Acetate disc

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In sound recording, an acetate disc (or lacquer in the United States) is an audio disc used in the production of a gramophone record (for example, a LP record). The creation of the acetate disc allows audio engineers to determine how well a given recording will transfer to the final medium. Listening to the acetate disc may prompt an engineer to adjust the recording, ensuring optimal audio transfer to the masterdisc.

Despite their name, most acetate discs contain no acetate but comprise an aluminum disc with a coating of nitrocellulose lacquer. During World War II with aluminum in short supply, glass was used as a substitute base.

Acetate discs were also used for making copies of recording sessions allowing musicians to take a copy home, before the widespread use of 1/4" reel-to-reel magnetic tapes and later cassettes. Bob Dylan's Basement Tapes were distributed to music publishers on acetate discs. This allowed publishers to listen to the songs and select those they wanted their artists to record. It also ensured that these Bob Dylan songs found their way onto the first rock "bootleg" album, Great White Wonder, which in itself led to the birth of the rock bootleg record industry. Brian Epstein's collection of Beatles acetates sold by his brother Clive fetched large sums at auction.

Disc jockeys sometimes refer to acetates as "dub plates." These come in very handy for DJs, allowing them to have various sounds, samples and loops recorded onto one disc where they can quickly access a track or part thereof.

From the 1930s to the early 1950s, they were used by the recording industry for original recordings made available via commercial release or specifically for broadcast (transcription discs). The practice fell into disuse from the late '40s onwards as magnetic tape progressively replaced the format in the creation of master recordings. The discs themselves are very fragile with a tendency to dry out (increasing surface noise) and can only be played a limited number of times before high frequency roll-off becomes apparent.

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Last updated on Tuesday December 18, 2007 at 08:31:45 PST (GMT -0800)
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