Columbia ML 4001 (1948): Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto with Nathan Milstein and Bruno Walter, the record the Library of Congress calls the first LP. Photo Sigmundg, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
The vinyl LP
What it took directly
- documentedthe LP took from the microgroove that Peter Goldmark and his Columbia and CBS engineers perfected in the summer of 1947"It was the microgroove that ultimately proved crucial to the success of the long-playing disc, and it was the microgroove that Peter Goldmark and his team of Columbia (and its parent company, CBS) engineers perfected in the summer of 1947." Amanda Jenkins, Library of Congress Recorded Sound Section, "Inside the Archival Box" (April 13, 2019)
- documentedthe LP took from vinylite pressings and a stylus one-thousandth of an inch across, which together took out the surface noise"the microgroove combined with the use of a reproducing stylus with a radius of one one-thousandth of one inch. plus the elimination of surface noise via production on vinylite." The Billboard, report on Columbia's press demonstration (June 26, 1948)
- documentedthe LP took from Columbia's 33⅓ rpm "safety" masters, cut at its sessions from 1939, which Goldmark's engineers used for their first long-playing tests before the war"By playing around with these safeties, Dr. Peter Goldmark and Columbia engineers, before World War II, were able to get fifteen minutes of music to a side of a 33-1/3 RPM record." Ron Penndorf, "Early Development of the LP", Recollections (2001)
- documentedthe LP's 22-minute side took from an analysis of the repertoire showing that 95 percent of symphonic works ran under 45 minutes"Goldmark decided on twenty-two minutes a side after an analysis of major musical compositions showed that 95 percent of the symphonic works considered would take less than forty-five minutes playing time." Ron Penndorf, "Early Development of the LP", Recollections (2001)
- documentedColumbia ML 4001 (the first LP) took from Bruno Walter and the New York Philharmonic, with Nathan Milstein playing Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto"the first long playing disc featured the Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra of New York (better known today as the New York Philharmonic) under the baton of Bruno Walter, performing Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor with Nathan Milstein as the soloist." Amanda Jenkins, Library of Congress (April 13, 2019), from the Columbia Records Paperwork Collection. A reader comment on the same page argues the 101 launch records had no single first
- documentedML 4001's label took from Columbia's librarian Helene F. Chmura, who signed its label order on March 1, 1948"The order form, accompanied by several early drafts of the center disc label, is dated March 1st, 1948, and is signed by H.F. Chmura—Columbia Records librarian Helene F. Chmura." Amanda Jenkins, Library of Congress (April 13, 2019), from Box 121 of the Columbia Records Paperwork Collection
What it learned to do
- documentedthe LP learned from the CBS lab run by research director Peter Goldmark, with CBS engineer Rene Snepvangers and Columbia research director William Bachman"assisted by Rene Snepvangers, CBS engineer, and William Bachman, CRI research director" The Billboard, "Full Columbia LP Story" (June 26, 1948, p. 18)
- documentedthe LP learned from Columbia engineers Bill Savory, Ike Rodman, Jim Hunter, Vin Liebler and Rene Snepvangers"several other engineers named by Sean Wilentz in 360 Sound: The Columbia Records Story—Bill Savory, Ike Rodman, Jim Hunter, Vin Liebler, and Rene Snepvangers (pg. 129)." Amanda Jenkins, Library of Congress (April 13, 2019), citing Sean Wilentz, 360 Sound: The Columbia Records Story
- documentedWilliam Bachman learned from his earlier job at General Electric, where he designed the G.E. VR cartridge"The problem was solved largely by William Bachman who, while previously working for General Electric, had designed the G.E. VR cartridge." Ron Penndorf, "Early Development of the LP", Recollections (2001)
- documentedthe LP's variable groove spacing learned from William Bachman, who devised it when a 1948 recording of Beethoven's Eroica needed a 29-minute side"Bachman solved the problem by what was to become the 'Variable Groove.'" Ron Penndorf, "Early Development of the LP", Recollections (2001)
- documentedthe LP's unbroken sides learned from Howard Scott, a musician Columbia hired for musical accuracy, who solved splicing its masters into unbroken sides"Goldmark had designed a splicing machine, but it was not sufficiently accurate. Howard Scott, a musician hired to insure musical accuracy, solved the problem." Ron Penndorf, "Early Development of the LP", Recollections (2001)
- documentedEdward Wallerstein (Columbia Records) learned from the failed long-playing disc he had shut down at RCA Victor in the early 1930s"Wallerstein himself had shut down a failed attempt at a long-playing disc during his time at RCA Victor in the early 1930s." Amanda Jenkins, Library of Congress (April 13, 2019)
- statedthe LP took from Columbia's rule that it must not make the records and players people already owned obsolete"the LP microgroove records do not make obsolete the millions of dollars' worth of records and equipment the public already owns." Edward Wallerstein, chairman of Columbia Records, at the 1948 press demonstration (quoted by The Billboard, June 26, 1948)
The tradition it sits in
- documentedthe LP comes from RCA Victor's "Program Transcription" (1930 to 1934), a 12-inch, 33⅓ rpm fine-groove record that failed"The 'Program Transcription' was 12" in diameter, revolved at 33-1/3 RPM, had fine grooves (.0045 inch) that were closely spaced, and was made of a flexible plastic called 'Victrolac.'" Ron Penndorf, "Early Development of the LP", Recollections (2001)
- documentedthe LP's microgroove comes from the fine-groove radio transcriptions Victor developed with NBC"Victor in conjunction with the National Broadcasting Company had developed fine grooved transcriptions, the recording techniques of which, according to one sound engineer, laid the basis for fine grooved, or 'microgrooved' records as Columbia has chosen to call them." Ulysses Walsh, American Record Guide (September 1948), citing an unnamed sound engineer, quoted by Ron Penndorf (2001)
- documentedthe LP comes from parts that already existed in the 1920s: vinyl, the 33⅓ rpm speed, and earlier failed microgroove attempts"Many of the parts of Columbia’s successful LP existed as early as the 1920s: the material (vinyl), the speed (33 1/3 revolutions per minute), as well as several unsuccessful attempts at microgroove, including RCA Victor’s." Amanda Jenkins, Library of Congress (April 13, 2019)
- inferredthe LP's 33⅓ rpm speed comes from the 33⅓ rpm discs that came before it: RCA's 1930 Program Transcription and Columbia's own 16-inch safety masters"The 33 1/3 speed had been established before work began" inferred: Penndorf documents Columbia's 33⅓ rpm 16-inch safeties from 1939 and Victor and NBC's fine-groove transcriptions, and says the speed was settled before work began. No source here says where Columbia took the speed from
- inferredthe LP's choice of 10- and 12-inch sizes comes from the 10- and 12-inch 78 rpm records it replaced"105 records (325 selections) on 10 and 12-inch platters" inferred: The Billboard reports the launch catalog on 10- and 12-inch discs; no source here says the sizes were chosen to match the 78s
Where the whole form comes from
- documentedthe LP comes from the 10-inch, 78 rpm shellac disc, about five minutes long, that the Victor Company released just after 1900"This was a major increase on the five minute total from 78 RPM, 10” Shellac discs that were released shortly after the turn of the century by the Victor Company." Jason Kennedy, "The history of the LP", hi-fi+ (December 20, 2023)
- documentedthe word "album" comes from bound books of sleeves that held several 78 rpm discs"When Columbia first began manufacturing LPs, the term “album” referred literally to a collection of discs contained together in a group of bound sleeves." Amanda Jenkins, Library of Congress (April 13, 2019)
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