Any recomendations for CUTTING a 49min LP (UK?)

[Johnny Dance]

hi all quick question

We have had a record mastered already (acoustic, so minimal limiting lots of headroom etc...) with vinyl in mind, but it was not CUT to vinyl: we have the digital masters.

It's 49 mins long, so on the long side. when we got the test pressings back it was waaay to quiet (I knew it would be quied but this was quieter than expected).

Does anyone know of anybody in the UK who could cut a copper at 49 mins? we have a place to get it made, would like a better cutting

Thanks for all the help!

[Technologyworks]

I think you will struggle to get what you want with a cut of that length.
Any possibility of trimming down the tracks to get shorter sides?

[jamesp]

Are you prepared to accept a little less bass? Bass can often take up a fair bit of space and removing a couple of dB could give you the option of more level.

Why not do an attended cut and take both the mastered and unmastered version with you. I suspect that you might get better results from the unmastered version as the cutting engineer can then tweak the sound to exactly match the capabilities of the lathe.

James.

[MAzevedo]

You've got a long album with lots of dynamic range. It's going to be quiet, it's just the physics of the media and I don't think cutting a metal master is going to fix that. Now, without hearing it I can't tell you if it's unreasonably quiet for what it should be or if your expectations are wrong. If you need vinyl and loud with that kind of program, put it out as a double LP. Or you might want to consider a CD, you can actually make a CD with wide dynamic range contrary to common practice.

[duomo]

49 min per side ??? thats way too long ! I´ve cutted sides with 30 min here went out well ( we have no copper lathe) but if you have a DMM Lathe you can go up to 35 -36 min with the same level, but not longer. In your case, if it has to be that long its better to compress a little more, because the distortions depending on to much limiting and compression are hearable at higher levels only. So its better to have some loudness in the master. And reduce bass !!
But you'll get a cut with around -8 dB under nominal level anyway...
good luck !!

[dietrich10]

DMM copper or lacquer there is not much to make it a louder cut unless your original record is safely cut and too quiet. I've found even 22 minutes a side can be cut at a good level for non-dance music.

You should really try to shorten the sides if possible as above

[Laarsø]

Originally Posted by Johnny Dance

hi all quick question

We have had a record mastered already (acoustic, so minimal limiting lots of headroom etc...) with vinyl in mind, but it was not CUT to vinyl: we have the digital masters.

No lacquer or copper cut yet means no mastering done, yet. Only premastering. Just saying.

Originally Posted by Johnny Dance

It's 49 mins long, so on the long side....

Not at all; it's a short double-album. You need to chop off the weak numbers (and you know that some of them must be weak... c'mon 49 minutes??? Who is the artist? Leo Kotke???) or have the clerk cut four sides (for pressing as a double-LP), simple.

Don't go over 23 minutes per side or expect to be underwhelmed.




Cheersø,
Laarsø

[MAzevedo]

I'm pretty sure he's saying the whole album is 'on the long side' and has a 49 minute run time, not that the long side of the album is 49 minutes.

[IIIrd]

Originally Posted by Laarsø

No lacquer or copper cut yet means no mastering done, yet. Only premastering. Just saying.



Not at all; it's a short double-album. You need to chop off the weak numbers (and you know that some of them must be weak... c'mon 49 minutes??? Who is the artist? Leo Kotke???) or have the clerk cut four sides (for pressing as a double-LP), simple.

Don't go over 23 minutes per side or expect to be underwhelmed.




Cheersø,
Laarsø

Depends on the content really...I've cut some very loud classical albums with 29 min sides...49 mins isn't too long, 24:30 per side.... You wont know until the engineer's had a go. And copper wont give significantly more level...it's only a little more economical and may give you another % of disc...

[Johnny Dance]

Thanks guys for the comments

Yes it was 49m in total (not per side)

I do realise that db will be a quieter given length but levels on the test pressings were really low

the master we had done IS for vinyl

Once again thanks for all the help...

A double is something we had been thinking about as well

[duomo]

Originally Posted by MAzevedo

I'm pretty sure he's saying the whole album is 'on the long side' and has a 49 minute run time, not that the long side of the album is 49 minutes.

AHH..... missunderstanding

[Paul Gold]

With long sides the pressing is more important than the cut. You can cut just about anything at a low level. You have to hope you get a quiet pressing. No way to test that except to do it.

[Johnny Dance]

Ok thanks guys. Nwill keep this all in mind. Wish me luck!

[jamesp]

Originally Posted by Johnny Dance

the master we had done IS for vinyl

The only true master for vinyl is the master disc. You have someone's guess at what the vinyl mastering engineer will want to cut from.

James.

[huejahfink]

Originally Posted by jamesp

The only true master for vinyl is the master disc. You have someone's guess at what the vinyl mastering engineer will want to cut from.

James.

They could also potentially take educated decisions in preparation for the cut, rather than 'guess'.