Records and LPs and vinyl

This morning I went to one of the local 'thrift' shops. These are stores that sell used items that people donate. Bascially it's like a huge 'garage sale' or 'boot sale'. Here in Canada we have garage sales where we sell things that we don't need anymore. In Britain, they have boot sales which are the same thing. There is another name for them in Britain but I forget what it is. 

My only purchases today were 15 record albums. I'm sure some of you know what these are but for those who don't, I will explain it to you. Before CDs and before cassette tapes, musicians used to release their music on large vinyl 'records' that were played on turntables. The large ones play at 33 rpm (revolutions per minute) and the smaller ones play at 45 rpm. 

Today, I 'scored' some real good copies of my favourite lps. An lp is a long playing record.  Scored means 'found' but it has an excitement to it. So today I 'scored' a perfect copy of Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits. I also picked up a copy of Steely Dan's 'AJA' album, which I already have several copies of, but this one is a 'Limited Edition'. It's on coloured vinyl. Usually the records are black but his one is red and is transparent. I have several Disney albums that have artwork on them but his Aja album is my first coloured rock album.

For those who are interested in technology, the records have a single grove from the outside edge to the center. When you put a needle on a turntable into that groove, the needle wavers back and forth and creates electrical (analog) fluctuations which are made into sound waves by an amplifier. Actually a preamp feeds the signal into an amplifier but maybe this is too technical. 

It's still Friday and I had to share this with everyone! I'm off to play my records now. I can also record the music from these records on my computer and make MP3s out of them. They sound pretty good actually!