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So you've been messing around with a groovebox and sampler or with the new breed of virtual computer synths and samplers, and you've come up with some really good dance tracks. You've burned some CDs, but most of your DJ friends only have a pair of turntables. How can you get your music out there for everyone in club land to enjoy? You could try to get a deal with a record label, but then you're playing by their rules. Why not take control and put out the song yourself? You'll get a sense of pride from pressing your own 12-inch records and running your very own record company.

* Although vinyl has faded from mainstream popularity, many places still manufacture vinyl records. You may want to start with a full-service mastering house or pressing plant that can handle just about everything for you. All you need to do is send in the CD or DAT master, your camera-ready art for the labels, and a deposit check for 50 percent of the manufacturing costs. About two to four weeks later, you'll have a quantity of records to sell to distributors and record stores.

* Here's a better way to go, though: work with a plant that will walk through each step of the manufacturing process with you. This way you know exactly what is happening with your product, and you learn the nuts and bolts of the process. "I like to see people get involved," says Kevin Smith of Bill Smith Custom Records in El Segundo, California. "When you do the walk-through and see how it's done, you know what to expect every time you put out a new record."

The Mastering Process The first step you need to take after you've finished recording and mixing is to make a stereo 2-track master recording of your songs in a format you can deliver to the mastering house. Most places accept DAT, CD, and 11/44-inch tape, but you should check with the facility first to see what it accepts or prefers. Before creating the final 2-track master, borrow or rent the best master recorder you can afford, because this ensures that the final product will sound as good as possible. I recommend using a professional DAT recorder, which isn't too cost-prohibitive to rent. If you recorded your song with a digital audio workstation or digital audio sequencer and have a professional-quality sound card in your computer, record the mix of all your instruments into your computer, then burn it onto a CD. It is important to sequence the songs on the DAT or CD exactly as you want the record to play-including the time between songs. Make sure to document the play time for each song as well.

The premastering process involves balancing all the levels, making the mix as punchy as possible, and eliminating any extreme frequencies that could upset the mastering lathe. Most record-mastering houses can perform premastering for an additional charge. If you're savvy and have the listening environment to monitor sound accurately, go for it. Today's computer technology enables the home-studio producer to do an incredible job of prepping a master, but not every bedroom-studio musician can determine how well the mix will translate to a finished product. When you have a mastering engineer with a sensitive ear and a tuned room tweak your mix, you are much more likely to end up with a finished product whose quality is consistent with that of other records.

After you have made your DAT or CD premaster, you'll get a test acetate cut at the mastering house. The mastering engineer will take your premaster, make some minor adjustments to EQ, then cut the grooves on an acetate disc. Write down any EQ or compression settings made at this step, because you will need to reproduce these settings when you get the actual lacquer master cut if you like the way the acetate sounds. The playable test acetate, or dub plate, lets you hear how your song will sound on vinyl. Many artists use dub plates to check out how their song works in a club by getting the DJs to play it in a set. If you pop the acetate on your SL-1200 and find that the low end isn't kickin' or the highs aren't right, use the EQ on your DJ mixer as a rough gauge for the EQ changes you need to make when you do the actual master. If possible, have the plant make a couple of test acetates with different mix and EQ settings on your premaster-especially if it's your first time-so you can learn how the sound in your studio translates through a needle on an SL-1200. Again, document the settings so you can determine which mix is which.

The machine that cuts the groove into the vinyl is called a disc-cutting lathe. Back in the heyday of vinyl, the American-made Scully lathe with a Westrex cutting head was the workhorse of the record-mastering industry. Later, the German company Neumann cloned-and then surpassed-the Westrex-Scully machines. Neumann stopped manufacturing disk-cutting lathes in the late '80s with the advent of the CD. You will find Neumanns in most mastering houses, but very rarely will you see these lathes for sale.

