The evolution of record players: from early beginnings to modern times
Revibed Editorial Team
by Mateus Genero
The ubiquity of music in our lives is a relatively recent phenomenon. For most of human history, if you wanted to listen to music, you needed to be in the presence of live musicians. This began to change in the late 19th century with the advent of audio players, which completely changed people’s relationship to art and paved the way for the emergence of DJ culture decades later.
The story of the reproducibility of sound recording begins with the creation of the phonograph by Thomas Edison in 1877. The phonograph was inspired by the phonautograph, an 1857 device by Frenchman Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville that did not convert sound waves into audio but rather into drawings on paper. The phonograph was also inspired by Alexander Graham Bell’s telegraph. John Kruesi was appointed to develop the project from Edison’s sketches.
Early devices
Phonograph
The phonograph was a machine that could record and reproduce sound. It worked by using a metal cylinder, a needle attached to a diaphragm, a cone-shaped mouthpiece, a sheet of tin, and a crank. The sound was received through the mouthpiece and then “drawn” by the needle onto the soft metal sheet. To reproduce the sound, the needle had to be positioned above the grooves it had previously drawn and the crank turned.
After Edison invented the phonograph, he put it to the side for ten years. During that time, Graham Bell and engineer Charles Tainter improved the design. They made a cylinder out of paper and covered it with wax, instead of using a metal cylinder covered with tin. This new invention was called a gramophone. The improvement spurred competition between Bell and Edison. Edison created a new version of the phonograph, also made out of wax.
The phonograph and the gramophone, while successful in the latter years of the century, were still quite limited. Emile Berliner, a German living in the United States, went further in his experiment in 1887. Rather than cylinders, he replaced them with flat zinc discs, which would later be replaced by vulcanite (a type of rubber) and shellac (which made 78 revolutions per minute). This eventually led to the creation of the gramophone, which would serve as the basis for modern day record players.
Victrola
With the gramophone, people began to focus more on recording and playing music instead of just recording voices. However, records could only hold a maximum of four minutes of audio. In 1895, mass production of the devices and records began, and an American company called the Victor Talking Machine Company bought the gramophone. This changed the game completely.
The company strived for a more compact, functional and harmonious design for homes which lead to the invention of the “victrola” — more commonly known as the record player. This device was essentially a wooden box which housed a turntable, an arm with a needle to read and translate the grooves of records into sound and a crank. In the following decades, the record player evolved with the addition of speakers and volume controls.
The new century brought about a radical change in how people listened to music. With the invention of the record player, we were now able to enjoy music at home with an ease never before imagined. In the first decade of the new century, the first stars of recorded music were emerging: opera singers such as Enrico Caruso and Nellie Melba. And as records were easier to produce, handle, and sell, until they disappeared for good in the 1910s.
Although it would take three decades for the next big change to occur, the Second World War generated many technological advances. One example is that, to track submarines, the British Royal Navy developed longer ranges in sound frequency recordings. Another relevant fact from this period is that shellac became essential for the production of explosives, which led to a 70% reduction in the production of records in the United States.
Peter Goldmark’s LP
Under Peter Goldmark’s leadership, CBS-Columbia made important changes to the way records were produced. They switched to vinyl, which was less fragile and of a higher quality than gum records. Most importantly, the new wafers could hold 45 minutes of recording, as opposed to just one song. This technological advances allowed for the release of albums, which in turn spurred a race to produce better and better record players.
The Art of Beatmatching
If it weren’t for records and record players, DJ culture wouldn’t exist. The first DJs started appearing in dance clubs in the 1940s, but DJing as we know it started to take shape in the 1960s. This was thanks to the Northern Soul movement in England and the legendary performances of DJ Francis Grasso in New York. Both of these scenes were focused on developing the art of beatmatching.
Technics Turntables: A Legend Is Born
Technics, a Panasonic brand, would create one of its most precious instruments in the 1970s- the SL-1100 record player in 1971, and the SL-1200 in 1972. The devices were designed for home use, but eventually gained much prominence among DJs starting with the disco scene and later the hip-hop culture. In 1979, the Technics 1200 MK2 appeared, an improved version of the 1972 model. Its main innovation was in the pitch control- no longer knob-shaped, circular, but vertical, and changing from left to right side. Pitch control allows DJs to speed up or slow down songs.
