Pressing Your First Vinyl Record: A Step-by-Step Guide
Before pressing your first vinyl, make sure you’ve covered these five crucial steps to avoid costly mistakes. From mastering audio to choosing the right pressing plant, this guide has everything you need to know for a flawless vinyl release.
Pressing Your First Vinyl Record: A Step-by-Step Guide
by Chris Robley of Reverbnation Blog
Want to hear your next album on vinyl?
Pressing vinyl is a common goal for musicians. And understandably so!
There’s something really special about vinyl. The tangible aspect of it somehow makes your music feel more real. The large packaging gives you more room to create a mood before listeners even drop the needle. And then of course there’s the sonic warmth.
Plus, recent data shows that vinyl sales can play a significant part in a profitable music career. That’s why we’ve worked to find a high-quality, affordable, and dependable vinyl-record manufacturing solution for career-minded musicians.
But before you press vinyl, there are a few things you should absolutely understand!
What you need to know before you make a vinyl record
1. Your album should be mastered for vinyl
Vinyl is a unique beast. And sound gets etched in those grooves in a way that requires dedicated mastering. In order to make the most of vinyl’s unique audio properties, have your mastering engineer do a separate master specifically for vinyl.
In fact, knowing you’re going to press your album on vinyl could even impact the way you MIX your music. For instance, it’s often recommended for vinyl that bass and low-end frequencies be centered in the mix. (No hard-panning).
Be sure your engineers understand this relationship between the vinyl format and the audio embedded on it.
2. You may need extra design
To put this simply, vinyl packaging is big! Much bigger than CD. And often with different components than a CD.
The plus side is that you get a bigger visual playground. Which can help to build a more immersive vibe.
The downside is, you may need your designer to create a few more visual assets. Be sure to provide them with detailed specifications for vinyl record design.
3. Vinyl takes time!
If you’ve paid attention to the vinyl industry over the past 5 years, you may have heard that there are often long turnaround times at vinyl pressing plants, due to limited capacity and high demand.
There’s also the matter of approving your test-pressing.
All this means, pressing vinyl records usually takes a lot more time than pressing CDs. Plan accordingly, and leave some wiggle room for unforeseen delays.
4. Vinyl records don’t sell themselves
This is a harsh truth, but needs to be said: Just because you press vinyl doesn’t mean you’ll suddenly have fans or customers.
Most of the vinyl you sell will either move at gigs (so make sure you’re touring!) or on your own webstore (so make sure you’re marketing music online!)
If your existing fanbase is hungry for merch, and you’ve already gauged their interest in vinyl, great! You might sell out of stock before the record is even pressed.
Just don’t expect the format to work its own magic. You are the magic.
5. How to choose size, weight, & speed
There are a lot of options to consider when it comes to this format.
Vinyl comes in different sizes: 7-inch, 10-inch, and 12-inch.
You also have options when it comes to weight: 140 and 180g.
And it can also be played at different speeds: 33 or 45 RPMs.
The size, weight, and speed of vinyl will all impact how much music can fit per side, and the fidelity of the audio.
So be sure to understand each of those factors when you decide what’s best for your album.
Conclusion
There’s a lot to understand before you press vinyl. But thankfully all the info you need is easily available.
Plus, if you have great music, fans willing to purchase merch, and the dream to hear your next album on vinyl, then it’s a dream worth transforming into a reality.
