It has reclaimed its status as one of the most popular ways of listening to music – and now students and staff at Edinburgh Napier University, alongside some special guests from the industry, are producing a unique event looking into the resurgence of vinyl.
Into The Groove, a collaboration with the Scottish branch of the Audio Engineering Society, will be a mixture of demonstrations, interviews, talks, specially recorded films and expert contributors.
It will aim to emulate the entertaining and informative tone of Royal Institution Christmas Lectures to delve deeper into the audio medium.
The event will look at the steady growth in record sales over the last 15 years – to the point where they have overtaken CDs – examining vinyl’s origins and some of the science behind its revered quirks.
Some of the contributors helping to tell the story of vinyl will include:
• John Cavanagh – Broadcaster and popular music historian
• Chris Geddes – DJ and Belle & Sebastian’s co-founder and keyboard player
• Karlyn King – Music academic and podcast host
• Calum Malcolm – Legendary Scottish music producer and engineer
Jim Hunter from AES (Scotland) said: “The adoration of vinyl is no longer exclusively for adults with disposable cash and a strong sense of nostalgia.
“New generations of vinyl fans are now embracing old analogue technology in the digital age of streaming and downloads.”
Derek Livesey, Lecturer at Edinburgh Napier University’s School of Arts & Creative Industries, said: “Into The Groove aims to help people understand a bit more about this resurgence.
“And it’s not just the music: it’s the artwork, the smells, the liner notes, the track ordering, the ritual and the theatre of vinyl – and of course the crackles and scratches.”
Into The Groove takes place on 14th December at the Lindsay Stewart Theatre in Edinburgh Napier University’s Craiglockhart campus (pictured below). It is open to all ENU students and staff, as well as invited guests and pupils from local senior schools.
Anyone interested in attending can book free tickets here.
The event will also be live streamed to the US and Europe as part of the Audio Engineering Society (Scotland) series of annual events. It can be found on the AES Zoom channel and Edinburgh Napier University’s YouTube Channel.