Read Between the Grooves

Read Between the Grooves
discovering the vinyl record

This project is about vinyl records and its aim is to show what's on a record surface, thus letting one see the shape of grooves and how sometimes that shape matches the kind of music it carries. I chose the hit single Tainted Love by Soft Cell. The spiral-like pattern described by the groove modulation is regular, rhythmical, just as the song is.




Detail of the previous picture: it is possible to see the modulations of the grooves.
The black areas - called "lands" - are the part of the surface which are not cut, while the white lines are the etched grooves.




Detail of the previous picture: each color describe a different function of the groove.
Yellow: Lead in grooves
Grey: grooves which carries no sound
Red: portion of the groove correspondent to a synthesizer phrase
Green, Magenta and Cyan: respectively the grooves at the beginning, middle and end of the song. Outer grooves are less wavy because the information they carry is more spaced out on the surface, while inner grooves are more wavy having to carry the same amount of information as the outer ones but in less space.
Orange: Lead out grooves


The spiral like pattern shows how the shape of the grooves matches the song. By looking at the pattern one can guess the song etched is very rhythmical and has a repetitive structure.



Microscope picture of a portion of the grooves. It is possible to see the two walls of the groove, which carry respectively the right and left channel of the stereo recording.

Sources: Elisabetta Cremona