1
00:00:20,100 --> 00:00:23,700
Jane: This is But Why: A Podcast
for Curious Kids from Vermont

2
00:00:23,700 --> 00:00:27,330
Public. I'm Jane Lindholm. On
this show, we take questions

3
00:00:27,330 --> 00:00:32,280
from curious kids just like you,
and we find answers. Do you like

4
00:00:32,280 --> 00:00:36,990
listening to music? Most people
do. But when you want to hear

5
00:00:36,990 --> 00:00:41,700
music, what kind of technology
do you use? Some folks have

6
00:00:41,700 --> 00:00:44,400
smart speakers in their home,
and they just say, "Hey, smart

7
00:00:44,400 --> 00:00:48,390
speaker, could you please play
my favorite song? Thank you!" Or

8
00:00:48,420 --> 00:00:51,690
maybe your adults help you play
music on their phone, or they

9
00:00:51,690 --> 00:00:55,920
pop a CD into a CD player, or
turn on the radio in your home

10
00:00:55,920 --> 00:01:02,340
or car. Or maybe they pull out a
big vinyl record and put it on a

11
00:01:02,340 --> 00:01:03,330
turntable.

12
00:01:04,890 --> 00:01:09,150
Thomas Edison was the person who
first figured out how to capture

13
00:01:09,270 --> 00:01:14,550
record sound and play it back
later. He did this by creating a

14
00:01:14,550 --> 00:01:20,490
device called the phonograph in
1877. Ten years later, Emile

15
00:01:20,490 --> 00:01:25,140
Berliner built on that invention
to make the gramophone. Unlike

16
00:01:25,140 --> 00:01:29,310
the earlier phonograph, which
used circular tubes or cylinders

17
00:01:29,310 --> 00:01:34,590
to hold recordings, the
gramophone used flat discs, much

18
00:01:34,590 --> 00:01:38,340
more like what we're familiar
with now, that made it much

19
00:01:38,340 --> 00:01:41,730
easier to make lots of
recordings--to mass produce

20
00:01:41,760 --> 00:01:46,230
them--and so the record was
created. Records became a

21
00:01:46,230 --> 00:01:49,170
popular way to listen to music
around the middle of the 20th

22
00:01:49,170 --> 00:01:54,060
century. So that means in the
mid 1900s. For a long time, they

23
00:01:54,060 --> 00:01:57,030
were the main way people were
able to buy their own music and

24
00:01:57,030 --> 00:02:00,360
listen back whenever they
wanted. Some of your parents and

25
00:02:00,360 --> 00:02:04,740
probably your grandparents grew
up listening to records. While

26
00:02:04,740 --> 00:02:08,550
new technology like cassette
tapes, CDs and now digital

27
00:02:08,550 --> 00:02:12,150
recording devices have been
invented, records never really

28
00:02:12,150 --> 00:02:15,570
went away (unlike the cassette
tape) and for the last few

29
00:02:15,570 --> 00:02:18,990
decades, they've been making a
strong comeback. So we aren't

30
00:02:18,990 --> 00:02:22,530
surprised that you've sent us
some questions about this

31
00:02:22,530 --> 00:02:26,850
important technology. We wanted
to go to a place where records

32
00:02:26,850 --> 00:02:30,120
are made to get some answers to
your questions. And an

33
00:02:30,150 --> 00:02:33,390
opportunity presented itself
when I was recently visiting

34
00:02:33,420 --> 00:02:37,740
Austin, Texas, a city known for
its colorful music scene.

35
00:02:38,640 --> 00:02:40,080
Caren Kelleher: I'm Caren
Kelleher. I'm the founder and

36
00:02:40,080 --> 00:02:44,190
CEO of Gold Rush Vinyl, one of
the few record pressing plants

37
00:02:44,220 --> 00:02:47,280
in the United States, about 8600
square feet, and this is where

38
00:02:47,280 --> 00:02:51,360
we physically make records that
people buy. We have four

39
00:02:51,360 --> 00:02:54,660
pressing machines. Since
opening, we've done over a

40
00:02:54,660 --> 00:02:57,840
million records. I have one of
the coolest jobs in the world,

41
00:02:57,840 --> 00:03:01,200
because I get to make music for
a living, but not performing it,

42
00:03:01,200 --> 00:03:04,290
just making it so other people
can listen to it and share it.

43
00:03:04,800 --> 00:03:07,740
Jane: Do you think of it that
way, that you are making music?

44
00:03:08,400 --> 00:03:10,470
Caren Kelleher: Yeah, I'm a kind
of a record producer, in a

45
00:03:10,470 --> 00:03:13,950
sense. But one of the best parts
about my job is that every

46
00:03:13,950 --> 00:03:17,070
single day is different. We get
to listen to new music coming

47
00:03:17,070 --> 00:03:20,400
out and help put it into a
physical form so people can hold

48
00:03:20,400 --> 00:03:24,330
it, can read about the album and
have it for as long as they're

49
00:03:24,330 --> 00:03:25,290
collecting records.

50
00:03:25,650 --> 00:03:28,290
Jane: Caren and I were standing
in the doorway of her company's

51
00:03:28,290 --> 00:03:32,970
building as we talked. It's
basically one huge open room

52
00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:36,510
with lots of loud machinery, big
bags of different colored

53
00:03:36,510 --> 00:03:41,430
plastic and boxes and boxes of
records. Before we got into how

54
00:03:41,430 --> 00:03:45,510
records get played, I wanted to
understand how they get made.

