From: Tom Churchill
> Can anyone recommend a UK pressing plant, looking at around 300 white
> labels.
They're not in the UK, but probably cheaper than any UK place: http://www.gzvinyl.com
They have a cool online quote generator too, and have a massive range of
options (vinyl size, weight, colour, locked grooves, etchings etc)
> Also does anyone have any advice on how to actually get your music from
> hard disk to vinyl?
>
> I'm assuming there's more involved than burning a .wav file to CD and
> sending it to the pressing plant.
Not really, unless you want to get it cut somewhere else. Here's the process:
1) Your master (DAT, CD, 1/4" tape, whatever - mastering studios can
generally handle any professional format) is mastered and cut onto
laquer. If you're cutting it somewhere different from the pressing
plant, this laquer is then sent to the pressing plant.
2) The laquer is then processed to form the metal stampers which
actually press the records.
3) The records are then pressed, labels printed (if necessary) and
applied, put into sleeves etc.
With a couple of exceptions (like MPO) most pressing plants have their
own cutting and mastering facilities and unless you're really fussy
about where it's cut and attending the mastering yourself you'll be safe
enough sending them a CD, and asking for a test pressing so you can see
how it sounds before they commit to several hundred records.
For the old Headspace releases, I got them cut at Loud Mastering in
Taunton (which is the mastering studio the Global Communication boys
swear by and always get their stuff cut) and pressed at MPO
(http://www.mpo.co.uk). But now I get everything mastered, cut and
pressed at Rand Muzik in Germany (http://www.randmuzik.de).
Another great mastering/cutting studio is D&M in Berlin, which is part
of the Hard Wax/Basic Channel/Maurizio/Burial Mix empire and where all
that stuff is cut. I cut the first Emoticon 12" and it's brilliant, if a
little expensive...
Cheers,
Tom