Deep Grooves When the lathe cuts the nitrous cellulose lacquer master, the cutting head vibrates up and down and side to side as it cuts the groove into the lacquer. The space between the grooves depends on how long you want the side to play. The longer the playback time, the shallower and narrower the grooves must be. Groove width is measured in lines per inch (LPI) and directly affects how loud your finished product will be. The louder you want your master, the more side-to-side deflection the needle must make and the lower an LPI you need. The mastering engineer must pay careful attention to the grooves, making sure they do not collide and create a skip. Too shallow a groove, and the needle will jump out of the groove when the DJ tries to back-cue the record. Newer lathes have computer controls that vary the space between grooves depending on the signal level. This more efficient way of cutting could give you more playing time, but on recordings with heavy low end, like dance music, the computer could have problems with preventing the grooves from colliding. Some mastering houses switch to old-fashioned, constant LPI when cutting dance music to ensure a groove that's deep, wide, and conservatively spaced.

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) have created a specification for physical groove vibrations called the Standard Reference Level. All mastering rooms calibrate their equipment to this level, and most cut 12-inch or 10-inch 33-rpm records at the Standard Reference Level (or 0 dB).

This is how level relates to playing time:

* 12-inch at 33 rpm, maximum time at 0 dB, 20 minutes.

* 12-inch at 33 rpm, maximum time at -3 dB, 24 minutes.

* 12-inch at 33 rpm, maximum time at -6 dB, 28 minutes.

These numbers work fine for most music-but dance music, which typically requires a louder pressing, should have fewer grooves per inch. This also keeps the needle in the groove. The DJs will thank you!

Here are the times recommended for dance music:

* 12-inch at 33 rpm, maximum time at +6 dB, 12 minutes and 30 seconds.

* 12-inch at 45 rpm, maximum time at +6 dB, 9 minutes and 15 seconds.

* 10-inch at 33 rpm, maximum time at +6 dB, 9 minutes and 55 seconds.

* 10-inch at 45 rpm, maximum time at +6 dB, 7 minutes and 15 seconds.

What Is the Matrix? After cutting the lacquer, the mastering engineer engraves the matrix number onto the lacquer master. Anything plated off the lacquer master will have this number on it. The usual format for the number is a letter abbreviation for your record company, followed by a few digits, then the letter A or B to designate the sides. I used "UZR-001-A/B" for my first release. "UZR" was short for Uzziel Records, and "001-A" was side A of my first release. Like the printer labels and the stamper plates made from the lacquer masters, this number helps the mastering house keep track of all the pieces needed for pressing.

"Identify your sides," says Kevin Smith. "I had a press sitting for almost a whole day because there was no A or B marking on the stamper, and I won't take the 50-50 chance." The matrix number also tracks and identifies the records when you're working with the distributors. In addition to engraving the matrix number, you can have the mastering engineer engrave a message to your fans to immortalize in wax. Don't forget to tell the mastering engineer what pressing plant you are using, so he or she can send them on.

Vinyl offers a number of customized features with which you can experiment if you are creatively inclined. You can try an inside-out cut, in which the song starts playing from the inside of the record (near the label) and the needle moves out toward the record's edge as the song plays. If you have two songs on a side, you can place a loop of silence after the end of the first song, keeping the needle locked in the groove and preventing it from drifting into the next song. Or you can loop a sound or groove so it plays continuously. This is called a locked groove. DJs love cool little tricks like these, which give them more creative options.

Step Up to the Plate When the mastering house is finished cutting your lacquer master discs-one for each side-it will (or at least it should) ship them to the plating house overnight. The plating house probably has a system set up with either the mastering house or the pressing plant for billing and delivery, so you shouldn't have to deal with the plating house at all-just make sure that you don't get charged twice for plating.

The plating process should start within two days of mastering; otherwise the lacquer will deform, damaging your record's sound quality. The plater cleans the lacquer discs and coats them with a thin layer of silver. This makes the disc conduct electricity. Next, the plater electroplates the silvered disc with a layer of nickel about 15 thousandths of an inch thick. The plater then separates the lacquer from the metal, which has protruding ridges on the flat surface mated to the engraved surface of the lacquer master. These ridges on the metal plate form a negative casting of the grooves cut by the mastering lathe. This metal plate is called the father plate. The process resembles making an impression of your hand in a mold and then pouring plaster of Paris into the mold, as you probably remember doing way back in kindergarten. When the plaster dried, you ended up with a positive cast of your hand emerging from the round plate of plaster. In this case, the mold is the lacquer, the plaster is the metal plate, and the hand is the configuration of grooves.

The plater performs the plating process once more to produce a metal plate with grooves, known as the mother. You can actually play this metal "record" on a turntable to check for errors in the mastering or plating process. (This gives a whole new meaning to the term "heavy metal.")

