What actually happens when we cut your lacquer
A cutting engineer explains the lathe, the levels, and the small decisions that turn a playlist into a groove you can actually track.
Cutting engineer
Theo Marsh
Cutting engineer. Turns playlists into a groove, one lacquer at a time, and keeps a spreadsheet about it.
Theo cuts every lacquer that goes through the plant, which means he is the person who decides how loud your record can be before the needle jumps. He came from studio mastering, where things were quieter and better paid, and does not appear to miss it.
He is responsible for the thermometer on Bertha, the humidity log by the door, and the phrase “within tolerance”, which he uses more than anyone needs.
He writes The Press column. If a post contains a table, it is his.
At the plant
- Cutting engineer
- 14 Ledger Lane, Unit B
- Wed to Sat, 10 to 6
Want Theo to pick your colours or sequence your sides? Say so in the notes when you press a record.
Posts by Theo
Everything Theo
wrote down.
Why records warp, and how we mostly stop it
The real reasons vinyl bends, from cooling times to careless storage, and the specific steps we take to keep your pressing flat.
The other two