55
00:03:45,870 --> 00:03:49,590
Can you show me around Gold Rush
Vinyl and I'll ask you some of

56
00:03:49,590 --> 00:03:52,080
the questions that kids have
sent us while we're getting the

57
00:03:52,080 --> 00:03:52,440
tour?

58
00:03:52,680 --> 00:03:54,060
Caren Kelleher: Very happy to.
Let's go for a walk.

59
00:03:54,060 --> 00:03:54,420
Jane: Okay.

60
00:03:54,750 --> 00:03:59,700
Mabel: Hi. My name is Mabel. I'm
seven years old. I live in

61
00:03:59,700 --> 00:04:05,340
Tampa, Florida, and my question
is, how were vinyl records made?

62
00:04:06,090 --> 00:04:08,490
Caren Kelleher: Right now we're
walking through our plastic

63
00:04:08,490 --> 00:04:12,660
area. So vinyl records are made
with something called PVC,

64
00:04:12,660 --> 00:04:16,440
polyvinyl chloride. It looks
like beads of plastic, which is

65
00:04:16,440 --> 00:04:19,440
really fun. And they come in
different colors, so the beads

66
00:04:19,440 --> 00:04:22,290
of plastic are what we're going
to put into our machines. We're

67
00:04:22,290 --> 00:04:25,380
going to melt that plastic down
into something that looks almost

68
00:04:25,380 --> 00:04:28,710
like a hockey puck or a biscuit,
and then our machines are going

69
00:04:28,710 --> 00:04:33,450
to physically press the grooves
of a record into the plastic. We

70
00:04:33,450 --> 00:04:36,180
heat it, cool it, kind of like a
waffle maker is a good way to

71
00:04:36,180 --> 00:04:40,050
think about it. And after about
30 seconds, that melted plastic

72
00:04:40,050 --> 00:04:42,600
becomes a vinyl record you can
put on your turntable.

73
00:04:42,900 --> 00:04:46,170
Jane: If you've never seen a
record, or held one, it kind of

74
00:04:46,170 --> 00:04:51,630
looks like a very flat frisbee
or a flat plastic plate. The

75
00:04:51,630 --> 00:04:56,100
most common size of a record is
12 inches in diameter, so a foot

76
00:04:56,100 --> 00:05:00,720
across. But the record starts as
just a bunch of tiny plastic

77
00:05:00,720 --> 00:05:05,670
pellets. The specific type of
plastic, vinyl, is also used in

78
00:05:05,670 --> 00:05:09,420
flooring or pipes. If you've
ever heard of PVC pipes, those

79
00:05:09,420 --> 00:05:13,290
are vinyl. It's even used to
make shower curtains, umbrellas

80
00:05:13,290 --> 00:05:17,580
and rain coats. Vinyl became
popular for making records more

81
00:05:17,580 --> 00:05:21,540
than 75 years ago, and it's
still what is usually used to

82
00:05:21,540 --> 00:05:26,160
make them today. So a record
starts out with these tiny vinyl

83
00:05:26,160 --> 00:05:30,480
pellets, and they used to always
be black, but at Gold Rush,

84
00:05:30,510 --> 00:05:31,170
they're different.

85
00:05:31,350 --> 00:05:34,530
One of the cool things that I'm
noticing is that you have all

86
00:05:34,530 --> 00:05:38,670
kinds of colors of these little
plastic pellets. So you can make

87
00:05:38,670 --> 00:05:42,000
records in all kinds of colors,
not just black.

88
00:05:42,210 --> 00:05:44,820
Caren Kelleher: Any colors. And
in fact, that's now majority of

89
00:05:44,820 --> 00:05:47,940
what we do is specialty mixes.
And it really fun for our team;

90
00:05:47,940 --> 00:05:51,090
they can come up with new names
for the colors. Today, we're

91
00:05:51,090 --> 00:05:56,070
pressing one that's kind of like
a tie dye, yellow and blue. Last

92
00:05:56,070 --> 00:05:58,500
week, they came up with one
called berries and cream,

93
00:05:58,770 --> 00:06:02,040
another one called mermaid that
has like a shimmer to it. And so

94
00:06:02,040 --> 00:06:04,530
it's really fun when musicians
come to us and say, can you make

95
00:06:04,530 --> 00:06:07,320
our record? We can work with
them to make their own colors.

96
00:06:07,800 --> 00:06:09,300
Jane: Can we see the pellets
being put in?

97
00:06:09,330 --> 00:06:10,980
Caren Kelleher: We're gonna get
up close to our machines. These

98
00:06:10,980 --> 00:06:14,880
are called pressing machines,
and they are very dangerous. Our

99
00:06:14,880 --> 00:06:17,670
operators are trained in them
because they use a ton of

100
00:06:17,670 --> 00:06:21,000
pressure to flatten out the
plastic. So we're gonna go, get

101
00:06:21,030 --> 00:06:23,340
up close, and maybe Robbie, our
press operator, will tell us

102
00:06:23,340 --> 00:06:23,850
what he's doing.

103
00:06:24,030 --> 00:06:25,680
Jane: And I won't put my fingers
anywhere near it.

