In Praise of Vinyl

Before the modern conveniences that deliver music through cyberspace and MP3 players, before Compact Disks, before cassettes, before eight track even (now I’ve lost some of you, but stay with me), there was vinyl. Some of you may not be familiar with the record: a wonderful compacted circle of vinyl that fills the room with whatever song that has been pressed into its grooves.

Personally, I have a very modest collection of these throwbacks. Cultivated through garage sales and thrift stores and whittled by various moves, the collection I have now is one of those things I cannot image getting rid of. There are times I think that I do not need these records (those rare moment of logic I experience). In fact, I have most songs on my ipod, and let’s face it, I listen to that more than any record I own. I mean, it’s not as if I can strap on a record player as I work out or hook one up in my Jetta, right? So why do I keep my records?

The answer is quite simply because I love them. Many people mock the record for its scratched effect and white noise that it creates, not to mention many of the song mixes are laughable by today’s digital standard, but these are the reasons why I love records.

I love the absence of auto-tune, digitally adjusted guitars, drums, and basses, and perfectly balanced sounds. Although I know much planning and work went into making these vinyl fossils of music, the lack of polished audio perfection gives them a raw, almost spontaneous feel. A feeling that if I were magically transported to a Glen Miller concert, it would sound exactly like it does on the record.

Perhaps my imagination runs away a little too much, but I also get the idea that the artists and engineers had to be more creative in translating the sounds they heard in their heads to what could actually be recorded.



Brian Setzer paid tribute to Sun Records by recording from its early catalog of songs and using the same techniques as they used. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about his experience of recording in a bathroom or singing into can in order to achieve the sound he was after. I suppose I assume all artists had to be so inventive during the reign of vinyl.

Somehow records make me experience the act of listening to music more.