10.08.2021
The museum section of gramophone records at the Vinyl Record Day
The Music Records section in the museum "Collection" enumerates more than 20 thousand items. It includes practically all types of music media of the past – from ancient paraffin cylinders and paper rolls on which music was encoded by perforation, to gramophone records of the early 20th century with the first "live" sound for phonographs and gramophones. The collection be indicative of the abundant history of music media and their evolution. Rare melodies and authentic sound of diverse exhibits are presented in the museum “Sound Library”.
Vinyl records have successfully bore the test of time passed and, having proved their relevance, every year become more and more popular among amateurs of music. Vinyl has become an excellent illustration of the expression "everything new is well forgotten old." Vinyl Record Day was established by the Vinyl Record Day Company, a non-profit organization dedicated to "preserving vinyl music and its culture." The organizers call on this day to enjoy listening to records and learn interesting facts about vinyl records history.
In the 1970s-1980s, the USSR had the world's largest vinyl production - the Aprelevka plant of gramophone records produced about 100 million records a year. The very first long-playing vinyl record in the world was a recording of Felix Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor, performed by Russian-American violinist Nathan Milstein, together with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. This 12-inch (30.48 cm) disc appeared on June 21, 1948. For a long time, the vinyl record was the most popular music record - inexpensive, suitable for mass circulation, providing high quality sound recordings, and suitable for playing on relatively simple and cheap equipment. Many will agree that a vinyl record is, without exaggeration, is one of the 20th century symbols. Several generations of people have grown up listening to vinyl records. Moreover, although over time it was substituted with cassettes and CDs, it still has its connoisseurs and admirers all over the world.
The first to appear were celluloid records, a little later caoutchouc and shellac. After the Second World War, vinyl or "long" records came into use. Over time, new, more convenient and capacious music media appeared, hence the history of vinyl records has not ended. In almost every family, under the leads or in the garage, there are several copies of the once popular tunes and a turntable. In addition, vinyl records are actively used by DJs nowadays, albeit for slightly different purposes. Only vinyl flooring is able to reproduce sounds unlike any other. So, we can say with complete confidence that vinyl records have found their special application in contemporary music.
Nowadays vinyl record manufacturers can be counted on one hand. Of particular note is the Optimal plant located near Berlin, in the town of Robel. They are trying to revive the production of authentic vinyl records. It is interesting that the director of the plant assembles equipment “all over the world” - he brings something from India, something from Russia, something from European countries, and some items are generally rented from music records’ museums. Now this plant produces several million records a year, among them singles and albums of many famous performers.
It is generally accepted that vinyl has re-emerged in popularity since 2008. It was then that the sales of vinyl records increased from 1 million copies to almost 2 million and continue to grow every year. Experts believe that vinyl sales will only increase in the near future. This point of view is confirmed by the growth in the number of factories engaged in the production of records. In 2017, about 30 factories were opened in the United States, and now their number has grown up to 72. New productions are also being launched in Russia - for example, records are produced at the Ultra Production plant in Moscow.