104
00:06:25,710 --> 00:06:27,660
Caren Kelleher: No, don't. It's
a very easy way to lose a

105
00:06:27,660 --> 00:06:29,010
finger. Those are very precious.

106
00:06:29,040 --> 00:06:31,500
Jane: I walked closer to the
pressing machine, and I could

107
00:06:31,500 --> 00:06:34,410
see that on one side of it, the
press operator was taking

108
00:06:34,410 --> 00:06:37,920
cupfuls of these colored vinyl
pellets and pouring them down a

109
00:06:37,920 --> 00:06:41,490
big funnel that went into the
machine. There were dark blue

110
00:06:41,490 --> 00:06:45,390
and light blue pellets, bright
orangey pellets and sparkly

111
00:06:45,390 --> 00:06:50,100
purple ones. He was pouring them
in a very specific order.

112
00:06:50,640 --> 00:06:53,820
Robbie Carroll: My name is
Robbie. Robbie Carroll. Right

113
00:06:53,820 --> 00:06:57,420
now I'm doing what's called a
hand pour, one color after

114
00:06:57,420 --> 00:07:01,620
another in a sequence that the
customer or we determine, and

115
00:07:01,740 --> 00:07:04,200
yeah, the results are a little
bit more dramatic on the final

116
00:07:04,200 --> 00:07:07,080
end. My favorite color is easily
green.

117
00:07:07,680 --> 00:07:09,240
Jane: But you don't have any
green in this record!

118
00:07:09,240 --> 00:07:11,400
Robbie Carroll: Well, the good
news is blue and yellow kind of

119
00:07:11,400 --> 00:07:11,970
make green.

120
00:07:13,050 --> 00:07:15,420
Jane: What's the name of this
color that you're creating for

121
00:07:15,420 --> 00:07:15,900
the record?

122
00:07:15,930 --> 00:07:18,660
Robbie Carroll: Boy, I actually
don't know if we have a name for

123
00:07:18,660 --> 00:07:19,530
this one.

124
00:07:19,950 --> 00:07:22,650
Caren Kelleher: Can we ask the
kids, maybe, to take a look at

125
00:07:22,650 --> 00:07:24,030
it and give us their ideas?

126
00:07:24,360 --> 00:07:27,450
Jane: I love that idea. So we
have a picture of the record

127
00:07:27,450 --> 00:07:31,470
Robbie was making. You can find
it on the episode page for this

128
00:07:31,470 --> 00:07:37,080
episode at butwhykids.org It's
also on our Instagram page. You

129
00:07:37,080 --> 00:07:39,840
can have an adult help you
navigate the internet to see it.

130
00:07:40,320 --> 00:07:43,950
Tell us what you think this
special record color should be

131
00:07:43,950 --> 00:07:47,610
named. You can tell us in the
comments on our social media or

132
00:07:47,610 --> 00:07:51,000
write to
questions@butwhykids.org with

133
00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:52,920
your name for this record color.

134
00:07:53,160 --> 00:07:57,870
Callie: Hi. My name is Callie. I
live in San Antonio, Texas. I'm

135
00:07:57,870 --> 00:08:03,210
seven years old. My question is,
how do recorded things like

136
00:08:03,210 --> 00:08:06,480
videos and songs work? Thank
you.

137
00:08:06,870 --> 00:08:10,440
Finley: Hello. I'm Finley. I'm
nine years old, and I live in

138
00:08:10,440 --> 00:08:15,030
Minnesota. And my question is,
how does music get put onto a

139
00:08:15,030 --> 00:08:15,630
record?

140
00:08:15,930 --> 00:08:20,550
Maya: Hi, my name is Maya. I'm
eight years old. I live in South

141
00:08:20,550 --> 00:08:24,930
Orange, New Jersey. And my
question is, how do people get

142
00:08:25,110 --> 00:08:26,970
songs into records?

143
00:08:27,510 --> 00:08:31,050
Jane: The way I wrap my head
around this is to start by

144
00:08:31,050 --> 00:08:34,980
thinking about it this way: in
order to make a record, you have

145
00:08:34,980 --> 00:08:39,150
to take a sound and turn it into
something physical that you can

146
00:08:39,150 --> 00:08:43,080
hold. And then when you play it,
you're turning that physical

147
00:08:43,080 --> 00:08:47,250
thing back into something you
can hear. Let's start with

148
00:08:47,250 --> 00:08:51,810
sound. Sound travels through the
air as a wave of vibrating air

149
00:08:51,810 --> 00:08:56,340
molecules. You can't see it, but
your ears turn those vibrations

150
00:08:56,340 --> 00:09:00,930
into electrical signals that
your brain can interpret. A

151
00:09:00,930 --> 00:09:04,620
waveform is the graph of how the
sound moves. When you make a

152
00:09:04,620 --> 00:09:07,950
recording, you're capturing that
sound wave and turning it into

153
00:09:07,950 --> 00:09:11,550
an electrical signal, and then
capturing that electrical signal

154
00:09:11,550 --> 00:09:16,530
so it can be recreated again and
again. Sound was first recorded

155
00:09:16,530 --> 00:09:20,370
by dragging a vibrating needle
through wax to draw the

156
00:09:20,370 --> 00:09:24,900
waveform. Then you could play
back that recording on the wax

157
00:09:24,900 --> 00:09:29,370
cylinder that you had drawn the
waveform into. Once you have a

158
00:09:29,370 --> 00:09:33,360
recording of that live sound,
you want to be able to reproduce

159
00:09:33,360 --> 00:09:37,920
it, so everyone can have their
own record of the same music. To

160
00:09:37,920 --> 00:09:42,780
do that, these days, instead of
using wax, a master disc is made

161
00:09:42,780 --> 00:09:47,370
out of enamel coated metal. The
enamel isn't as hard as the

162
00:09:47,370 --> 00:09:47,730
metal.

