Making Vinyl Europe 2024

When the Making Vinyl Conference starts the second edition of the Haarlem Vinyl Festival will be history and we have no doubts it will have been as fantastic and humbling as the first one in 2023. In celebrating the resurgence of vinyl records and their cultural significance the festival is set to provide a platform for fans and professionals to come together and share their passion. It doesn’t need to be said that the approach resonates perfectly with us here. So let’s have a moment together to recap what we might have been part of or missed, depending if you made it in time to the beautiful city of Haarlem or not. Anouk Rijnders, CCO of Record Industry will share insights and a review with us. Anouk plays a key role not only in the worldwide manufacturing family but also in creating, organizing, and conducting the Haarlem Vinyl Festival. Let’s dig into insights about the past present and most importantly the future of the festival.

Performance: Mathijn den Duijf
Introduction: Matt Drayton, RTM Industries & Anouk Rijnders, Arton Studio
In this lecture-performance, Mathijn den Duijf will highlight the benefits of using magnetic tape in studio and listening environments. He will share his passion for tape, which he believes can be highly valuable for music professionals, students, and listeners. Using listening examples from well-known recordings and live performances (interludes) by myself, the demonstration will show that tape and analogue recording have a unique standing and a promising future. For instance, during the lecture-performance, Mathijn will explain that tape offers unique possibilities leading to distinctive musical results. If you, as a musician or producer, seek originality, you might consider using tape as a compositional tool. Instead of relying on a screen, you use your musical ears to create new material. This approach alone can lead to new discoveries within your creative mind.
Furthermore, Mathijn emphasises the importance of familiarizing new generations, such as music students, with tape and analogue studio recording. As a music producer and teacher, Mathijn consistently manages to impress and shock listeners with the unparalleled audio and musical quality of a well-produced analogue recording on tape.

How to deliver audio-files to the alchemists of the magical art of Disc Mastering in 2024? Digital tools for analog disc mastering by Tokyo Dawn Records.

"SimuLathe has changed the game completely. It’s the best addition to my lathe since upgrading my pitch computer." Greg Reierson (Owner rareformmastering.com)  "absolutely sublime, I honestly cannot see myself cutting master discs without it going fwd" Tim Xavier (Owner manmademastering.com)  "a gamechanger for cutting room and peripheral departments." Kamil Kaczmarek (Head of Cutting Department opticaldiscmastering.eu)  "better cuts in less time with less mistakes." Josh Bonati (Owner bonatimastering.com)  "nice to see something so difficult executed so well." Paul Gold (Owner saltmastering.com)

Presenting the next Beta-Version in the "SimuLathe" family.

"Simulathe Cut Prepare" - check and prepare digital audio for a vinyl release - easy and fast. The small standalone App gives a clear "pass or fail" indication for each project, helping to identify and communicate potential issues with the client and the cutting room early in production. It avoids costly delays and rejected test-pressings, and utilises the capabilities of a virtual disc mastering room to prevent pitfalls early in production. It helps Disc Mastering Studios do their magic job faster and better by delivering perfectly prepared audio-files.

"We realized the potential for such a virtual lathe, with Helmut helping us understand a disc-mastering engineer's true challenges and motivations. This is how SL developed, a sort of 'flight simulator' combined with new audio processors developed exactly for the disc-mastering context." (Vladislav Goncharov and Fabien Schivre, TokyoDawnRecords audio plugin development.)

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In 2022 we proudly presented a Beta-Version of the Software "SimuLathe" at Making Vinyl Offenbach.

It has gained high respect amongst professionals in the following. SimuLathe Workflows were installed and trainings on Model Assisted Disk Mastering were attended by large players in the industry and the finest boutique mastering rooms - Vantiva, Sonopress, Optical Disc Mastering Warsaw, Schnittstelle Berlin, Man Made Mastering Berlin, Josh Bonati Mastering NYC, Bob Weston Chicagomastering, Greg Reierson Rareform, Dietrich Schoenemann Complete, Paul Gold Saltmastering, Clint Holley Wellmademusic, Flo Kaufmann FloKaSon, just to name a few.

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In 2024 we present the next Beta-Version from the Labs: "SimuLathe Cut Prepare".

Ensuring that a wave file is properly prepared for vinyl production is a crucial step before cutting a record. "SimuLathe Cut Prepare" is an easy standalone tool, seamlessly integrating into any workflow. It gives a clear "pass or fail" indication for each project, helping to identify and communicate potential issues with the client and the cutting room early in production. It avoids costly delays and rejected test-pressings.

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Is this good for a cut?
Ensuring that a wave file is properly prepared for vinyl production is a crucial step before cutting a record.
During analog disc mastering, which involves carving a physical groove into a blank record, some audio files perform better than others. Not every "wave file" has the potential to create a high-quality, well trackable record groove.
Some files may need adjustments to the original sound to achieve durability, clarity, and overall audio quality in the groove.
Each cutting room and pressing plant has its own profile and specific set of guidelines to explain these requirements, typically outlined in complex technical documents. Understanding and fulfilling these can be quite a challenge.
SimuLathe Cut Prepare is an easy tool that gives a clear "pass or fail" indication for each project, helping to identify and communicate potential issues with the client and the cutting room early in production. It avoids costly delays and rejected test-pressings.
You do not need any special engineering expertise to use it, and it seamlessly integrates into any workflow.
Simulathe Cut Prepare allows for the creation of instant digital test pressings by specifying the key parameters:Record size, rpm, cutting level, and Cutting studio profile.
Simulathe Cut Prepare generates a virtual groove and detailed measurements for groove width, velocity and disc usage, ultimately delivering a “pass or fail” result.

A "pass" indicating that the audio-file meets the requirements for a successful vinyl production and can be cut according to the client's preferences.
A "fail" indicating that problems are detected, the record doesn't have sufficient space, the grooves are too wide or even the cutter head is at risk of damage.
By adjusting the target parameters and running another virtual cut potential solutions can be explored and discussed with the client and the cutting room. Custom profiles can be created to suit specific requirements. It saves time and resources that would otherwise be spent on physical test pressings.
And this is how it works.
Once you've added and organised the audio-files, you will need to adjust the target parameters for level, cutting room profile and rpm before initiating the cut on the virtual lathe. In the background, Simulathe Cut Prepare takes care of setting the gain, filters and lathe set up as well as making precise measurements of the groove. It compares the results with the requirements for a successful vinyl production, and indicates whether it is a "pass" or "fail".
You can modify the target parameters until you achieve "pass" and proceed to export the files for the client and the cutting room.
Simulathe Cut Prepare utilises the capabilities of a virtual disc mastering room to provide improved options. It prevents pitfalls early in production. It helps cutting rooms do their magic job better by getting better prepared productions that meet their requirements. However, it is not an AI monkey replacement for cutting engineers.
The ultimate responsibility for decision making lies with individuals by combining the tool's capabilities with human expertise.

This insight session will delve into the different sides of the vinyl industry. First off, an update will be presented on the interim survey results from the collaboration with Making Vinyl and the VRMA to look at trends within Global manufacturing volumes, understanding where around the world LPs are being pressed, defining size of plants, what does export levels look like and lots more. The second half of the presentation will focus on consumer trends taken from the latest (July-24) Audio Tech Lifestyle survey, looking at who the vinyl buyer is, value collectors bring to the category and also what other audio media are they engaged with.