12-inch single
Encyclopedia
The 12-inch single is a type of gramophone record
that has wider groove spacing compared to other types of records. This allows for louder levels to be cut on the disc by the cutting engineer, which in turn gives a wider dynamic range, and thus better sound quality. This record type is commonly used in disco and dance music genres, where DJs use them to play in discos or clubs. They are generally intended to be played at 45 rpm.
(Jose Rodriquez) in need of a Friday night test copy for famed disco mixer Tom Moulton
. As no 7" (18 cm) acetates could be found, a 10" (25 cm) blank was used. Moulton, feeling silly with a large disc which only had a couple of inches of groove on it, asked Rodriguez to re-cut it so that the grooves looked more spread out. Because of the wider spacing of the grooves, a broader overall dynamic range
(distinction between loud and soft) was made possible. This was immediately noticed to give a more favorable sound for discothèque play.
Moulton's position as the premiere mixer and "fix it man" for pop singles ensured that this fortunate accident would instantly become industry practice. This would perhaps have been a natural evolution: As songs became much longer than had been the average for a pop song
, and the DJ
in the club
wanted sufficient dynamic range, the format would have surely had to be changed from the 7 inch (18 cm) single eventually.
Also worth noting is that the visual spacing of the grooves on the 12" assisted the DJ in locating the approximate area of the "breaks" on the disc's surface (without having to listen as he dropped and re-dropped the stylus to find the right point). A quick study of any DJ's favorite discs will reveal mild wear in the "break points" on the discs surface that can clearly be seen by the naked eye, which further eases the "cueing" task (a club DJ's tone-arm cartridge will be heavily weighted and mild wear will seldom spoil the sound quality
). Many DJ-only remix services, such as Ultimix and Hot Tracks, issued sets with deliberately visualised groove separations (i.e., the record was cut with narrow and wider spacings that could be seen on the surface, marking the mix points on the often multi-song discs).
A broader dynamic range or louder recording level requires more space as the grooves' excursions (i.e., the width of the groove waves and distance traveled from side to side by the turntable stylus) become much greater in amplitude
, especially in the bass frequencies so important for dance music
. Many record companies began producing 12-inch (30 cm) singles at 33⅓ rpm, as the slower speed enhances the bass on the record. By the same token, however, 45 rpm
gives better treble response and was used on many 12-inch singles, especially in the UK.
The first very first 12" single was released in 1973 by soul/R&B musician/songwriter/producer Jerry Williams, Jr. aka Swamp Dogg. 12" promotional copies of "Straight From My Heart" were released on his own Swamp Dogg Presents label (Swamp Dogg Presents #501/SDP-SD01, 33⅓ r.p.m.) with distribution by Jamie/Guyden Distribution Corporation. It was manufactured by Jamie Record Co. of Philadelphia PA. The B-side of the record is blank.
The first official promotional 12" single was Southshore Commissions "Free Man". At first, these special versions were only available as promotional copies to DJs. Examples of these promos, released at almost the same time in 1975 are, GARY TOMS EMPIRE - "Drive My Car", DON DOWNING - "Dream World", BARRABAS - "Mellow Blow", THE TRAMMPS - "Hooked For Life", ACE SPECTRUM - "Keep Holdin' On", SOUTH SHORE COMMISSION - "Train Called Freedom", THE CHEQUERS - "Undecided Love", ERNIE RUSH - "Breakaway", RALPH CARTER - "When You're Young and in Love", Michael ZAGER & The Moon Band Feat. Peabo BRYSON - "Do it With Feeling", MONDAY AFTER - "Merry-Go-Round", THE RITCHIE FAMILY - "I Want To Dance" and FRANKI VALLI - "Swearin' to God".
By 1976, with the release of "Ten Percent
" by Double Exposure
on Salsoul Records
, the new format was sold to the general public. The second song found on a 12" Single is Love to Love You Baby
by Donna Summer
, released in 1976. This song was originally a full side of her North American debut release, but released again in early 1977 backed with Try Me, I Know We Can Make It
, on the Oasis/Casablanca label.