163
00:09:48,180 --> 00:09:51,810
Caren Kelleher: Think kind of
like sticky paste. And we use a

164
00:09:51,810 --> 00:09:55,620
machine that's called a lathe to
cut grooves into the records. So

165
00:09:55,620 --> 00:09:58,890
we carve through that enamel.
That gives us what's called the

166
00:09:58,890 --> 00:10:03,420
master. And we then make metal
plates off of that. So the metal

167
00:10:03,420 --> 00:10:07,110
plates are the opposite. So what
was a groove on your lacquer is

168
00:10:07,110 --> 00:10:09,960
a peak on this metal plate. And
the metal plates get put in our

169
00:10:09,960 --> 00:10:13,170
machines so that we can press a
record over and over and over

170
00:10:13,170 --> 00:10:16,380
again. That's why it's called a
pressing plant. So our pressing

171
00:10:16,380 --> 00:10:19,140
machines, what they do is we put
in these metal plates. They're

172
00:10:19,140 --> 00:10:22,530
called stampers. And those two
stampers get put in this

173
00:10:22,530 --> 00:10:25,920
machine, and we press the
plastic into the record shape.

174
00:10:26,580 --> 00:10:29,400
Now these records are coming off
our machine really hot. We cook

175
00:10:29,400 --> 00:10:31,980
them really high temperature, so
we have to put them between

176
00:10:31,980 --> 00:10:34,410
metal plates to cool them down
so that they don't end up all

177
00:10:34,410 --> 00:10:34,950
floppy.

178
00:10:35,430 --> 00:10:38,820
Jane: So in this one machine,
these vinyl pebbles get melted

179
00:10:38,820 --> 00:10:41,790
down into something that looks
like a hockey puck, and then

180
00:10:41,790 --> 00:10:45,570
pressed under tons of pressure,
and while they're getting

181
00:10:45,570 --> 00:10:49,680
pressed down into that flat
disc, the shape of the music is

182
00:10:49,680 --> 00:10:53,970
pressed into each side of the
record, and what comes out is

183
00:10:54,000 --> 00:10:58,200
what we call a record. Caren
described it to me a little like

184
00:10:58,200 --> 00:11:02,490
how a waffle maker takes batter
and turns it into a solid waffle

185
00:11:02,520 --> 00:11:04,020
with a very distinct shape.

186
00:11:04,020 --> 00:11:05,550
Caren Kelleher: Now, just like I
was saying with the waffle

187
00:11:05,550 --> 00:11:08,790
maker, there's sometimes the
batter spills over. We have that

188
00:11:08,790 --> 00:11:10,860
happen with our records, so we
trim it, and that's what's

189
00:11:10,860 --> 00:11:13,500
called flash. It's little
ribbons of vinyl records that

190
00:11:13,500 --> 00:11:17,400
kind of get cut off the record
before it goes into a cooling

191
00:11:17,400 --> 00:11:17,760
plate.

192
00:11:17,940 --> 00:11:20,880
Jane: At Gold Rush, they
actually use that flash to make

193
00:11:20,880 --> 00:11:24,630
vinyl flowers that people can
buy. They're trying not to waste

194
00:11:24,630 --> 00:11:28,860
anything in their process. Once
the record is cooled, it gets

195
00:11:28,860 --> 00:11:32,520
inspected to make sure it looks
and plays right. Then it gets

196
00:11:32,520 --> 00:11:36,150
put into a protective sleeve or
jacket and packaged up and

197
00:11:36,150 --> 00:11:36,840
shipped out.

198
00:11:37,410 --> 00:11:39,450
Caren Kelleher: So as we're
pressing the records, we're also

199
00:11:39,450 --> 00:11:42,840
testing them for sound, to make
sure that the right music is on

200
00:11:42,840 --> 00:11:46,920
the right record, and that there
aren't any skips or pops or

201
00:11:46,920 --> 00:11:49,320
things that can go wrong with
the record. So we have a record

202
00:11:49,320 --> 00:11:52,050
player out on the floor that the
operators use, and then one in

203
00:11:52,050 --> 00:11:53,790
our listening room, which is a
little quieter.

204
00:11:54,420 --> 00:11:58,320
Jane: Let's go in there. When we
come back, we'll explore how we

205
00:11:58,320 --> 00:12:01,920
actually hear those grooves that
have been pressed into the

206
00:12:01,920 --> 00:12:02,430
record.

