How to make your own vinyl record in Australia
Audiophiles are coming back to custom vinyl in record numbers, and it’s never been easier to make your own vinyl record onto wax.
It’s a simple tabletop device that looks like a record player. You put a blank vinyl record on the turntable, plug the device into any audio source using a minijack, press the start switch and record your tune straight to the blank, creating it into a brand new LP.
Impress vinyl produces customized vinyl records on demand. Select what music you want on your custom vinyl record and create your own cover art.
A true mark of credibility is no longer in MP3s, SoundCloud or streaming services. It’s whether you’ve gone to the effort to make your own vinyl record.
Are you wishing to listen to your favourite music on more than just a hard drive, then create your own vinyl, and we will help you to put together some procedures on how to make your own vinyl in Australia.
Consider these steps to make your own vinyl record in Australia
Save money
Getting into the vinyl game is a costly business. But asking a pressing plant to create your own vinyl record in Australia is certainly going to be cheaper than sourcing your lathe, digital to analogue converters, audio racks, and many more bits of equipment.
Our lathe records are ideal for significant releases. If you are looking for cost-effective pressing simple, order what you need, and we will help with the merchandising needs; a 7″ will be cheaper than 10″ & 12″. Press your own vinyl record in Australia and get your music cut to a vinyl record.
Minimum of 100 quantity should be placed, and you can shell out for more. If the music is good, a limited-run gives it an extra rarity. But if you’ve planned for producing an underground label and looking to do something a little meatier, say about 300–400 records. Impress vinyl is for you!
Choose your grooves
The essential thing to think about is the length of your music because that will decide what size custom vinyl you press. The shallower grooves will have a calmer record.
The closer cut to the vinyl centre will have a low audio level and more audio distortion. We recommend tracks longer than 5 minutes cut for 12-inch vinyl.
This also means you need to choose your track list carefully; as the needle is closer to the record’s centre, more inner-groove distortion will appear. So maybe think again about which track is A1 and which A2 if you create your own vinyl record in Australia.
What genre you’re creating can also influence the type of record you press. For instance, loud audio like drum’ n’ bass and techno should be cut at 45rpm, a speed best suited for singles.
The faster speed stretches the bottom-end out and prevents any needle jumping and distortion, decreasing the vinyl record’s time per side.
Mastering the vinyl
Many places come with a mastering service either in the cost or as an extra cost. But if you want to accomplish it yourself, there are several key items you need to keep in mind to create your own vinyl record in Australia.
Because vinyl is a physical medium, you’re going to experience distortion if the track contains any extreme frequencies.
Make sure everything from 250hz and below is in mono; otherwise, you will get ignored on playback because of the way those commonnesses cause the needle to move.
Don’t brick wall the compressor as it doesn’t communicate well to the analogue system or stylus, and they annihilate dynamics and cause warping.
Get rid of any sibilance (that’s the sss-sound) in vocal tracks. It seems evident, but you need to bounce down your music track in the highest quality possible.
Use 24 bit, 44.1 kHz, AIFF or WAV files during the process because no sonic information will be lost. Some services will cut MP3s but prefer not to.
Test pressing
Once you’ve chosen your pressing service, make sure the tracks are the right length and even get the all-ok on your perfect mastering techniques. Almost all services will send you a test pressing to listen to before going full steam.
Records are made of PVC. They go through the same processes as your main batch, meaning any issues in your mix will show up, and you can adjust. It’s also a good stage to make sure all the tracks are in the right order and on the right side of the record!
Press your own vinyl, but you can’t control what your end consumers will be listening to, but you can at least gain some perspective on how the cartridge or stylus, in particular, can make the record sound different.
Distribution
By now, you’ve got 100 records sitting in your basement, and you need to get records out there; it’s your music, after all! Welcome to the shady world of distribution.
While we won’t go into too much here as you’ve at least now got your vinyl record in your hands, it is an integral part of the process if you have been reading this piece in the hopes of starting a label.
When approaching a distributor, it’s always useful to outline the services a distributor offers and see if the financial commitment in blend with the work needed and they can put up with for at least 4 to 5 releases. Go for the distributor who handles most of the workload and distributes music from like-minded artists or labels.
The best advice we could give is to have a detailed plan ready. You want your distributor to be active from the start. Have 3–4 ideas of releases ready and chat with the distributor. See if you are both on the same page, and don’t be afraid to point out which matters are important for you.
You should get enough input from the distributor and feel the desire for them to work with you. On the other hand, stay humble and realize your commitment to succeed the label.
Start making your vinyl record
Press your own vinyl by choosing Impress vinyl, and we’ll take care of the rest and deliver your custom record to your door so you can start spinning. Each vinyl record is tested carefully by our sound engineers. We make sure that your vinyl sounds and looks excellent before shipping.
In house experts know how to make your own vinyl in Australia with a fast turnaround time, and we are home for world-renowned vinyl pressing. Delivered all around Australia and then onto the world.