27 November: Save the Record Player Day

Today is Save the Record Player Day. People of a certain age probably owned one of these at some stage in their lives. Here are ten things you might not know about them.

1. There are a number of different words which have been used for these devices. In their early years they were known as phonographs (from the Greek words for sound and writing), or gramophones (from the Greek words for letter and voice). The term "Record Player" emerged in the 1940s and in recent times, they're called turntables.
2. As early as 1857 there was a device that could record sound, although Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville's phonautograph couldn't play the sound back. It merely traced sound waves onto a piece of paper.
3. The phonograph was invented by Thomas Edison, although the records played on his device looked different from the ones we're familiar with today - they were cylinders. Disc shaped records were invented By Emile Berliner in the 1880s but it wasn't until 1902 that they became more popular than cylinders.
4. Phonographs could record sound as well as play it back. Modern turntables can only play back sound on records produced in a factory.
5. Edison used tinfoil to record sound, which wasn't ideal as the recording would be destroyed when it was taken off the machine. In time, wax cylinders were used instead, solving that problem.
6. How did it work? Sound, spoken words or music entering the mouthpiece made a needle vibrate and make indentations on the foil or, later, the wax. Running a needle attached to a speaker over the groove reproduced the sounds.
7. Early record players for home use had a large horn attached to amplify the sound to a level where it could be listened to. Eventually the Victor Talking Machine Company in the US came up with the Victrola, in which the horn was tilted downwards to allow people to keep their record players in a cabinet.
8. While vinyl records and record players declined in popularity with the advent of CDs and digital formats, they're experiencing a revival of late. Many say the quality of the music is far better in the analogue vinyl format.
9. The needle, or stylus of a record player needs to be able to withstand a lot of pressure and be reisistant to wear. Thomas Edison's first styluses were made from sapphire. From 1910, they were made from diamond and rarely needed changing if they were handled correctly. Steel, tungsten, Copper and even Bamboo were used in some models as well, but these needed to be replaced often, ideally after each use, for a worn stylus could actually damage the record grooves.
10. A turntable can be used by DJs to produce unique sounds, almost like a musical instrument in itself. Manipulating a records while it is being played is called turntablism and the best known technique in turntabling is "scratching".

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Golden Thread

Terry Kennedy is inexplicably and inexorably drawn to the small town of Fiveswood as a place to live and work after university. He is sure he has never visited the town before, but when he arrives there, it seems oddly familiar.

Fiveswood has a rich and intriguing history. Local legends speak of giants, angels, wolves, a local Robin Hood, but most of all, a knight in golden armour. Fiveswood's history also has a dark side - mysterious deaths blamed on the plague, a ghostly black panther, and a landslide which buried the smugglers' caves.

Terry buys an apartment in The Heights, a house which has been empty for decades, since the previous owner disappeared. Now he has finally been declared dead, developers have moved in and turned it into six flats. Terry has the odd feeling he has lived in this enigmatic house before. But that is not all. Since childhood, Terry has had recurring, disturbing dreams which have been increasing in frequency so that now, he has them almost every night. To his dismay, the people from his nightmares are his new neighbours.

Except, that is, for Eleanor Millbrook. She is refreshingly unfamiliar. After Terry saves her from a mysterious attacker, they become close. However, Terry's nightmares encroach more and more on his waking life, until they lead him to a devastating discovery about who he really is.

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