World’s First Vinyl CD

Is it a record, is it a CD? It's both!

In this world of MP3s and digital DJing, it’s ironic that the first innovation in the world of vinyl AND in the world of CDs since, oooh, some time last century is brought to us by a techno DJ/Producer, Jeff Mills. His recent album The Occurrence is not even out as an MP3 – it is only released on a curious vinyl/CD hybrid format.

Of course, for novelty factor this scores 10/10 and for that reason may well be my first vinyl or CD purchase since about 2004. There’s every chance it will be my last ever, too. It’s certainly going to be my first hybrid vinyl/CD purchase! And this vinyl/CD artefact is certainly a novelty of course. Can’t see iTunes quaking in its boots at this new music format though, can you?

But I’m a digital DJ. Why should I buy it?

Apart from ‘cos it ain’t out on MP3, there are a couple of uses I can think of for it, especially if you’re a techno DJ. Just keep this handy 5″ disc in your gig bag with your laptop, controller and headphones, and if you ever experience a system crash half-way through a digital DJ set, you have the choice of two formats to throw onto the club’s existing equipment while you reboot.

Or, if you’re ready to start your digital DJing set but there’s a Dave Double Decks larging it on the club’s equipment, thus making it harder for you to set up, mix this little baby in, throw Dave out of the booth and you’ve got your required couple of minutes of peace to plug your lovely controller and laptop in, ready to start.

How Vinyl Records Are Made.....

Vinyl records have a unique place in the world of music media. Aside from their warm analog tone, vinyl is the only popular medium that is nearly impossible to create or duplicate at home – something that can’t be claimed by cassettes, CDs, DVDs, and certainly not mp3s.

Now, if you haven’t seen the exact process in how records are created, you might be surprised at how much manual cooperation is involved. From inspecting the metal pressing discs and the lacquered masters, to centering the disc for hole punching, you’ve got sweet old ladies who are meticulously making sure your music will sound great. And the actual assembly process, even with automation, is like something you’d see in a Detroit auto maker’s factory: heavy hydraulic equipment pressing hot platters into precision shapes, rotating slicers, and vacuum-assisted label placers.

You can watch the whole process happen, courtesy of Discovery’s “How It’s Made” – part two is where things get interesting.

Beat Fleet - New Vinyl Gaming....

Now as a music lover/artist kinda lol.... I saw this and was highly intrigued as to how something like this might work and what the principles of it were and having watched this teaser footage I can tell you, it looks like a cross between 80's gaming and that Dj hero thingy lol. But its actually very cool and I think that it could really work, all bar the horrible and slightly jarring noise of scratching the right hand deck to move... (you'll see what I mean)

Although details surrounding it are scant, take a look at this intriguing video showing music game Beat Fleet, which was created by a Zürich arts student and is controlled by time-coded vinyl.