Now you must decide whether to use the two-step or the three-step process. In the two-step process, the father plate becomes the stamper in the actual pressing of the vinyl, and the mother is kept as the source for any future masters. In the three-step process, the mother is plated to make the stamper plates, then used in the press. If you go with the two-step process, you can press from 4,000 to 10,000 records before the fathers and mothers wear out. After that, you have to go through the whole mastering process again. The three-step process can yield anywhere from 15,000 to 20,000 records. (Some pressing plants claim that the three-step process can yield up to 100,000 copies without any quality degradation.) For most independent dance-music releases, the two-step process should be enough.

What Is DMM, and Is It Better? In DMM (direct metal mastering), instead of cutting a groove into a disc of lacquer, the plater cuts the groove directly into a 14-inch copper disc. This results in a brighter, more detailed record, with better transient response. The plater then plates the stampers directly from the DMM copper master, avoiding the two- or three-step process-but you'll run into several trade-offs. First, the groove on a DMM record is shallower than that on a record made from a lacquer master, so if you're pressing dance music with lots of low frequencies, the pressings could be prone to skipping. Some people don't like the sound of DMM because of the crisp high-end frequencies. DMM also costs a bit more. (DMM is a trademark of Teldec Schallplatten GMBH.)

Graphics and Printing Unless they've already heard a record playing in a club, received a recommendation, or noticed a song on a chart, most DJs buy a record only after they've listened to it first at a record store's listening station. But what inspires a DJ to take a random record out of the bin to give it a spin? The sole factor that distinguishes most records physically is the label or jacket. These items may be your only opportunity to get a DJ's attention and make an impression as he or she is flipping through the bins.

Develop an eye-catching logo for your record company. If you're not artistically inclined, hire one of those many hip digital artists who hang around us cool music people to create one for you. It really isn't difficult to come up with a logo that looks great, and it could make a big difference in your record's success.

Another effective way to make your records stand above the crowd is to make colored, clear, or blended vinyl records. This will increase the pressing costs about 25 percent, and the plant might have a minimum pressing amount, but it sure looks cool.

A 12-inch record needs a 4-inch label with a 0.28-inch hole. Your record label should include your logo, the name of the artist(s), the title of the song, and the record company's contact number, e-mail address, and URL. You can also include writing, producing, and publishing credits. (See the sidebar "Vinyl Resources" for Web sites where you can download templates.) One inexpensive way to go is to print a colored label with black ink-make sure the color contrasts well with black (avoid dark, saturated colors like deep purple or royal blue). You have two sides for communicating your message, so use the space creatively. I put all the text on one side of the record, and just the logo on the side that has the good club mix. That way, when a DJ plays it in a club, other DJs who like the track can catch a glimpse of the label while it's spinning around on the deck. It's a lot easier to identify a logo than to read a song title while it's spinning around in circles. I also color-code each different release to make it easier for DJs to find the song they spotted in the club.

Once you have all your artwork done, call the printer to find out exactly what its delivery requirements are. Typically you'll hear the term "camera-ready art." Don't let it scare you. For black ink on a colored label, all it means is a good laser print of your labels. Some full-service pressing plants and printers accept electronic files, such as EPS files exported from Photoshop, Illustrator, or Quark XPress.

For your first release, you probably won't need jacket art. That's where your price per unit cost really shoots up. Just do a good job with the label, then go with either a white or a black jacket (with a hole cut out in the center so the label shows) and shrink-wrapping. You probably don't need to worry about bar-coding for your first record; however, some pressing companies offer free unique bar codes for each release. Tell the printing house exactly where to ship the finished labels. The pressing plant can't do your run without them.

The Pressing Plant When the pressing plant receives the stampers from the plating plant, it will run a few test pressings-anywhere from 6 to 12 copies-with blank white labels. The plant will send you a few of these so you can check the quality of the record before it presses the copies you ordered. If you listen to the first one and hear a skip, check the other copies for a skip at the same spot in the song. If it's consistent across the entire test pressing, you probably have a bad stamper.

