Vinyl Record

Vinyl Records, also known as Gramophone Records, LPs, EPs, or simply Records, is one of the original analog formats for audio storage and playback, alongside the Phonograph Cylinder and Reel to Reel Tape. Of these three, it is probably the most famous and most widely used format. Its history began with the invention of the 78 RPM record in 1889.

The next advancement in records came in 1948, with the introduction of 45 RPM singles, which were much higher quality than 78 RPM, with a similar recording time of 3-4 minutes per side. In the same year, 33 1/3 RPM long-playing (LP) records were introduced. This allowed for a much longer playing time per side, at about 45-50 minutes per record, both sides. The term album was applied to this new vinyl record format because 78 RPM records would be sold in box sets, or "albums." However, the 33 1/3 RPM record allowed for only 1 or 2 records to be made, so the term was applied to describe the new LP releases that embodied the entire box set of 78s on only one or a few 33 1/3s.

The format was widely used until 1991, when it vanished from the mainstream. However, records were still being produced well throughout the 1990s and into the new millennium. They are currently experiencing a revival that began in the early 2010s, with Record Store Day being celebrated every year in April.

## Types

There are many types of records, mainly classified by diameter, speed, groove size, runtime, and the number of songs.

### Most Common Types

* 78 RPM 10" Shellac - these were most common from the 1890s to the 1950s. They span at a fast 78 RPM, and were made of shellac, not polyvinyl chloride like most records. They also used a larger groove size (coarse-groove), meaning a special stylus is required to play them.
* Edison Diamond Disc - most notable for their thickness. These span at 80-90 RPM, a very fast speed. These records also used a strange technology for storing information, in that the music was created from up-down grooves and not side to side like most types of record.
* 16" Transcription Disc - these large records were among the first ones to use the playing speed of 33 1/3 RPM, most commonly used on LPs. They were mainly used for radio stations to play back recordings and such. They also occasionally had the very unusual feature of tracking from the interior to the exterior edge of the disc, the exact opposite of common records.
* 20" Pathe Record - by far the largest records ever made. They span at the ridiculously fast speed of 120-130 RPM, making them the fastest overall aswell. Like some Transcription Discs, the spiral of sound information traveled from the inner edge to the outer edge. They were a commercial failure and were discontinued soon after being first released.
* 16 2/3 RPM Records - one of the slower record types. They were mostly used for voice recordings due to their lower quality. They were eventually discontinued because they were simply no longer necessary.
* 12" 33 1/3 RPM LP - one of the most common types of record, and one of the first to be made from polyvinyl chloride and use microgroove technology. They can hold up to about an hour of music on one disc. This was the most common types of record for album release from the 1950s to the 1990s, and are still used for albums today.
* 7" 45 RPM Single - the second most common record type. It also uses microgrooves, so the speeds of 33 1/3 and 45 can be played with the same stylus. This type was used for the release of a single song per side, hence the name "single." Playing time varies, with the shortest singles being about 2-3 minutes and the longest being about 5. The format is still used to release singles to this day.
* Colored Vinyl - most commonly used for LPs and singles, they are simply a variant of the black records with colored material.
* Picture Disc - most commonly with LPs, 12" or 10", it is a record of those sizes with an image or design on it.
* 10" 33 1/3 LP - a less common variant of the 12" LP, it is simply a 33 1/3 RPM record with the size of a 78 RPM shellac disc.
* 12" 78 RPM - A larger variant of the standard 10" 78, which at the size of an LP can hold more music.

### Oddities

* Flexi Discs - a fairly unusual record type in that they are paper thin and floppy. They generally do not sound as good as the more common types.
* 3 RPM - there was once a record that spun at the very unusual and slow speed of 3 RPM produced. Here it is.
* 5" Records - a very small type. Spins at 33 1/3 RPM.
* 2" Records - in contrast to Transcription Discs and Pathe Records, these were the smallest records ever made.
* Microgroove 78 RPM - name says it all.
* Glow-in-the-Dark - when left in light for a certain time and then exposed to dark, these records would glow.
* Shaped Record - records cut onto a shaped piece of PVC, mostly for Record Store Day. An example is the Record Store Day reissue of Toto's *Africa*.
* Hologram Disc - contains a part of the record where a hologram is embedded and can be seen from a certain angle.
* Random-Playing LP - an LP that would randomly choose a song off of itself.
* 7" EP - basically, if a 33 1/3 RPM LP and a 45 RPM single had a child, the 7" EP would be it. It plays at 45 RPM and is the size of a single, but contains multiple songs on a single side.
* Durium Record - a 78 RPM brown record type made of the material durium and issued by Durium Records.
* Goldentone - a 6" 78 RPM record targeted mostly at children.
* Timecode Record - possibly the only digital variant of records, it was included in Final Scratch, a disc jockey program.
* Quadraphonic Record - a format in the 1970s that had four channel stereo sound, an early form of 5.1 surround sound. It was a commercial failure due to prices.
* VinylDisc - a hybrid that was a CD on one side and a 33 1/3 vinyl record on the other.
* Voice-O-Graph - a payphone-like system that cost about a nickel to operate. The patron could speak to record onto a small record and then take it home.
* 12" 33 1/3 Single - if the EP was a lovechild between the LP and 45 Single, then this is their second child. This time, the LP's size and speed are dominant, but the runtime is only a single song like 45 RPM singles. Why did I make this analogy again? Because I can.
* *Lazaretto* - another record in a series of oddball releases for Record Store Day, made by Jack White. It has many strange experimental features, such as a dual-groove intro for a certain song, causing the possibility of two different intros, 45 RPM and 78 RPM hidden tracks in each label - making this the world's first three-speed record, and most notably, the angel hologram on Side B - making it the first holographic record.
* Seeburg Background Music System - 8" records spinning at 16 2/3 RPM with 2.5 inch spindle holes on them. They were meant to be sent back to Seeburg to be destroyed after they were used, so the ones that do survive are collector's items.
* Postcard Record - a postcard with music cut into it similarly to Flexi Discs.
* Variable Speed Record - a record that may spin at different speeds depending on the side.
* Multi-Hole Record - a record with multiple spindle holes intended to prevent slippage during cutting.
* Locked-Groove Track - records with sound recorded at the end of the deadwax. The most well known example was the Beatles with *Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band* in 1967.
* Backwards Spiral - records that the stylus travels from the label to the outer edge, the opposite of what most records do.
* Noise Reduction Discs - most commonly dbx, these records were designed to be played with lower noise and more dynamics by going through the noise reduction system.
* Chocolate Records - name gives it all away. A record that could be eaten. Who would say no to this?
* X-Ray Film Records - music was bootlegged onto x-ray film during the 1950s-1960s in the Soviet Union due to them banning Western cultural aspects.
* Book Records - a book with pages that were similar to Flexi Discs.
* Transparent Record - just guess by the name.
* Liquid-Filled Record - filled with liquid. These names are getting predictable.
* Single-Sided Record - music was only recorded on one side.
* Etched Records - could either be a single-sided record with an etched side B, or have a laser-etched pattern on the playing area.