Increasingly in the 1980s, many pop and even rock artists released 12-inch singles that included longer, extended, or remixed versions of the actual track being promoted by the single. These versions were frequently labeled with the parenthetical designation "12-inch version", "12-inch mix", "extended remix", "dance mix", or "club mix".
Later musical styles took advantage of this new format and recording levels on vinyl 30 cm (12 in) maxis have steadily increased, culminating in the extremely loud (or "hot") cuts of drum and bass
records of the 1990s and early 2000s.
Many record label
s produced mainly 12-inch singles (in addition to albums) during the 1980s, such as Factory Records
, who only ever released a handful of 7-inch (18 cm) records. One of Factory's resident artists, alternative rock
/dance
quartet New Order
, produced the biggest-selling 12 inch record ever in United Kingdom
, "Blue Monday
", selling about 800,000 copies on the format and over a million copies in total. It was somewhat helped by the fact that Factory did not release a 7-inch version of the single until 1988, five years after the single was originally released as a 12 inch only release. By way of comparison, "Blue Monday" came in 76th on the 2002 UK list of all-time best-selling singles.
es. Now that advances in compact disc
player technology
have made the CD acceptable for mixing and "turntablism
", the term maxi single is increasingly used.
In the mid-late 1980s, prior to the rise in popularity of the CD single
, vinyl maxi-singles for popular artists often included "bonus" songs that were not included on albums, just as a 7
" single included a B-side
cut that was often not to be found on the referenced album. Many CD singles contain a number of such cuts, in a manner similar to the older EP
vinyl format.
In the days of the 7" single, and especially in R&B releases, the single would occasionally be "flipped" by radio DJs who found the B-side cut to be better for airplay than the intended A-side. One noteworthy example is the now-classic "I'll Be Around", the first of the Spinners Thom Bell-produced hits for Atlantic Records
in the mid 1970s. Around the time 12" releases became standard for pop records, this practice faded, because of the increase in marketing costs, the reliance on video to sell single releases, and the public's expectation of quality packaging with photo or picture sleeves. The birth of the CD single has all but ended such practices, and it seems apparent that the growing trend of Internet marketing
will put an end to such moves.
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
that has wider groove spacing compared to other types of records. This allows for louder levels to be cut on the disc by the cutting engineer, which in turn gives a wider dynamic range, and thus better sound quality. This record type is commonly used in disco and dance music genres, where DJs use them to play in discos or clubs. They are generally intended to be played at 45 rpm.
History
The 12-inch single gramophone record came into existence with the advent of disco music in the 1970s. The first 12" (30 cm) single was actually a 10" (25 cm) acetate used by a mix engineerMix engineer
A mix engineer, also referred to as "mixing engineer", is a person who, once all instruments, voices, and sounds, etc., have been recorded, creates what is called the final version of a song, hence the term "mix engineer"...
(Jose Rodriquez) in need of a Friday night test copy for famed disco mixer Tom Moulton
Tom Moulton
Tom Moulton is an American record producer, and originator of the remix, the breakdown section, and the 12-inch single vinyl format.-Life and career:Thomas Jerome Moulton was born in Schenectady, New York, United States....
. As no 7" (18 cm) acetates could be found, a 10" (25 cm) blank was used. Moulton, feeling silly with a large disc which only had a couple of inches of groove on it, asked Rodriguez to re-cut it so that the grooves looked more spread out. Because of the wider spacing of the grooves, a broader overall dynamic range
Dynamic range
Dynamic range, abbreviated DR or DNR, is the ratio between the largest and smallest possible values of a changeable quantity, such as in sound and light. It is measured as a ratio, or as a base-10 or base-2 logarithmic value.-Dynamic range and human perception:The human senses of sight and...
(distinction between loud and soft) was made possible. This was immediately noticed to give a more favorable sound for discothèque play.
Moulton's position as the premiere mixer and "fix it man" for pop singles ensured that this fortunate accident would instantly become industry practice. This would perhaps have been a natural evolution: As songs became much longer than had been the average for a pop song
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
, and the DJ
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
in the club
Nightclub
A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
wanted sufficient dynamic range, the format would have surely had to be changed from the 7 inch (18 cm) single eventually.