207
00:12:02,850 --> 00:12:02,970
BREAK: BREAK

208
00:12:03,660 --> 00:12:05,790
Jane: I'm Jane Lindholm and
today, we're learning about an

209
00:12:05,790 --> 00:12:09,180
old technology that
revolutionized our ability to

210
00:12:09,180 --> 00:12:13,770
share music and sounds, and is
still popular. Today, we're

211
00:12:13,770 --> 00:12:17,550
learning about vinyl records at
Gold Rush Vinyl in Austin,

212
00:12:17,550 --> 00:12:22,410
Texas, with the company's CEO,
Caren Kelleher. After showing me

213
00:12:22,410 --> 00:12:25,170
around the manufacturing area
where they make the records,

214
00:12:25,440 --> 00:12:29,070
Caren took me into their
listening room, which was much,

215
00:12:29,130 --> 00:12:33,210
much quieter. This is where they
listen to the records they've

216
00:12:33,990 --> 00:12:36,450
made--not all of them, but
enough to make sure the sound is

217
00:12:36,450 --> 00:12:40,890
good before they ship their
boxes out. Karen has a couple of

218
00:12:40,890 --> 00:12:44,220
really cool record players in
this room, and I asked her to

219
00:12:44,220 --> 00:12:48,720
describe how a basic record
player works, because, after

220
00:12:48,720 --> 00:12:51,630
all, a record is made to be
played, isn't it?

221
00:12:52,200 --> 00:12:53,640
Caren Kelleher: You know, a lot
of people who even collect

222
00:12:53,640 --> 00:12:55,770
records don't have record
players. They're just collecting

223
00:12:55,770 --> 00:12:58,680
the records to have them
permanently or on a shelf or

224
00:12:58,680 --> 00:13:01,050
something to look at. Or maybe
they're saving money to buy a

225
00:13:01,050 --> 00:13:04,500
record player. But a record
player has a couple key

226
00:13:04,500 --> 00:13:08,010
components. One is what's called
the turntable. That's what makes

227
00:13:08,010 --> 00:13:11,760
the record spin round and round,
and that's connected to a belt

228
00:13:11,790 --> 00:13:16,830
underneath the table that allows
it to spin. We also have,

229
00:13:17,100 --> 00:13:19,560
obviously, the record needle,
and it's connected to what's

230
00:13:19,560 --> 00:13:23,070
called a tone arm, and the tone
arm allows the needle to kind of

231
00:13:23,070 --> 00:13:26,310
move across the record as we're
listening. The needle is

232
00:13:26,310 --> 00:13:30,090
probably the most important part
of the turntable, and connected

233
00:13:30,090 --> 00:13:34,320
to the needle is a tiny, tiny
microphone that the wires run

234
00:13:34,320 --> 00:13:37,620
through the record player and
into your speakers. The way a

235
00:13:37,620 --> 00:13:41,700
record works is, if you think
about like a bus going by you

236
00:13:41,700 --> 00:13:45,600
real quick, the whooshing sound,
that's air movement, right? So a

237
00:13:45,600 --> 00:13:48,750
needle is going to go across the
grooves of the record, and as it

238
00:13:48,750 --> 00:13:51,930
hits it, it's making sound, but
it's very quiet sound, which is

239
00:13:51,930 --> 00:13:55,020
why the the tone arm and the
needle are connected to a little

240
00:13:55,020 --> 00:13:58,560
microphone amplify that sound.
So I'll even play you a record

241
00:13:58,560 --> 00:14:01,290
without it, without the speakers
on, and you can kind of start to

242
00:14:01,290 --> 00:14:03,990
hear a little bit of the noise
and the difference when we put a

243
00:14:03,990 --> 00:14:05,100
record fully on.

244
00:14:06,210 --> 00:14:08,100
Jane: So you're taking a record
out now.

245
00:14:08,250 --> 00:14:09,900
Caren Kelleher: I'm taking it
out. This is a soundtrack called

246
00:14:09,930 --> 00:14:13,020
Bee and Puppycat, which we
really like a lot. And this is

247
00:14:13,440 --> 00:14:16,590
really pretty color. It's called
Coke bottle. It looks like old

248
00:14:16,590 --> 00:14:21,570
Coca Cola glass bottles. It's
kind of like a greenish, clear

249
00:14:21,570 --> 00:14:24,960
color. So I'm going to turn the
record player on. And one thing

250
00:14:24,960 --> 00:14:27,330
that's interesting about records
is they can spin at different

251
00:14:27,330 --> 00:14:32,010
speeds. So this is at 33 and 1/3
rpm, which means rotations per

252
00:14:32,010 --> 00:14:35,490
minute. That means it's going to
go around 33 and 1/3 times in a

253
00:14:35,490 --> 00:14:38,700
minute. Sometimes records are
cut at what's called 45 and

254
00:14:38,700 --> 00:14:41,640
that's faster, it's going to 45
times per minute. So I'm going

255
00:14:41,640 --> 00:14:44,820
to make sure that the setting is
correct on this. Okay, so now

256
00:14:44,820 --> 00:14:48,090
the turntable is spinning, and
I'm going to get ready to settle

257
00:14:48,150 --> 00:14:52,440
the the needle on the record.
Once the music starts playing,

258
00:14:52,440 --> 00:14:55,110
it's because the record needle
is hitting the grooves of the

259
00:14:55,110 --> 00:14:57,930
record and the vibrations that
are happening are creating

260
00:14:57,930 --> 00:14:58,410
sound.

