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The Experience Of Vinyl

This short essay was produced by The Bearings Guide. I think it is good stuff and figured you may enjoy. So....enjoy.

In our fast-paced, consumer-centric world, more and more people are looking for reasons to slow down – to actually experience something, instead of indiscriminant consumption. In the realm of music culture, nothing epitomizes that desire more than vinyl – appealing to those who take the time to listen, whether playing a record alone in the still of the evening or letting the turntable warmly exude its sounds over the communal clanking of forks and exuberant laughter.

Vinyl is an appeal to listen – really listen – despite the hectic refrains of our own lives, and its revival is impossible to deny. Turntables now adorn the homes of both the old and young, and vinyl has been emerging as a medium of choice, with sales rising drastically since 2006.

There are several reasons for its resurgence, and they are on the forefront of Jay Millar’s mind, the Director of Marketing for United Record Pressing, which is the largest record pressing plant in the country. He is daily immersed in the business of vinyl, and views the appeal of it as a change that was inevitable.

“I think from a certain perspective, it's almost that the CD has been deemed irrelevant,” Jay says. “The CD is the convenient form of vinyl, and it has reached the peak of convenience and compactness, and those looking for something tangible are going back to vinyl.

” It’s a physical experience, comprised of buying it at the record store, breathing in the sleeve’s smell, appreciating the design of the artwork and gently setting the needle against the record grooves. Buying vinyl signifies a commitment, while the purchase of digital music can be done on a whim, through just a few clicks, often forgotten and untouched within the recesses of a hard drive.

Vinyl also differs sonically from digital, providing a warmer, fuller dimension, and Jay points out that vinyl is an analog medium, explaining, “An analog sound wave is more realistically a true wave, while digital music is essentially dots that are replicating that sound wave. In all fairness, they’re very close together, but there’s always a space; there’s something missing.” In fact, he went on to explain that the technology of vinyl is similar to the makings of our ears, and more closely resembles what the human ear can hear.

While there are many reasons vinyl is so appealing, devotees value the engaging, personable experience that a record provides, with the occasional crackling revealing the unique personality each album hides in it's grooves. “It's the warmth of vinyl and the magical sound that can only be created by a needle touching the record,” Jay says. “There's a lot more interaction. In some ways you grow with it, and it’s like a good pair of jeans. You know why that corner's dented and it’s scratched a little. You have a real interaction with the medium even if you're paying attention just to know when you need to flip the record.”