Replicate Full-time Job

Depending on the size of your CD or DVD order there are two different ways your discs get made.

1) Replicated Discs

The most common way to manufacture CDs is to replicate them. This involves a process where we mold each disc from melted polycarbonate (plastic) pellets. Before we replicate your disc we create a metal stamper that contains all the data (music or video) that goes on your disc. This stamper gets mounted in the disc molding machine, and when we inject the liquid polycarbonate into the mold, the disc that is replicated already includes your music (or video) content! Disc replication is a highly efficient process, with a disc with your content on it molded every 3 to 4 seconds. However, there is a significant amount of setup work required to make the stamper, and for that reason there is usually a minimum order required of 500 to 1,000 discs. Because Disc Makers specializes in small orders for independent artists, filmmakers, and business, we are (to our knowledge) the only US factory that will replicate discs. Replicated discs are preferred for larger quantities (quantities of 500 units and up).

Think back to the first vinyl record you ever owned. Reverently sliding it out of its sleeve for the first time, taking care to only hold it by the edges so as not to damage it, admiring the ambient lighting dancing off of the delicately crafted grooves. Your first record is uniquely personal, varying in artist, genre, album artwork, title, theme, and countless other things that make it special to you. Chances are, one thing remains near-universal: that record is black.

Why is it that vinyl records are generally black? PVC (polyvinyl chloride), the material that vinyl records are made of, is clear in its natural form, allowing records to be manufactured in just about any color imaginable. Despite this endless array of choices, black is still overwhelmingly the most common option, leaving the burning question: why?

Pricing is based on the artwork and packaging of your project.

A popular example is a full-color CD, 4-page insert (think of it as a booklet — a piece of paper folded in half, the cover and back are pages one and two, and the inside are pages three and four), a tray card (the very back of the CD — under the tray holding the CD) assembled in a standard jewel case and shrink wrapped.

Another popular package is a 5×5 CD full color sleeve and disc, assembled and shrink wrapped. Many bands choose this option when their main goal is using the CD as a demo to submit to potential venues.

The possibilities and packaging options go on from there. If you have a specific idea in mind just let us know and we'll be happy to put a quote together for you.

What do you need to provide in order to place a CD order?

Vinyl record players are electromagnetic devices that change sound vibrations into electrical signals. When a record spins, it creates sound vibrations that get converted into electrical signals. These signals are fed into electronic amplifiers. Electric amps vibrate and feed the resulting sound into speakers, which amplify it and make it louder. Record players still use the whole needle and groove methodology that a phonograph used, although record players today are much more high tech.

So how do they work exactly? The needle, or stylus of a record player is one of several parts that make up a transducer. A transducer is what changes mechanical energy into electrical energy and changes electrical energy into mechanical energy. The whole system contains a stylus, magnets, coils, cantilever, and a body within a cartridge. The mechanical energy from the sound waves is converted into electrical energy, which is then sent into the amplifier and out to the speakers.

When a vinyl record is made, a needle is used to create grooves in the vinyl that is basically recorded information of the desired sound or music. A needle (or stylus) is also used to read the information contained in the grooves, playing it back so that we can hear the recorded information. On the left side of the groove and on the right side are channels of audio information that makeup stereo sound.

Long before the digital age came along, devices like Thomas Edison's phonograph were born. The phonograph is considered the granddaddy of modern record players today. The word phonograph actually means sound-writer. Essentially, the phonograph recorded and stored sound mechanically by etching sound waves (or more accurately, the electrical signal of the sound waves) with a needle, onto tinfoil cylinder.

The cylinder was rotated by a hand crank and the needle moved to cut a groove into the tinfoil, recording the sound wave signal. A needle and amplifier were used to reverse the process (in the case of the phonograph, the amplifier was a horn) and the recorded sound was then played back. Of course, the phonograph had many limitations, but it was the early vision of what would later become known as the record player.

Originally, Thomas Edison created the phonograph as a way to record dictation, with intentions for using it in office work and as a way for teachers to record lessons. His very first recording was said to be a recording of the nursery rhyme “Mary had a Little Lamb.” Unfortunately, phonograph recordings weren't very practical as the tinfoil didn't last very long and the phonograph device itself was too complicated for most people to use.

Not long after Thomas Edison set aside his vision to work on other projects, Emile Berliner came along and developed similar technology, except instead of etching grooves to record sound waves into a tinfoil coil, the grooves were cut into a flat disk using a needle. Another needle was used to read the grooves and it was called the gramophone. It has a much closer resemblance to record players today.