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Image Credit: Amanda Ghassaei
With record sales at their highest level in the UK in the last 15 years, vinyl is currently experiencing a resurgence in popularity in an age in which many industry experts believed physical music to be superfluous to its digital cousin. Amanda Ghassaei from the tutorial website Instructables has used 3D printing techniques to create records which can be played on conventional turntables, paving the way for anyone to print their own music at home.
Good Vibrations
Record players work by placing a needle, (or ‘stylus’), on the surface of a record whilst the record is moved at a constant rotational speed - commonly 33⅓or 45 RPM. The stylus moves along a spiral groove, which has been cut into the surface of the record, and vibrates when it hits tiny bumps in the groove. The vibrations of the stylus are processed into audio signals which are then converted by speakers into sound.
发出声音
现代乙烯基的最古老的商业祖先是横向圆盘记录，称为基本唱片记录。该唱片首先在1880年代由德国出生的美国发明家埃米尔·柏林纳（Emile Berliner）创建和推广。在过去的130年中，随后的唱片设计的音频质量已显着改善，但是它们的制造方式几乎保持不变。
传统上，记录是通过将凹槽雕刻到扁平的聚氯乙烯（PVC）（通常称为乙烯基）中的平坦圆盘中制成的。此过程首先创建“踩踏”，这是由金属制成的唱片的负面版本。然后，将该踩踏放在液压压力机中的一块乙烯基的顶部。主记录的印象被印刷机推入乙烯基，然后再被冷水加固到成品记录中。
Print It Yourself
In 2012, Amanda Ghassaei, a developer at Instructables interested in exploring the limits of 3D printing technology, created an algorithm to convert digital audio files into three dimensional geometrical data. 3D printing is an ‘additive’ manufacturing process which allows objects to be built up a layer at a time from a variety of materials. By using her algorithm and a 3D printer, Amanda was able to produce prototype 33⅓ RPM 12” records which could be played on conventional turntables.
3D打印记录
Amanda’s algorithm works by using raw audio data to set the depth of the groove of the record. The shape of the audio waveform is described by a set of numbers which are then used to determine the depth of the spiral groove. This allows the stylus to move vertically along the groove in the same path as the audio waveform in order to replicate the original audio signal.
Next, a 3D model is created from the groove depth and some general parameters of records such as their diameter, thickness and groove width. The 3D model consists of a set of ‘triangular faces’ arranged in 3D space to create a continuous mesh which describes the shape of the record and the spiral groove.
Finally, the 3D model is exported into STL format, which can be understood by all 3D printers. Amanda used an Objet Connex500 resin 3D printer, to a precision of 600dpi with 16 micron z-axis resolution, in order to create the records.
The grooves on Amanda’s records were ten times wider and ten times deeper than commercially available records, due to the current limitations on how intricate a 3D printed design can be. As a result, the audio quality of the printed records was fairly low, with a sampling rate of 11 kHz -a quarter of the quality of an mp3 audio file. However, the audio which is produced is still easy to recognise.
欢乐师 - 混乱
2013年底，Bloc Party的Kele Okereke和歌手Bobbie Gordon使用Amanda的算法制作了一张名为“ Down Boy”的慈善单曲，这是世界上第一个商业发行的3D印刷唱片。
激光剪切记录
Amanda has followed up her work on 3D printed records by utilising a laser cutter to fabricate records by a ‘subtractive’ technique. Using an Epilog 120 Watt Legend EXT laser to a theoretical precision of 1200dpi, she was able to successfully ‘cut’ records out of various materials such as wood, acrylic and paper.
Although the finished laser cut records had sampling rates around 4.5 kHz, which is a lower quality than their 3D printed counterparts, the sound produced was still easily recognisable. The main difference between the laser cut records Amanda produced and the 3D printed records is the axis on which the grooves are cut.
Laser Cut Record
由于激光的功率在记录下切割矢量路径时无法控制，因此材料表面横向切割。这意味着手写笔只能平行于转盘的盘子振动。Amanda创建的3D打印记录是垂直“切割”的，导致垂直于盘子的手写笔振动。
革新音乐行业
这些创新技术生产记录的批评者可能会因为当前发出的声音质量低而忽略其价值。但是，值得记住的是，可以在线播放的第一首歌曲在其声音质量方面是可比的，但是Spotify等流媒体服务现在正在从力量到力量。
随着3D打印机预测在未来几年的价格迅速下跌，任何印刷乙烯基记录的概念都可能成为一种真正的可能性。这可以使艺术家能够录制，打印和分发自己的音乐的物理副本，而无需唱片公司在流程的任何阶段参与其中，从而彻底改变了音乐行业。
参考和进一步阅读