Yesterday was a happy day: my uncle brought me my broken record player. He had fixed it.
Of course, I was happy to be able to listen to my vinyl records again. I do not have a very large collection (they are expensive!) But there is something magical about this experience of having a box that makes music from a plate and a needle. A trio of observations:
- Much more than in the case of a CD or DVD, there’s the feeling that this is a piece of craft, an artistic object that you hold in your hands. The size of the cardboard envelope, with photographic or painted art; the very weight and texture of the vinyl plate; to remove it from the protective envelope. What a difference between this, and taking a metal disk out of a flimsy plastic box; or worse – tapping a button in the Spotify app.
- The selection is important. You have to think: what do I feel like listening? After all, you can’t change your mind with a simple gesture on the screen, or by pressing a couple of keys on the keyboard. No; changing your mind means repeating the ritual again, twice: once to put away the previous record, and again to retrieve the new one.
- And, as someone who works at the computer and who runs the serious risk of spending a full day sitting, with no more than brief interludes to make lunch or to go to the bathroom… It’s a good thing that the music stops and makes me get up every 20 to 30 minutes!
Convenience is fantastic, and I really enjoy having my songs on my cell phone, being able to take them anywhere and listen to them whenever I want.
But we can’t