Wednesday, March 30, 2011

LP's anyone?

Posted by Abby at 10:00 AM

We've had a crate of records (mostly opera) for 2 years now and never listened to one of them. There are probably about 50 albums in it and we kept talking about how we would eventually get a record player. Last month we were given a VERY good reason to finally buy that record player.

MORE records!

A friend's friend wanted to get this collection off of his hands and knew that it would take way too much research to actually sell them. It turns out that LP's have a special grading system that is used to explain what condition they are in. Add to that the research he'd have to do to know which albums were rare and could be competitively priced and which could not. Fortunately for us, he decided he didn't have the time or desire to do that and instead offered them to friends before donating them to Goodwill.

I can't believe how many records we have now.

I also still can't believe how amazing records sound!

If I've ever heard a record before, it must've been when I was young enough that I don't remember. Eric spent the first day hunkered down in the music room dusting the records and calling out to me periodically to share a special find. Eartha Kitt's original Santa Baby?! So fun!

Then we trekked out to Target and found a really nice, and decently priced, vintage looking record player. The girls were as excited as we were about listening to these records. We found two different versions of Peter and the Wolf and the girls enjoyed listening to one of them that night.

I need to try to accurately explain the difference in sound when listening to records compared to CD's. When we're all home and one of us is listening to CD music in one room, it's easy to continue on with our own tasks. It doesn't even seem strange to turn on music or the TV in another room. But when the record player is going, noone wants to turn on anything else. And everyone feels distracted from what they're doing. We're all drawn to the music room. The music sounds bigger. It sounds more real. The quality is so much better! It's true that you have to get used to the little "pops" that come with record players, but we got over that fast.

I'm looking forward to many more nights listening to music on our record player. We've got a lot of music to catalog and it's gonna be fun!

 

4 Comments:

1. Christy said...
   March 30, 2011 at 1:34 PM  
   I am SO jealous! Just today I was in Goodwill and paused at the records because there was one of Frosty the Snowman...We still have many of the records from when we were kids. I need to get a record player!
   Lisa said...
   March 30, 2011 at 3:17 PM  
   That is seriously awesome. I haven't listened to a record in about forever, and now I want to!
   Qait said...
   March 30, 2011 at 5:45 PM  
   I got a record player for Michael at our first Christmas because he had several boxes of records (and the professors at BYU-I kept giving more away)...but even now his collection is nowhere near that big! Wow!
   We love records. :) They're an experience!!!
   Lee said...
   October 9, 2011 at 1:04 PM  
   Hello - I am record enthusiast just coming out of hibernation! I have a record maintenance question that I can't seeem to find the answer to on google/youtube. I picked up two milk creates of 78's yesterday from someone off of craigslist. I has been warned of mold/must and the related smell and it is definitlely there (its from the sleaves. First question - can I leave them in the sun? Any suggestions for cleaning?
   Thanks!
   Lee

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