Know those records that you insert into a vinyl record player? Basically those, but pirated since a real one costs money when you purchase them at official music retailers. It involves the process of obtaining a legal copy then using wax molds (to recreate a record) and specialized tools (prevent quality loss) duplicating the record. (Also, “Bone Music” existed in the Soviet Union by printing music by using x-ray films).
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My friend, a gifted and somewhat eccentric/obsessive mechanic, just got a job at a recording studio that produces records. The set up involves, among other things, a large boiler that produces pressurized steam, that is used in pressing the records. He is quite impressed with the fact that a blast of steam could “blast away your flesh down to the bone.”
He sent me a photo of the shop, which I assume is somewhat smaller than a large industrial producer that printed hit records back in the day. Still, its a lot of equipment, a major investment, just to pirate the vinyl records in order to…save money? Stick it to the man? Also, a high level of technical skill just to do it, ntm when one of these things breaks. I’m sure some whacko attempted it, maybe even succeeded in a limited way, but it is just not a very pirate-able medium.
others mentioning xrays to pirate vinyl reminds me of vhs.
as late as '97-98, we were still dubbing laserdisc anime to vhs with subtitles overlaid using physical genlock hardware (subs composed in the original substation alpha)
I’m old enough to remember when owning record players was the norm, but I don’t remember anyone pirating anything - they weren’t considered expensive. Cassette piracy in the 80s and early 90s - now that I do remember.
However, it certainly was a thing. In the USSR they figured out how to do it on discarded x-rays - which, I have to admit, is the most punk thing ever.
Most people I know bought records, but used reel-to-reel to copy them.
Later it was cassettes to copy them.
Never saw anyone try to copy the physical record itself.
If you don’t know what it feels like to try and save your prized In Utero cassette with a cheap BIC pen after it had been chewed up by your buddy’s car player, have you even lived?
I’d never heard of the discarded x-ray thing before reading your comment, and then it came up in a podcast I listen to about the world of marketing. This topic of this episode was Flexi Discs. Pretty neat topic I’d never heard of before.
You can apparently 3D print a record, although it’s almost certainly not worth the effort.
Ok. I just went down a wormhole and now what now doing this weekend.
Absolutely, just search for “vinyl” in the music section of any major torrent site.
I doubt that process would’ve been cheaper than buying discs unless you were distributing. Very time consuming too.
Even today LPs aren’t that expensive if it’s not a rare release. ~20€ is a very reasonable price for an album, especially if it’s an independent release or a small label. And you can find a ton of good condition second-hand discs for 5-10€
Bootleg records were a thing in Europe in the days of reel to reel tape as the only alternative. It wasn’t so much that people did it privately but people would try to make a buck through re-sale and especially on flea markets where oversight by the law was virtually nonexistent. Rare records have always been a thing. Bootleggers tried to profit off it.
I was bequeathed my parents’ record collection of about 200 LPs. One was a bootleg they kept, some rare Beatles stuff. Other ones were thrown away because the quality was bad or would have been deteriorating to a point where it became unlistenable.
I actually have some x-ray records from the USSR. The quality is kinda bad but they’re neat to have.
Back in the day (80’s) my buddy would make a copy of his import vinyl records to high quality cassette tape for me.
The Teenage Engineering vinyl cutter goes for something like $150 for a little portable home machine that makes 5" discs.
Probably at a time, but it would be stupid to do it now. Music is more or less free at this point and most people would just want a digital download. Vinyl is bought today mostly for keepsakes/to support the artist. You can probably get away with using one of those custom vinyl services for your own usage if you really want something in vinyl form.
A friend in college bought a vinyl lathe. It is difficult and you will get poor results without precise instruments.
If you buy bootlegs, you won’t easily be able to resell online. I got at least one bootleg, didn’t know it when I bought it, but now it’s forbidden to sell it on a well known international vinyl sales website… Record sounds great tho, so it’s fine.
It’s a copy of Marc Moulin - Sam Suffy by the way.
I don’t remember ever hearing of anyone copying vinyl records by direct impressioning like that. People made tape cassette copies all the time, and you could buy illicit cassettes from street vendors in lots of places. I think if someone wanted to make illicit vinyl records, they’d playback the original one the normal way, use the playback to cut a new acetate master on a cutting machine, and press copies from that.
LP cutting machines were professional studio equipment, bigger and more expensive than a typical hobbyist would have at home, but not THAT expensive in the world of other studio gear. The actual presses were industrial equipment and maybe you’d need a special relationship to get a legitimate one to press your pirate LP’s in volume. I expect that a suitable envelope of cash could create such a relationship quickly, but I was never anywhere near anything like that.
