An acetate disc (also known as a test acetate or, in the United States, a lacquer) is an audio disc that is created as part of the process of producing a gramophone record. A gramophone Acetates are produced from the master tape recording and represent an intermediate stage prior to the production of the master disc - the disc from which retail copies of the recording will be pressed. A master recording is an original Recording, from which copies may be made The purpose of the acetate is to allow the artist, producer, engineer, and other interested parties to check the quality of the tape-to-disc recording process and make any necessary changes to ensure that the audio fidelity of the master disc will be as close as possible to that of the original master tape. ^[1]

Material and packaging

The damage to the edge of this test acetate shows that the underlying material is aluminum, rather than the vinyl of a record sold at retail.

Despite their name, most acetate discs do not contain any acetate. An acetate, or ethanoate, is either a salt or Ester of Acetic acid. Instead, they comprise an aluminum disc with a coating of nitrocellulose lacquer. An aluminum disc (or aluminum disk) is a disc (disk made out of Aluminum and is used as a Transcription disc in Magnetic recording media specifically Nitrocellulose (also cellulose nitrate, flash paper) is a highly flammable compound formed by Nitrating Cellulose through exposure to (Glass was also used during World War II, when aluminum was in short supply. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including ^{[2] [3]}) This production process results in a disc that is different in many ways from the vinyl records sold to customers at retail. Whereas vinyl records are light and semi-flexible, acetates are rigid and somewhat heavier. More significantly, the thin coating of lacquer on an acetate is much more susceptible to wear; the playback head of a stylus quickly damages the grooves of the record such that after only a relatively few number of plays the audio quality is noticeably degraded. A magnetic cartridge is a Transducer used for the playback of Gramophone records on a turntable or phonograph. ^[1] This is not a problem, however, since acetates are only test pressings and are not designed to be able to stand the test of time.

Acetates typically come in two sizes: 10" discs for singles and 12" discs for albums. The record's sleeve is typically nothing more than a generic cover from the manufacturing company and the disc's label is similarly plain, containing only basic information about the content (title, artist, playing time, etc. ), which is usually typed but is often just hand-written. Many acetates also have a second hole near the center hole in order to indicate clearly that the disc is test acetate. ^[1]

Other uses

Test acetates have not always been used solely as a means of checking the quality of a disc recording. From the 1930s to the early 1950s, before the introduction of magnetic tape, recordings were often made directly to acetate discs, which then served as the master from which other discs were made. Magnetic tape is a medium for Magnetic recording generally consisting of a thin magnetizable coating on a long and narrow strip of Plastic. ^[3] Acetates were also used as a storage medium for radio commercials; since commercials only run for a limited time it doesn't matter if the disc wears out relatively quickly. Also, in the dance music world, DJs sometimes create acetates containing various sounds, samples and loops that they can use during their performance. Synonyms Since around the mid-1980s electronic dance music has enjoyed popularity in many Nightclubs and as of 2006 is the predominant type of music played in A disc jockey (also known as DJ or deejay) is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience These discs are known as "dub plates".

Value

Due to their rarity, some acetates can command high prices at auction. Brian Epstein's collection of Beatles acetates fetched between $1,000 and $10,000 per disc^[4][5]. NEMS Enterprises defaults here For the Latin American record label see NEMS Enterprises (label. The Beatles were a pop and rock band from Liverpool, England formed in 1960 An acetate from The Velvet Underground, containing music that would later appear on their first album The Velvet Underground and Nico, sold on eBay in 2006 for $25,200 ^[6], with an earlier dishonoured bid of $155,401. This article is about the band For their self-titled album see The Velvet Underground (album; for the book see The Velvet Underground (book eBay Inc is an American Internet company that manages eBaycom an Online auction and shopping Website in which people and businesses buy and ^{[7] [8]}

References