How do gramophones work?

The Gramophone Player

Like other record players, gramophones read the sound with a small needle which fits into the groove in the record. … As the record turns, the grooves make the needle vibrate back and forth. These vibrations are transmitted to the diaphragm, which itself vibrates, creating sound.

How does a hand crank phonograph work?

A hand crank turned the cylinder to rotate the tinfoil cylinder while the needle cut a groove into it to record the sound vibrations from the diaphragm. … The amplified vibrations played back the recorded sounds. The recording medium used in the original phonograph was awkward to use and broke easily.

How does an old phonograph work?

How does a phonograph work? Sound is collected by a horn that is attached to a diaphragm. The sound causes vibrations in the air that travel down the horn causing the diaphragm to vibrate. The diaphragm is connected to a stylus and pressed into a cylinder covered in wax (or alternatively a thin layer of tin foil).

How do record players work without electricity?

The only players that don’t require electricity are hand crank players and those use a “horn” for the sound to come out and not speakers. … A record player needs electricity for the platter to rotate. It needs electricity for the transmitter to transfer the sound waves from the record to the speakers.

Will a phonograph play records?

No and yes. Old gramophones (like a Victrola) can “play” vinyl records, but it sounds ungodly. That’s because the needles on antique record players are thick and very heavy. They literally destroy a vinyl record.

Can you Overwind a gramophone?

Wind the Gramophone up fully, it should play a complete record side without slowing down or stopping, if it slows down this usually indicates a weak mainspring(s) or the grease around the mainspring(s) has become sticky and congealed over the decades. The mainspring(s) will need re-greasing or at worst a new spring.

Does a phonograph need electricity?

Modern record players and turntables need electricity to power the motor that spins the turntable. … Unless you have an antique hand-crank phonograph, your record player will require some type of electricity.

How do you record on a phonograph?

How are record players powered?

Turntables themselves are relatively simple machines: little more than spinning wheels powered by electric motors. The motor either turns the turntable directly using gears (known as direct drive) or using a thin rubber belt looped over the motor and the central axle of the turntable (known as belt drive).

What is the record player with the horn?

A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, is a device for the mechanical and analogue recording and reproduction of sound.

What does a phonograph play?

phonograph, also called record player, instrument for reproducing sounds by means of the vibration of a stylus, or needle, following a groove on a rotating disc. A phonograph disc, or record, stores a replica of sound waves as a series of undulations in a sinuous groove inscribed on its rotating surface by the stylus.

What can I do with my old record player?

Donate to a Thrift Shop

Drop off an unwanted record player at a local thrift store. Donating unwanted items extends their lifespans.

How does a phonograph needle work?

Essentially, the phonograph recorded and stored sound mechanically by etching sound waves (or more accurately, the electrical signal of the sound waves) with a needle, onto tinfoil cylinder. The cylinder was rotated by a hand crank and the needle moved to cut a groove into the tinfoil, recording the sound wave signal.

What is the difference between a phonograph and a gramophone?

Gramophone: Any sound-recording device, or device for playing previously-recorded sounds, especially if it uses a flat spinning disk. Phonograph: Any sound-recording device, or device for playing previously-recorded sounds, especially if it uses a spinning cylinder.

How did Edison invent the phonograph?

The phonograph was developed as a result of Thomas Edison’s work on two other inventions, the telegraph and the telephone. … Edison later changed the paper to a metal cylinder with tin foil wrapped around it. The machine had two diaphragm-and-needle units, one for recording, and one for playback.

How are LPS made?

Recordings are made in a sound studio, where engineered monitor and manipulate the sound using highly technical sound recording equipment. Once the sound is recorded on magnetic tape, a master disc is made of aluminum coated with soft black lacquer and called a lacquer.

Why is the phonograph important?

The phonograph allowed people to listen to whatever music they wanted, when they wanted, where they wanted, and for as long as they wanted. People began listening to music differently, people could now analyze lyrics in depth. The phonograph was also instrumental in the development of jazz.

Do vinyls sound better?

Does it sound better than an MP3? Absolutely – vinyl wins this one hands down. … Vinyl fans will argue that as it is an end-to-end analogue format, from the recording and pressing to playback, that it more closely reproduces what the artist originally played in the studio. Digital music works much differently.