261
00:14:58,920 --> 00:15:02,490
Jane: And we're going to do that
first without the speaker on, so

262
00:15:02,490 --> 00:15:04,980
we can just hear what it
actually sounds like with the

263
00:15:04,980 --> 00:15:06,960
needle moving on the record.

264
00:15:13,350 --> 00:15:16,290
I don't know if you could hear
that. It sounded like somebody

265
00:15:16,290 --> 00:15:19,260
had music on in their
headphones, and you were hearing

266
00:15:19,260 --> 00:15:23,130
what was leaking out of the
headphones. It's so quiet, but

267
00:15:23,130 --> 00:15:25,890
this is what it sounds like when
you put the speaker on and you

268
00:15:25,890 --> 00:15:27,390
can actually hear the music.

269
00:15:45,420 --> 00:15:45,660
music: MUSIC

270
00:15:50,880 --> 00:15:55,800
Jane: Let's recap. A record
player is designed to play music

271
00:15:55,800 --> 00:15:59,550
or sound recordings, because the
record, even though it has all

272
00:15:59,550 --> 00:16:02,730
of those grooves that represent
the sound waves can't play

273
00:16:02,730 --> 00:16:06,930
itself. So you put the record on
a turntable, which spins it

274
00:16:06,930 --> 00:16:11,040
around at a set speed, and then
an arm with a needle on it is

275
00:16:11,040 --> 00:16:14,700
placed on the surface of the
record. That needle moves

276
00:16:14,700 --> 00:16:18,900
through the grooves. Fun fact:
the tip of that needle, also

277
00:16:18,900 --> 00:16:22,170
sometimes called a stylus, is
usually made out of industrial

278
00:16:22,200 --> 00:16:26,370
diamond. That's because diamonds
are really hard, so the needle

279
00:16:26,370 --> 00:16:29,970
can withstand being moved along
grooves of records for hours and

280
00:16:29,970 --> 00:16:33,840
hours and hours and hours. And
even though it's made out of

281
00:16:33,840 --> 00:16:37,860
diamond, it's a very, very tiny
diamond, and not the sparkly one

282
00:16:37,860 --> 00:16:40,920
you might see on jewelry, so it
doesn't cost as much as you

283
00:16:40,920 --> 00:16:45,150
might think to replace it.
Anyway, that needle moves along

284
00:16:45,150 --> 00:16:48,180
the grooves of the record, and
the vibrations of the needle are

285
00:16:48,180 --> 00:16:51,900
picked up by a cartridge that
converts those vibrations into

286
00:16:51,900 --> 00:16:55,260
an electrical signal. That
electrical signal then gets

287
00:16:55,260 --> 00:16:59,160
boosted by an amplifier and sent
out through speakers, which

288
00:16:59,220 --> 00:17:02,460
actually convert those
electrical signals back into

289
00:17:02,460 --> 00:17:06,480
sound waves that go to your
ears, and then your ears convert

290
00:17:06,480 --> 00:17:10,230
them back to electrical signals
to send to your brain, which

291
00:17:10,230 --> 00:17:14,730
then interprets those electrical
signals as beautiful music! I

292
00:17:14,730 --> 00:17:17,700
don't know about you, but my
brain feels like it's going to

293
00:17:17,700 --> 00:17:22,770
explode with how complicated
this all is. How in the world

294
00:17:22,770 --> 00:17:26,130
did people manage to come up
with this technology? It's

295
00:17:26,130 --> 00:17:32,040
amazing. I told Caren Kelleher
that I feel like I just barely

296
00:17:32,040 --> 00:17:33,780
understand how this all works.

297
00:17:33,810 --> 00:17:35,340
Caren Kelleher: I make them for
a living, and I don't even

298
00:17:35,340 --> 00:17:38,310
really understand how it works.
It's a little bit of magic,

299
00:17:38,340 --> 00:17:41,520
honestly. But that's, I think,
what makes vinyl so special is

300
00:17:41,520 --> 00:17:45,210
that it's, it's really bizarre
that somebody figured out how to

301
00:17:45,210 --> 00:17:49,620
put music into a piece of wax
and now plastic.

302
00:17:50,040 --> 00:17:52,740
Jane: What's also cool is when
you look at a record, they all

303
00:17:52,770 --> 00:17:56,970
look kind of the same. I mean,
maybe different colors, but they

304
00:17:56,970 --> 00:17:59,460
look kind of the same. You
can't, you can see that there

305
00:17:59,460 --> 00:18:02,190
are ridges, but you can't see
that there's music on there.

306
00:18:02,190 --> 00:18:04,890
They just look like a record
with ridges.

307
00:18:05,100 --> 00:18:06,930
Caren Kelleher: If we took a
microscope to this, and this is

308
00:18:06,930 --> 00:18:09,540
what we do when we make the
master, you can see it almost

309
00:18:09,540 --> 00:18:14,610
looks like like a canyon. So
when music has what's called

310
00:18:14,700 --> 00:18:18,420
heavy bass, it's really deep,
you know, like a bass drum or a

311
00:18:18,420 --> 00:18:21,570
cello or something like that,
the grooves will be really deep.