Technics has been the go-to brand for DJs using turntables for years, despite increasing competition from other companies. They have always been at the forefront of the latest DJing technologies and techniques, and today they are more innovative than ever before. Turntablism is one of their most impressive achievements, and today’s DJs have more opportunity than ever to perfect their art.
In 2003, Native Instruments and Stanton Magnetics teamed up to create Final Scratch. This software program uses timecode technology and allows the DJ to play any song from their virtual library using a digital vinyl record on a turntable. This opened up new possibilities for professional DJs and other companies, such as Traktor and Serato, soon followed suit and began competing for this market.
Looking back in time, the race for technological innovation, which began in the mid-1980s, was the engine for major transformations that reconfigured the behaviour and consumption of society worldwide. The industry was shaken up when CDs were introduced, and again when digital music emerged in the 2000s. The transition from analogue to digital was beginning to take its first steps, and with it the need to consume experiences of higher quality and durability.
It was then that the physical media, until then standardised through a vinyl wafer of about 12 inches, began to undergo a process of compression. From a partnership between Phillips and Sony, a differentiated prototype began to be studied in the late 1970s, with the purpose of creating an audio optical disc with sound superior to vinyl and measuring up to 20 cm.
First CD Player
The CD, or Compact Disc, emerged in 1982 with many of the same advantages as the vinyl record, plus additional benefits including greater storage capacity, durability, and sound clarity. The first CD was released by pianist and singer Billy Joel, a collaboration between Sony and Phillips. The media also launched the first CD player in history, the SONY CDP-101.
When DJs in the mid-1980s only had turntables as their tool for performances, the compact disc (CD) was a novelty that arrived as a new media format for DJs to use. In 1986, Japanese company Technics launched the SLP-500, the world’s first CDJ. The device featured an optical player for compact discs, with a pitch control and track search system — it looked like a supermarket calculator. Soon after, another Japanese company was also interested in the professional CD player market. In 1991, Denon presented its first DN-4000F model, which for the first time featured the CUE function, now indispensable in all current CDJ models.
Pioneer (CDJ-500)
In no time, a third Japanese company saw the market opportunity and presented an even more innovative tool. Pioneer immediately took the lead with the CDJ-500, which won the preference of DJs due to its aesthetics — resembling a pickup truck — and its precision in track triggering. From then on, Pioneer was ready to make history with a series of efficient and high-quality equipment that kept pace with technological evolution.
During the turn of the millennium, Pioneer’s CDJ-100S model was the most popular choice among DJs who opted to use CDs. The CDJ-100S quickly became the king of the booths, alongside the Technics pickups. With built-in effects such as Zip, Jet, and Wah, and great handling precision, the 100S made its mark on the history of equipment alongside its successor, the CDJ-200S.
The MP3 Rises
As CDs became increasingly popular, a new development took shape in the virtual world that would soon enough upend the music industry once more. MP3s first appeared in 1993, but didn’t gain widespread popularity until the early 2000s. With MP3s, music could be played through a digital music player on a computer without taking up any physical space. This was more convenient than CDs and other physical formats.
“Tom’s Diner” by Suzanne Vega was the first song to be converted into an MP3. A German engineer played the song on repeat as he worked to compress the file size without significantly altering the sound quality.
Pioneer, as well as other companies in the industry, quickly took advantage of this new development. The CDJ gained the ability to read the new format both through data CDs and by storing hundreds of MP3 songs on a single media. Models such as the CDJ 800 and CDJ 1000 went on to win the hearts of the DJs of the new millennium, even more so when their successors began to receive the new digital media storage device, the USB stick.
This would signal the mark of an important new era. Would the MP3 and the dwindling popularity of physical media also signal the end of record players and CDJs?
RIO 100 — Diamond Multimedia
The audio equipment industry found itself in the exact same position as the recording industry when new digital consumption technology came out. So they tried to keep up with the market by coming up with new, attractive ways to consume audio.
