Erika Records Inc.

Because Vinyl is Final # 3- Locked Grooves 

by Ma Nerriza dela Cerna

There are quite a few tricks in lacquer cutting that can make your record unique, such as inside out cutting and cutting your record at the now uncommon speed of 78rpm. But the one added feature we see the most of is the Locked Groove. 

A locked groove is a groove that intentionally repeats with every rotation of a record, which repeats the portion of the music within that groove. Fall-in locks are put at the end of a selection. The groove is locked during the cut to form a concentric circle at the end of the music, making the last 1.8 or 1.3333 seconds repeat until the listener lifts the tone arm.

Here are some important details you need to know prior to getting your master made with a locked groove:

Our SAL74B/VMS70 Neumann cutting system

• The time for a lock is 1.8 seconds if your record is being cut at 33 1/3 rpm and 1.3333 seconds if the record is being cut at 45rpm. Make sure that the portion of music you want locked is either one of those lengths.
• The tracks should be sent as WAV files with the portion that you want locked included.
• Please make sure to have the portion you wanted turned into a lock groove repeats at least 15 times to give the mastering engineer the time to create the locked groove. This portion of music should be part of your last track at the end of your music and NOT its own separate file.
• You must provide us with the times at which your music ends and your locked groove begins. Once we see that your music has reached that time, we know that what comes after is a sound that you want locked to ensure we are locking the correct portion of the music.
• Also note, that you may hear an audible pop as the groove locks. It’s just the nature   of the lock.

Locks are complicated due to the very specific lengths of music and the fact that they are done manually. We cannot guarantee that they will be a 100% match to what you had in mind, but we’ll definitely try our best. And to yield optimum results please follow the directions above. If there is anything you don't understand, speak to one of representatives and we'll be glad to go over this with you.

 

Always ask questions if something isn't quite clear because once it’s on vinyl, it’s final.