312
00:18:21,570 --> 00:18:23,820
It'll look like a really deep
canyon. And when it's quiet,

313
00:18:23,820 --> 00:18:26,700
it'll be really shallow. So
almost, if you're if we were to

314
00:18:26,730 --> 00:18:29,640
to shrink ourselves down and put
ourselves in the groove of a

315
00:18:29,640 --> 00:18:32,790
record and go through it, it's
almost like, yeah, going through

316
00:18:32,880 --> 00:18:36,990
a cavern, or with crazy
mountains around it and a river.

317
00:18:36,990 --> 00:18:40,620
It's just very bizarre that this
is how it works. But again, when

318
00:18:40,620 --> 00:18:45,330
that needle hits the sides of
the grooves, is how the sound is

319
00:18:45,330 --> 00:18:46,140
manipulated.

320
00:18:46,770 --> 00:18:48,870
Jane: It's really cool to
visualize it that way, because

321
00:18:48,870 --> 00:18:51,870
there are things called sound
waves, but when you put them on

322
00:18:51,870 --> 00:18:55,530
a record, it almost looks like a
landscape. So you're seeing the

323
00:18:55,530 --> 00:18:58,170
different ways different music
sounds is like the difference

324
00:18:58,170 --> 00:19:02,310
between a landscape with just a
couple of hills, or a really

325
00:19:02,310 --> 00:19:05,520
sort of mostly flat landscape,
versus a landscape that's really

326
00:19:05,520 --> 00:19:08,610
mountainous and big ups and
downs, and the music is

327
00:19:08,610 --> 00:19:10,590
different, so the landscape is
different.

328
00:19:10,800 --> 00:19:12,540
Caren Kelleher: That's exactly
right. You can come work here.

329
00:19:14,130 --> 00:19:16,830
Jane: That would actually be
really fun. I think I'd want to

330
00:19:16,830 --> 00:19:19,890
do the job Robbie was doing over
on the manufacturing floor,

331
00:19:19,920 --> 00:19:23,280
choosing the different colored
vinyl pellets to create an

332
00:19:23,310 --> 00:19:27,360
amazing-looking record. But at
Gold Rush, it's more than just

333
00:19:27,360 --> 00:19:30,330
making a physical record that's
important to them.

334
00:19:30,450 --> 00:19:33,450
Caren Kelleher: Here at Gold
Rush, we work with artists that

335
00:19:33,450 --> 00:19:36,600
are trying to make a living from
their music, but might not have

336
00:19:36,600 --> 00:19:40,530
the big backing of a huge record
label, and so they'll come to us

337
00:19:40,560 --> 00:19:43,620
and ask us to really help guide
their careers a little bit so

338
00:19:43,620 --> 00:19:47,100
that they can make some money to
keep making art. We've become

339
00:19:47,100 --> 00:19:50,310
known now for a lot of the crazy
colors that you heard us

340
00:19:50,310 --> 00:19:54,780
describing out on the floor, as
well as real 24-karat gold

341
00:19:54,780 --> 00:19:58,230
records that you can kind of see
on studio walls and things like

342
00:19:58,230 --> 00:20:00,960
that. We have a machine that's
even crazier than the one that

343
00:20:00,960 --> 00:20:04,020
presses the records that can
turn a record into gold.

344
00:20:04,230 --> 00:20:06,000
Jane: How much does a record
like that cost?

345
00:20:06,330 --> 00:20:09,510
Caren Kelleher: If it's framed,
it's very expensive. It can cost

346
00:20:09,510 --> 00:20:13,410
$500 or more. But the normal
records we make for artists

347
00:20:13,410 --> 00:20:16,650
typically will cost them maybe
$5 to make.

348
00:20:17,070 --> 00:20:19,710
Jane: So a place like Gold Rush
is partly special because you

349
00:20:19,710 --> 00:20:23,610
might have an artist who's not
famous and doesn't need a

350
00:20:23,610 --> 00:20:27,840
million records made, but they
might need 500 records made, and

351
00:20:27,840 --> 00:20:31,260
you can do that for them so that
they can afford to have records

352
00:20:31,260 --> 00:20:33,240
that they can sell at shows and
to fans.

353
00:20:33,390 --> 00:20:35,400
Caren Kelleher: That's exactly
what we do here, and especially

354
00:20:35,400 --> 00:20:39,300
because with the way musicians
are paid for their music, you

355
00:20:39,300 --> 00:20:42,870
might have to have 2 million
people watch a YouTube video to

356
00:20:42,870 --> 00:20:46,530
make the same money that if you
sold 100 vinyl records. So you

357
00:20:46,530 --> 00:20:49,440
don't have to have as many fans,
but some that really want to own

358
00:20:49,440 --> 00:20:52,500
your music to make a big impact
in your career, and that money

359
00:20:52,500 --> 00:20:55,830
helps the musicians drive to the
next tour stop or put the next

360
00:20:55,830 --> 00:20:58,620
album out, or just to feed their
families.

361
00:20:59,250 --> 00:21:00,720
Jane: What did you think you
wanted to be when you were a

362
00:21:00,720 --> 00:21:01,050
kid?

363
00:21:01,740 --> 00:21:04,650
Caren Kelleher: When I was a
kid, I wanted to be a, you know,

364
00:21:04,680 --> 00:21:07,440
like, own a record label. I
loved, there was a TV show when

365
00:21:07,440 --> 00:21:09,690
I was growing up called Jem and
the Holograms

366
00:21:09,990 --> 00:21:10,890
Jane: Ugh, I loved that show.