If all is well, use the test pressings to get preorders from the distributors. Send a record with your contact information before you order a quantity of records. Try to collect the good test pressings from the plant so you can also send these to any big-name DJs you know and to magazines for review and charting. You might find you need to press more than 300 units the first time because you started a buzz with just a dozen white labels. (Nemesis Distribution ordered 400 units of my first release, and I was still waiting to hear from Watts Distribution and TRC Distribution.) Note, however, that the distributor won't pay you for at least 30 days, so you must have the money to cover the pressing. The pressing plant won't ship your product until you've paid the bill in full.

Vinyl records are actually composed of pellets of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) melted down in big boilers. A premeasured shot of PVC is then placed between the labels, and the whole PVC-label "sandwich" is pressed between the two stampers at about 300 degrees and 100 tons of pressure for 20 to 45 seconds. The record is cleaned, then stacked so the vinyl can cool. After cooling, the records are packaged in their sleeves and jackets, shrink-wrapped, and then boxed, usually with 50 records to a box.

You pay the shipping charges to your home or office. A few distributors require that you ship the boxes directly to them, but most will send a truck to the pressing plant to pick up the records. You can also have the records shipped directly from the plant to the distributor, although sometimes the pressing plant will then charge a drop-ship fee. Get all the shipping documentation from the pressing plant so you can keep track of what went where.

Although almost anyone can make CDs at home, it is still quite a thrill to have your own vinyl record manufactured. If you want the dance-music community to take your music seriously, making it available on vinyl is an absolute necessity. Thanks to the affordability of professional-quality recording equipment, it's never been easier to produce your own records. So what are you waiting for? Get busy and kick some wax!

Vince LaDuca is a regional product specialist for Roland Corporation U.S. He helped with sound design and product development on Roland's Groove line of products, XV sound modules, and VM digital mixers. Look for releases on his new label, TNM Recordings, and check out his cutting-edge interactive Web design and Web music scores at www.twisternewmedia.com.

"Present your product professionally. Take the extra time to design a nice label. It's not that expensive."-Kevin Smith, Bill Smith Custom Records

"Keep the recording time below 15 minutes on each side. This will ensure that you get the best sound quality."-Stefan Prayudha, Y-Mixx Mastering

"When you mix, don't let the levels of cymbals, vocal sibilance, and sounds that sizzle get too loud because it can be worse on vinyl. Keep the bass and the bass drum in the center to keep everything in phase. Using compression on the bass and the bass drum is even better."-Stefan Prayudha, Y-Mixx Mastering

"Don't overorder. Start small. Reorders are a piece of cake. Start at 300 to 400, sell those, get your money, then order 300 more. I've kept my minimum down to 300 so I can help small independents-that's who keeps us alive!"-Kevin Smith, Bill Smith Custom Records

"You will probably sell records on the strength of the music alone, but you'll sell a lot more if you promote the releases."-Mike (Expando) Knapp, Bassex Records/Black Licorice Recordings

"Make good music and let people hear it!"-Kevin Smith, Bill Smith Custom Records

Pressing plants Bill Smith Custom Records 127 Penn St. El Segundo, CA 90245 (310) 322-6386 fax (310) 322-18183

Rainbo Records 1738 Berkeley St. Santa Monica, CA 90404 (310) 829-3476 fax (310) 828-8765 info@rainborecords.com www.rainborecords.com

United Record Pressing 453 Chestnut St. Nashville, TN 37203 (615) 259-9396 united@URPressing.com

Discmakers 7905 N. Route 130 Pennsauken, NJ 08110 (800) 468-9353 info@discmakers.com www.discmakers.com

Mastering houses Y-Mixx Mastering P.O. Box 1845 San Gabriel, CA 91778 (626) 286-8544 fax (626) 291-2323 Ymixx@yahoo.com

Aardvark Record Mastering 4485 Utica St. Denver, CO 80212 (303) 455-1908 http://aardvark-mastering.com

Label printing, paper sleeves, and mailers G & M Label Printing 6211 Santa Monica Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90038 (213) 466-1307

Hamlett Printing 405 Humphreys St. Nashville, TN 37203 (615) 256-7429 hamlettptg@aol.com

Bowers Record Sleeve 5331 North Tacoma Ave. Indianapolis, IN 46220 (800) 876-8881

RIAA standards E3 and E4, process photos, and more http://aardvark-mastering.com

Tips on making and promoting your records www.kathoderaymusic.com

Label templates www.rainborecords.com/ VinylTemp.html

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