Your tracks on wax: How to press your own record

The most important thing to think about is the length of your tracks because that will determine what size vinyl you press. The more you try to fit on means the shallower the grooves will be which equals a quieter record.

“The closer to the centre of the vinyl that we cut, the lower the level and more risk of audio distortion. This is why we will always recommend tracks longer than 5 minutes be cut to 12-inch vinyl,” Alan Brown from Australian service Vinylgroove told us.

This also means you need to carefully select your tracklist, as the closer to the centre of the record the needle is, the more inner-groove distortion will appear. So maybe think again about which track is A1 and which A2 if you’re releasing a four track EP.

What genre you’re producing can also influence the type of record you press. For instance, Brown says loud audio like drum 'n' bass and techno should be cut at 45rpm, a speed best suited for singles.

“The faster speed actually stretches the bottom-end out and prevents any needle jumping and distortion which also reduces the amount of time per side of the record.”