2. analog
  3. 168613-129831

What is it about spinning vinyl?

I just turned the system off several minutes ago. I had been listening to a great, high res file of Tower of Power, best horn section ever. As many know I have been sans turntable for 8 months. I sold my old one and ordered a new one but you know the story. Covid delays. It is under construction now.  Anyway, as I turned the system off I got this real urge to play a record. The wizard inside did not feel like turning the computer back on. It wanted a record. Grumpy, I decided to hit the sack. 
Think about that. I have a terabyte and a half of digital files sitting there in a hard drive.  Everything from Bach to Captain Beefheart. It had to be a record. No record, bedtime. It was not about the music. It was about the mechanical act of playing a record. I've been doing it since I was four years old. My dad got me a Zenith portable for my fourth birthday. You know, with the black cobra tonearm complete with eyes! Is it just repetitive behavior. Perhaps there is some sort of psychological explanation. Happy associations? Platter hypnosis? Maybe it is that we get emotionally attached to certain behaviors. 
128x128mijostyn
jasonbourne52's avatar
jasonbourne52
2,863 posts
 
It is fascinating to watch rotating objects!
whart's avatar
whart
3,019 posts
 
@mijostyn--do you own any original Vertigo Swirls? If you are in the mindset, you can just watch the record spinning....

edgewear
543 posts
 
Interesting variation on ’Everything from Abba to Zappa’, I guess you don’t like Abba? Anyway, it make me put on Trout Mask (on vinyl of course)😎

The ritual of putting on a record seems like some sort of magical act, with or without a Magic Band. It involves a tactile sensation that demands concentration, giving the impression of being involved in something substantial. It literally sets the stage mentally for an experience that has the potential of being emotionally rewarding. Performing this ritual is basically what draws you into the music. Instructing a computer to ’play’ a digital file (or hit ’play’ on a cd player) gives you none of that.

’Round things are boring’ is the closing statement on Lumpy Gravy, but we know better, don’t we?





hilde45's avatar
hilde45
4,974 posts
 
You have a preference for a deeply rooted habit. Probably one of many. May have nothing to do with vinyl, per se. 
mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn OP
8,480 posts
 
@whart , There was a record with vertigo swirls on the label. I want to say Strawberry Alarm Clock but I'm not sure.

edgewear, I think Zappa was referring to music, always going round to the same place vs a linear progression but what do I know?

hilde45, probably right but I would modify that to say a deeply routed enjoyable habit vs a self destructive one? Is being and audiophile self destructive? I think it is a safe place to put our quest for stimulus variation. Financially self destructive? I suppose if you haven't the money.
It's not like I refused to get my kids braces or send them to school. It may have supplanted a vacation of two. 

I do know that I love paging through my records much more than running down a list of files. I love paging through records anywhere. We have a local record store which I'll visit when I have a free moment just to flip through the record bins. So, maybe it is a derivation of the record collecting bug. Collecting files is not the same. You only get music, which is fine as far as the music goes. When I want to listen to a piece I'll happily go to whatever format it's in. It is not really a "collection" as there are no physical attributes. 

notnow0329, I never looked at it as being a PITA. It is a ritual. To me it is like shifting a car. Don't have to think about it. Totally automatic. It just happens. 

@lewm, get with it! None of us smoke anymore. We get gummies or drops;-)
More to discover