Frontlines: Behind the vinyl frontier

We are living through a golden age for vinyl as the turntable strikes back. Since 2006, vinyl sales have been rising steadily. The global trade value in 2007 was $55 million, which shot to $171 million in 2012. This is especially impressive, considering other traditional formats are almost obsolete.

The vinyl charts make for fascinating reading. Daft Punk and My Bloody Valentine sold in big numbers last year. Coexist by The xx was top of the pops in the UK in 2012 while Jack White’s Blunderbuss finished number one in the US. Since the release of Elephant by The White Stripes in 2003, White has been a committed champion of the format.

“I think we are approaching a dangerous age of invisible music with MP3s,” White has said. “I am going to be very sad if that actually happens - if you don’t hold a real album in your hand anymore.”

Closer to home, plenty of Irish acts are getting in on the act. “I’ve made about seven or eight albums now with different bands,” says Steve Ryan from Windings and formerly Giveamanakick.

“I put out my first album in 2003 on CD. It was expensive to make a run of 1,000. The price of CDs subsequently went down and you had the advent of downloading. This made bands think about what they have to do with boxes of CDs under their beds. Especially independent Irish bands. No one wanted to buy a CD. If they did, they wanted to buy it for two bucks.

“Our idea, and everyone elses’s idea around the same time, was instead of getting 5,000 CDs done up, they’d get 1,000 to 15,000 records for the same price. It costs more to make. And yet they are much nicer to own. Also, you have to sit down and actively listen to it. I’ve sat at merch tables many times watching 7 “ singles fly out the door. The CD would be the same price but nobody would touch it.”

Where do you go to produce your own slice of vinyl and how much does it cost? Barry Lennon was heavily involved in Dublin-based independent label The Richter Collective. While the imprint is no more, Lennon runs the Irish wing of Disc Manufacturing Services.

“For your standard 7”, to press up 250 copies costs €695 excluding VAT,” Lennon reveals. “It’s an artifact that will last the test of time. I’ve Rory Gallagher vinyls at home that must be at least 30 years old. God knows how many hands they’ve passed through. And yet, they’re in remarkable condition.”

Brian Cash of Halves is also a vinyl lover.

“Nowadays you can burp into a microphone, put it on Soundcloud and call it a song,” he laughs. “From our perspective, we spend months and months crafting the best representation of what we do. We are traditionalists in the sense that we always see the end goal as being a nice black shiny disc people can listen to in their homes. The process of getting there is about making it sound the very best it can.

How does recording and mastering differ for vinyl release?

“Ironically, for such an old analogue style of music and delivery, it is the same as digital,” Ryan answers. “Mixing a track for CD, iTunes or even cassette is more or less the same. There’s a little difference in the mastering process where you have to tell an engineer to master it for vinyl. If it’s too bassy, it won’t work on some vinyl records. You have to bear in mind whether it’s a heavyweight vinyl or 33 or 45 rpm. There are a few things to consider.”

Steve Ryan notes that vinyl is particularly popular with young music fans.

“I work with Music Generation in Limerick at the moment,” he says. “I teach guitar to kids who are really into heavy rock and metal like Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. They will only buy things on vinyl and they’re not really into modern metal. They order it in an old school way. They put down a deposit and pay the rest when it comes in.”

”People who are 12 or 13 are getting excited about vinyl now,” Cash agrees. “I’m getting slightly disillusioned with the fact that I can listen to just about anything at the touch of a button. It is actually starting to get boring!”

“We grew up collecting everything from Beatles to Nirvana records. You still can’t beat the feeling of getting your own record back. It’s something that makes us feel very giddy and happy.”

We’ll leave the last word to the aforementioned Jack White.

“To the record stores, artists, labels, DJs, and journalists; we’re all in this together. Show respect for the tangible music that you’ve dedicated your careers and lives to, and help it from becoming nothing more than disposable digital data.”