367
00:21:10,920 --> 00:21:12,840
Caren Kelleher: And it was all
about the music industry. And I

368
00:21:12,840 --> 00:21:16,020
was more concerned, like, how
does Jem get to the top of the

369
00:21:16,020 --> 00:21:19,410
charts and also be a good person
as a musician and use her

370
00:21:19,410 --> 00:21:21,480
influence? And so I've always
wanted to be in the music

371
00:21:21,480 --> 00:21:25,980
industry, but I didn't have any
talent myself, really for music

372
00:21:25,980 --> 00:21:28,440
as much as I tried to practice.
So this has been a good place

373
00:21:28,440 --> 00:21:30,690
for me to be in the music
industry without having to be on

374
00:21:30,690 --> 00:21:31,260
stage.

375
00:21:31,470 --> 00:21:33,540
Jane: So even as a kid, you were
what we might call an

376
00:21:33,540 --> 00:21:36,450
entrepreneur or a business
person. You had a business

377
00:21:36,450 --> 00:21:37,290
person's mind.

378
00:21:37,320 --> 00:21:39,000
Caren Kelleher: I did. And you
know what? I had parents that

379
00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:41,760
were really encouraging of me. I
used to have some really crazy

380
00:21:41,760 --> 00:21:44,460
ideas for things I wanted to
start. And rather than say

381
00:21:44,640 --> 00:21:47,670
that's silly or you can't do
that, my parents would say, Huh,

382
00:21:47,700 --> 00:21:50,010
why don't you spend an afternoon
writing out what you would do,

383
00:21:50,190 --> 00:21:54,240
come up with what we call a
business plan, or draw the

384
00:21:54,240 --> 00:21:57,630
restaurant you want to open. And
I think their encouragement of

385
00:21:57,630 --> 00:22:00,750
that creativity and letting me
explore things led me down a

386
00:22:00,750 --> 00:22:03,690
path where I felt safe to open a
factory like this.

387
00:22:04,290 --> 00:22:06,630
Jane: Caren, I feel like you're
dangerously close to telling us

388
00:22:06,630 --> 00:22:10,560
that it really is important to
learn math and to pay attention

389
00:22:10,560 --> 00:22:11,160
in school.

390
00:22:11,370 --> 00:22:13,050
Caren Kelleher: It is. I was
really good in school, but you

391
00:22:13,050 --> 00:22:16,350
know what? Nobody challenged me
to think about engineering and

392
00:22:16,350 --> 00:22:19,020
chemistry, and now I have to
deal with that a lot in this

393
00:22:19,020 --> 00:22:21,900
job, and I'm really good at it
as it turns out, but I also get

394
00:22:21,900 --> 00:22:24,390
to work with musicians to come
up with the names of their

395
00:22:24,390 --> 00:22:28,050
records. And, you know, I loved
painting in school. And every

396
00:22:28,050 --> 00:22:29,970
time we make a new record and
come up with new color, it's

397
00:22:29,970 --> 00:22:33,300
like, it's just like being an
art class again. So pay

398
00:22:33,300 --> 00:22:35,490
attention to school. Then you
have all kinds of opportunities

399
00:22:35,490 --> 00:22:39,630
like this to do things that are
even different than your dreams.

400
00:22:40,440 --> 00:22:43,650
Jane: Thanks to Caren Kelleher,
the CEO and founder of Gold Rush

401
00:22:43,650 --> 00:22:47,070
Vinyl in Austin, Texas, for
showing us around her factory

402
00:22:47,070 --> 00:22:49,950
and helping us understand the
mind blowing science and

403
00:22:49,950 --> 00:22:53,940
technology behind records and
record players. We've got

404
00:22:53,940 --> 00:22:56,610
pictures and videos on our
social media pages and our

405
00:22:56,610 --> 00:23:00,210
website if you want to see more
of what this all looks like. And

406
00:23:00,210 --> 00:23:03,510
while you're over on our
website, your adults can sign up

407
00:23:03,510 --> 00:23:06,300
for our newsletter. We send one
out every time there's a new

408
00:23:06,300 --> 00:23:09,510
episode. And if you like our
show, we'd love it if you and

409
00:23:09,510 --> 00:23:12,420
your adults would write us a
review or tell a friend about

410
00:23:12,420 --> 00:23:15,810
But Why. If you have a question
for us, you can always have an

411
00:23:15,810 --> 00:23:17,940
adult help you record it and
send it to

412
00:23:19,260 --> 00:23:23,340
questions@butwhykids.org We love
hearing what you're interested

413
00:23:23,340 --> 00:23:27,240
in knowing about. Our show is
produced by Sarah Baik, Melody,

414
00:23:27,270 --> 00:23:30,810
Bodette and me, Jane Lindholm,
at Vermont Public. We are

415
00:23:30,810 --> 00:23:35,340
distributed by PRX. Our But Why
Bites series producer over on

416
00:23:35,340 --> 00:23:39,600
YouTube is Joey Palumbo, and our
theme music is by Luke Reynolds.

417
00:23:40,050 --> 00:23:43,980
We'll be back in two weeks with
an all new episode. Until then,

418
00:23:44,220 --> 00:23:45,750
stay curious.