Also worth noting is that the visual spacing of the grooves on the 12" assisted the DJ in locating the approximate area of the "breaks" on the disc's surface (without having to listen as he dropped and re-dropped the stylus to find the right point). A quick study of any DJ's favorite discs will reveal mild wear in the "break points" on the discs surface that can clearly be seen by the naked eye, which further eases the "cueing" task (a club DJ's tone-arm cartridge will be heavily weighted and mild wear will seldom spoil the sound quality
Sound quality
Sound quality is the quality of the audio output from various electronic devices. Sound quality can be defined as the degree of accuracy with which a device records or emits the original sound waves...
). Many DJ-only remix services, such as Ultimix and Hot Tracks, issued sets with deliberately visualised groove separations (i.e., the record was cut with narrow and wider spacings that could be seen on the surface, marking the mix points on the often multi-song discs).
A broader dynamic range or louder recording level requires more space as the grooves' excursions (i.e., the width of the groove waves and distance traveled from side to side by the turntable stylus) become much greater in amplitude
Amplitude
Amplitude is the magnitude of change in the oscillating variable with each oscillation within an oscillating system. For example, sound waves in air are oscillations in atmospheric pressure and their amplitudes are proportional to the change in pressure during one oscillation...
, especially in the bass frequencies so important for dance music
Dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...
. Many record companies began producing 12-inch (30 cm) singles at 33⅓ rpm, as the slower speed enhances the bass on the record. By the same token, however, 45 rpm
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
gives better treble response and was used on many 12-inch singles, especially in the UK.
The first very first 12" single was released in 1973 by soul/R&B musician/songwriter/producer Jerry Williams, Jr. aka Swamp Dogg. 12" promotional copies of "Straight From My Heart" were released on his own Swamp Dogg Presents label (Swamp Dogg Presents #501/SDP-SD01, 33⅓ r.p.m.) with distribution by Jamie/Guyden Distribution Corporation. It was manufactured by Jamie Record Co. of Philadelphia PA. The B-side of the record is blank.
The first official promotional 12" single was Southshore Commissions "Free Man". At first, these special versions were only available as promotional copies to DJs. Examples of these promos, released at almost the same time in 1975 are, GARY TOMS EMPIRE - "Drive My Car", DON DOWNING - "Dream World", BARRABAS - "Mellow Blow", THE TRAMMPS - "Hooked For Life", ACE SPECTRUM - "Keep Holdin' On", SOUTH SHORE COMMISSION - "Train Called Freedom", THE CHEQUERS - "Undecided Love", ERNIE RUSH - "Breakaway", RALPH CARTER - "When You're Young and in Love", Michael ZAGER & The Moon Band Feat. Peabo BRYSON - "Do it With Feeling", MONDAY AFTER - "Merry-Go-Round", THE RITCHIE FAMILY - "I Want To Dance" and FRANKI VALLI - "Swearin' to God".
By 1976, with the release of "Ten Percent
Ten Percent (song)
In 1976, Salsoul Records released their eighth release, Walter Gibbons' remix of Double Exposure's disco song "Ten Percent"."Ten Percent" was the first commercially-available 12-inch single....
" by Double Exposure
Double Exposure (band)
Double Exposure is an American Disco era band hailing from Philadelphia, USA'Double Exposure’ are James Williams, Joseph Harris, Charles Whittington and Leonard ‘Butch’ Davis who were originally called ‘United Image’ back in the 1960’s...
on Salsoul Records
Salsoul Records
This article is about the record label. For SalSoul the Puerto Rican Salsa radio station see Cadena Salsoul.Salsoul Records was a New York City based record label founded by brothers Joseph Cayre, Kenneth Cayre, and Stanley Cayre . Salsoul released about 300 disco 12-inch singles, and a string of...
, the new format was sold to the general public. The second song found on a 12" Single is Love to Love You Baby
Love to Love You Baby (song)
"Love to Love You Baby" is a song by American singer Donna Summer released in 1975 . It became one of the first ever disco hits to also be released in an extended form.-Song information and original release:...
by Donna Summer
Donna Summer
LaDonna Adrian Gaines , known by her stage name, Donna Summer, is an American singer/songwriter who gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s. She has a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Summer is a five-time Grammy winner and was the first artist to have three consecutive double albums reach...