MP3 players for DJs
The MP3 format was created in the mid-90’s and quickly gained popularity due to its compression standard that allowed for high-quality audio playback without taking up significant storage space on devices.
The first portable MP3 players were developed by Korean and North American manufacturers and quickly became popular due to their affordability and portability. Today, there are many different types of MP3 players available on the market, with various features and price points to meet the needs of different consumers.
Pioneer CDJ-200
It is evident that professional audio equipment manufacturers who were leading the market at the time, such as Pioneer and Denon, scrambled to find ways to incorporate the new format into their equipment aimed at clubs. Pioneer, who had already released several groundbreaking peripherals for home use, such as the first DVD player, and also dominated the DJ equipment market, quickly introduced the first MP3-compatible CDJ model, the CDJ-200.
And the development of the models didn’t stop there; while the CDJ-200 only read MP3 recorded on CD, its later models added USB compatibility, making it easier for DJs to use a USB stick for storing and playing their tunes.
With advancing technology, the way we consumed music changed rapidly. By the end of the first decade of the 2000s, MP3 was no longer just an alternative- it became the primary way to listen to music. Vinyl became a collector’s item and CDs went virtually extinct.
Enjoying your favourite music became extremely easy: all you had to do was press a button on your computer or phone and let the music play.
Digital controllers for DJs
At the same time, some manufacturers saw that the passion for music and the new technologies for digital software opened a gap in the audio equipment market. So, in 2004, Hercules launched the first DJing controller on the market, which incorporated a two-channel mixer and a pair of jogs. This allowed DJs to control the selection and tempo of the tracks selected by DJs in conjunction with digital software.
Hercules DJ Console mk1
Also wanting to jump on board, iconic brand Vestax launched its digital controller designed specifically for DJing soon after. Later, new models and brands emerged and gained significant market leadership, with Native Instruments’ Traktor and Pioneer’s new DDJ controller series coming out on top.
When digital controllers arrived, it didn’t take long before they started making waves in the DJing scene. They were easier to use and more practical than CDJs, making the hobby more accessible to a whole new group of music lovers. In addition to that, the lower price point made them more accessible to a lot of people.
Along with the equipment, new software for DJing was also being developed. This allowed DJs to perform without the use of external hardware. Applications like Traktor, Serato, and Virtual DJ became more accessible to those interested in learning how to mix records, all of it made possible by the ubiquity of personal computers, laptops, and even smartphones and tablets compatible with music software.
Vestax VCM-100
The Sync-button
Despite the fact that digital controllers offer portability and practicality, they have not been able to dethrone the lineage standard of the old and classic CDJs and record players. Even though they are easy and accessible to use, the tradition of equipment that allows the DJ more direct manipulation and contact with the music itself, continues to be synonymous with quality, prestige, and mastery of the craft.
The debate around digital controllers and the use of the “sync” button is still very much alive among DJing professionals. This tool allows the DJ to focus less on beat-matching and more on the mix itself, which can be beneficial at first. However, if this feature is used from the beginning of the learning process, it can create a dependency and make it more difficult to learn essential skills. The main issue is not the technology itself, but the order in which the art is learned (through CDJs or digital controllers).
Pioneer CDJ-3000
Digital controllers aren’t just functional instruments, but also serious tools for creative expression. The technology can be a great asset in the process of learning how to DJ and developing interesting new skills. Which is why many renowned artists have begun to use digital controllers in their performances to create highly innovative performances.
The further technology progresses, the more the three formats — record players, CDJs, and controllers — become compatible. Pioneer’s latest model, the CDJ-3000, allows complete integration with its Rekordbox software, and eliminates the need for Compact Discs, while Reloop’s most recent turntable models feature integration with digital software, and can even act as MIDI controllers.
There is no doubt that technology is always changing and evolving. It is hard to predict what the next big transformation will be, but it is safe to say that when it arrives, looking at the technological progressions of the past, it will undoubtedly revolutionise the current standard.
Up next, we'll explore the natural development that emerged from the legacy left by the evolution of record players: the DJ mixer technologies.
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