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Audiowood Barky turntable, around R13Â 000, etsy.com -
Audiowood Barky turntable, around R13Â 000, etsy.com -
Audiowood Chirp bamboo turntable, around R7Â 500, etsy.com -
3D-printed LP by Amanda Ghassaei, www.amandaghassaei.com -
Laser-cut wood LP by Amanda Ghassaei, www.amandaghassaei.com -
Electrohome Wellington 4-In-1 Nostalgia Turntable, R4019, shopping.all4women.co.za
WORDS Malibongwe Tyilo
If you want to set the mood, you need music. If you’re going nostalgic, you need a record player. And if you want to be on the pulse, knock on wood.
Given the technological advances in the music industry over the past three decades, it might be fair to assume that the death knell for vinyl records has tolled once and for all.
Not true at all. Vinyl merchants have, in fact, been reporting a steady increase in sales since the Noughties.
Old LPs are being reissued and the current crop of top-of-the-charts artists are releasing their work on vinyl, as well as digitally. Records are not cheap either, costing up to four times the price of a CD.
Stephen Segerman, owner of Mabu Vinyl in Cape Town, says nostalgia, the tactile experience, and a desire to hear music as the artists intended it to be heard, are the main reasons that drive music lovers back to the needle.
For us at VISI, one of our favourite things about the return of vinyl is the turntable. New designs aren’t the bulky kind from yesteryear. Most have USB ports so they can be played through desktop computers and media centres, and the music can be converted to MP3s should you want to listen on the go. We especially love the new sleek wooden creations that are coming through.
Now, there’s even wooden LPs to go with your player. Invented by Amanda Ghassaei, a designer at Instructables, she first pioneered the 3D-printed record (that you can make yourself from these instructions) and then followed it up with a laser-cut wooden record (that you can make yourself from these instructions). It seems the good ol days are being reinvented all the time.
Picture the scene: crisp weather, a warm drink by your side (or a glass of wine if you prefer), your favourite record (may we suggest some old-school Bowie?) under the needle delivering the odd crackling sound for 20th-century ambience and, of course, a VISI in your hands. It doesn’t get much more atmospheric than this.
Read more posts by our editor-at-large Malibongwe Tyilo here.