, released in 1976. This song was originally a full side of her North American debut release, but released again in early 1977 backed with Try Me, I Know We Can Make It
Try Me, I Know We Can Make It
"Try Me, I Know We Can Make It" is a song by Donna Summer from her Love Trilogy album released in 1976. Summer's breakthrough had come in the form of the disco song "Love to Love You Baby" which in its entirety lasted almost seventeen minutes and took up the entire first side of the album of the...
, on the Oasis/Casablanca label.
Increasingly in the 1980s, many pop and even rock artists released 12-inch singles that included longer, extended, or remixed versions of the actual track being promoted by the single. These versions were frequently labeled with the parenthetical designation "12-inch version", "12-inch mix", "extended remix", "dance mix", or "club mix".
Drum and bass
Drum and bass is a type of electronic music which emerged in the late 1980s. The genre is characterized by fast breakbeats , with heavy bass and sub-bass lines...
records of the 1990s and early 2000s.
Many record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
s produced mainly 12-inch singles (in addition to albums) during the 1980s, such as Factory Records
Factory Records
Factory Records was a Manchester based British independent record label, started in 1978 by Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus, which featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Joy Division, New Order, A Certain Ratio, The Durutti Column, Happy Mondays, Northside and James and...
, who only ever released a handful of 7-inch (18 cm) records. One of Factory's resident artists, alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
/dance
Alternative dance
Alternative dance or indie dance is a musical genre that mixes rock subgenres with electronic dance music...
quartet New Order
New Order
New Order are an English rock band formed in 1980 by Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris...
, produced the biggest-selling 12 inch record ever in United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, "Blue Monday
Blue Monday (New Order song)
"Blue Monday" is a single released in 1983 by British band New Order, and later remixed in 1988 and 1995. The song has been widely remixed and covered since its original release, and became a popular anthem in the dance club scene.-Background:...
", selling about 800,000 copies on the format and over a million copies in total. It was somewhat helped by the fact that Factory did not release a 7-inch version of the single until 1988, five years after the single was originally released as a 12 inch only release. By way of comparison, "Blue Monday" came in 76th on the 2002 UK list of all-time best-selling singles.
Maxi-singles
The term "12-inch" usually refers to a single with several remixRemix
A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....
es. Now that advances in compact disc
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
player technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
have made the CD acceptable for mixing and "turntablism
Turntablism
Turntablism is the art of manipulating sounds and creating music using phonograph turntables and a DJ mixer.The word 'turntablist' was coined in 1995 by DJ Babu to describe the difference between a DJ who just plays records, and one who performs by touching and moving the records, stylus and mixer...
", the term maxi single is increasingly used.
In the mid-late 1980s, prior to the rise in popularity of the CD single
CD single
A CD single is a music single in the form of a standard size Compact Disc, not to be confused with the 3-inch CD single, which uses a smaller form factor. The format was introduced in the mid-1980s, but did not gain its place in the market until the early 1990s...
, vinyl maxi-singles for popular artists often included "bonus" songs that were not included on albums, just as a 7
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
" single included a B-side
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
cut that was often not to be found on the referenced album. Many CD singles contain a number of such cuts, in a manner similar to the older EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
vinyl format.
In the days of the 7" single, and especially in R&B releases, the single would occasionally be "flipped" by radio DJs who found the B-side cut to be better for airplay than the intended A-side. One noteworthy example is the now-classic "I'll Be Around", the first of the Spinners Thom Bell-produced hits for Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
in the mid 1970s. Around the time 12" releases became standard for pop records, this practice faded, because of the increase in marketing costs, the reliance on video to sell single releases, and the public's expectation of quality packaging with photo or picture sleeves. The birth of the CD single has all but ended such practices, and it seems apparent that the growing trend of Internet marketing
Internet marketing
Internet marketing, also known as digital marketing, web marketing, online marketing, search marketing or e-marketing, is referred to as the marketing of products or services over the Internet...
will put an end to such moves.