The Master
The quality of your master is easily the most important factor. We can work with CDR, or audio files.
Your master should have been fully edited in a professional studio, with the tracks as you want them to sound – without excessive bass or treble (this will avoid problems at lacquer cutting stage). They should be in the correct order and have gaps between each track, usually about 3-4 seconds. Please indicate track running times and which tracks should go on which side of the record.
Lacquer Cut
The lacquer is a soft oil-based master copy from your master tape. The vinyl format does have physical limitations. Your dynamics of your master may have to be compressed or limited in order to prevent the needle leaving the groove at play-back.
Supplying your own Lacquer
Make sure a catalogue number is etched on the lacquer, and take note of which tracks you have cut on which side so the labels can be adhered to the correct side.
Lacquers have a short life and can begin to deteriorate in days. DON’T HANG
ABOUT – get your lacquer to us for processing as soon as possible. If, for any reason, the lacquer needs to be stored it should be in a cool, regular environment particularly avoiding warm temperatures.
Recommended Maximum Playing Times
Our cutting engineers recommend the following maximum running time per side of vinyl:
12” Singles 9mins at 45RPM 13 mins at 33 1/3 RPM
7” Singles 4 mins at 45RPM 5 ½ mins at 33 1/3 RPM
Exceeding theses maximums will result in lower volume levels, a poorer signal to noise ratio, and possibly distortion.
Processing
This involves making metal plates from the lacquer and producing a stamper which will be used to press the records.
This process simply copies the music present on the lacquer – no alteration can be made to the sound at this stage.
Test Pressings
From the stamper we will produce test pressings and send them to you for checking. We will then await your approval before going ahead with production.
There will inevitably be some loss of quality in the transfer from tape to vinyl, though this should be very minimal. Please remember that you probably heard the master in a highly sophisticated studio facility, and may be listening to the test pressing on domestic hi-fi. If you really want to check the quality, listen to it on professional test equipment at the studio where the master tape was recorded.
Centre Labels & Sleeves
Things to remember…
- Always include a catalogue number on the centre label, spine, and the back of the sleeve. Even if you are using a picture sleeve for a 12″ single,
- It is worth including the barcode on the label, as you may wish to sleeve small re-presses into plain “stock sleeves”.
- All releases must now carry a barcode. We can supply barcodes either as TIF files or numerically. You can find more information about barcodes and artwork here.
- Sleeves and labels should include a country of origin statement (“Made in UK”, “Made in France” etc). This is a customs requirement for many countries who may import your records. Currently we press 7” in the Czech Republic, 12” in France, and CDs in The United Kingdom. Please contact us when you are about to complete your artwork to confirm the country of manufacture.
- Make sure images only contain the colours you intend to print. If you are working in four colours, make sure all included bitmaps are saved as CMYK.
- Unless it is very apparent, make sure you indicate which label goes on which side of the record.
- If you are inexperienced at laying out artwork for print PLEASE use a professional designer. A little outlay in design at this stage can save you large re-proofing charges.
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