for archiving, if not the record gets thrown into a waste bucket and melted down to be recycled in another test later on.
After many tests and adjustments we finally get left with a finished and perfect vinyl record.