Vinyl Records & Turntables
In the last couple years, I have re-discovered my love for vinyl records and turntables. My first run in was when I was much younger and had fallen in love with Elvis Presley’s music after growing up listening to a lot of his music on the radio. Mumsy has almost all of his records on vinyl and we would put them on the turntable and listen for hours on end.
Fast-forward to my birthday in 2015 and I asked for a turntable along with some records. I absolutely love the sound of vinyl. My great uncle had a working theory that vinyl is the purest form of sound when the music is recorded directly to vinyl instead of being digitally recorded and then put onto vinyl. He even argued that it was better than MP3s. But this isn’t why I love vinyl.
Listening to vinyl connects you to music in a deeper sense, or at least to me it does. It’s the purest way that an artists can connect to us as people. I absolutely love listening to Florence + the Machine on vinyl because I swear it sounds completely different from the CD/MP3. I’m hoping to soon add Lady Gaga’s Joanne to my vinyl collection because I’m almost 100 percent certain that it will be a treat and a half.
Now you may think my collection is mostly repressed, but it’s actually a mix. For those of you who don’t know repressed just means that it’s been updated digitally and then pressed into vinyl again so it’s not an original pressing from when it was originally released. I have a few that are newer re-releases of albums but then I have inherited a bunch of originals from my Great Uncle when he passed away. I mean Led Zepplin, AC/DC, Pink Floyd… Just so many good rock bands.
Alas my turntable decided to hate me and killed itself. So I’m planning on getting a new one for my birthday. I don’t have a lot of requirements for my turntables. It just has to be able to play my LPs which are heavier than normal 33 records. I also just simply want it to plug into my large sound system so I can listen to my Frank Sinatra records properly – tiny speakers do his beautiful jazz no justice – and for it to also be able to plug into my computer and let me rip the music so I can have it in my iTunes. I like to have my clicks and pops and white noises even when listening in the car. Plus the original recording is always the best.
Vinyl just makes me happy. I don’t know if it’s just the way the music sounds or if it is the feeling of being closer to the artist and their feelings about the music they’re creating. There’s just something about listening to the great albums on vinyl and then even getting to enjoy newer bands on vinyl. Sadly I missed Record Store Day this year because I was sleeping off work, but thankfully every day is practically record day to me because of my beautiful collection.
What are your favorite ways to listen to your music?
