Editing Direct-drive turntable

{{Short description|Phonograph with motor connected directly to platter}}
[[Image:Technics SL-1200MK2-2.jpg|thumb|300px|A [[Technics SL-1200]] turntable, the direct-drive model most widely used in [[Disc jockey|DJing]].<ref name="wired"/><ref name="oxford"/>]]
A '''direct-drive turntable''' is one of the  three main [[phonograph]] designs currently being produced.  The other styles are the  [[belt-drive turntable]] and the [[idler-wheel]] type.{{Citation needed|reason=According to veteran DJ Joe Collins, idler wheel turntables are no longer being produced, so a source to confirm any in current production should be listed, or else it should list belt drive as the only other design still being made.|date=January 2019}} Each name is based upon the type of coupling used between the platter of the turntable and the motor.

Direct-drive turntables are currently the most popular phonographs, due to their widespread use for [[turntablism]] in DJ culture.<ref name="wired"/><ref name="oxford"/> [[Panasonic]]'s [[Technics (brand)|Technics]] series were the first direct-drive turntables,<ref name="billboard"/><ref name="reverb"/> and remain the most popular series of turntables.<ref name="wired"/><ref name="oxford"/>

== Design ==
{{more citations needed section|date=December 2009}}

In a direct-drive turntable the motor is located directly under the center of the platter and is connected to the platter directly. It is a significant advancement over older [[belt-drive turntable]]s for [[turntablism]], since they have a slower start-up time and torque, and are prone to wear-and-tear and breakage,<ref name="medium">{{Cite web|last=Coleman|first=Brian|date=2016-01-07|title=The Technics 1200 — Hammer Of The Gods &#91;XXL Fall 1998&#93;|url=https://medium.com/@briancoleman/the-technics-1200-hammer-of-the-gods-xxl-fall-1998-5b93180a67da|access-date=2023-01-15|website=Medium|language=en}}</ref> as the belt would break from backspinning or [[scratching]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LApZ8KV7bZAC&pg=PA43|title=The World of DJs and the Turntable Culture|date=2003|publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation|isbn=978-0-634-05833-2|page=43}}</ref> A direct-drive turntable eliminates belts, and instead employs a motor to directly drive a platter on which a vinyl record rests.<ref name="oxford">{{Cite book|last1=Pinch|first1=Trevor|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KuRfLG0IedYC&pg=PA515|title=The Oxford Handbook of Sound Studies|last2=Bijsterveld|first2=Karin|date=2012|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-538894-7|page=515}}</ref> This makes scratching possible, as the motor would continue to spin at the correct [[revolutions per minute|RPM]] even if the DJ wiggles the record back and forth on the platter.<ref name="wired">{{Cite magazine|last=Blashill|first=Pat|title=Six Machines That Changed The Music World|language=en-US|magazine=Wired|url=https://www.wired.com/2002/05/blackbox/|access-date=2023-01-15|date= May 2002}}</ref>

On the other hand, direct-drive turntables may suffer from vibration due to the motor, which is less of an issue for belt-drive turntables. However, in recent years{{When|date=October 2016}}, shock-absorbing (less dense) material, placed between the motor and platter, has been used to cut back on vibrations.  The [[torque]] on direct-drive turntables is usually much higher than on belt drive models. This means the platter speed is less susceptible to outside forces ([[stylus]], hand). Higher torque also means the platter will accelerate to its proper speed faster so less distortion is heard when the record begins to play.

Some direct-drive turntables further reduce the separation of motor and platter by using the platter itself as the [[rotor (electric)|rotor]] in the turntable's [[synchronous motor]]. This means that there is no motor, per se, in the turntable - the platter is entirely driven by the magnetic field induced by the turntable's [[stator]].

In all turntables a motor spins a metal disk at a constant speed. On top of the rotating disk ([[Platter (turntable)|platter]]) is a mat and on top of the mat records are placed to be played. Traditionally rubber mats were used to hold the record in place so that it would not rotate independently of the platter. To allow for easy [[scratching]] and more tricks [[DJ]]s use [[slipmat]]s to reduce the friction between the spinning platter and record. The slipmat is often made of a felt-like material.  This way a DJ can scratch the record while the platter continues to spin underneath.  In direct-drive turntables, the slipmat also helps isolate the record from motor vibrations that would be picked up by the stylus.

Turntables for DJ use also include a [[pitch control]], for fine tuning to the correct speed, used in conjunction with a strobe light, plus it also allows a DJ to [[audio mixing (recorded music)|mix]] using a technique known as [[beatmatching]]. From the late 1990s onwards manufacturers such as [[Vestax]] started to include other electronic controls such as reverse, and "nudge".

[[DJ]]s and [[Turntablism|turntablists]] use all the above functions to assist them in musical performances.

==History==
{{See also|Turntablism}}

The first direct-drive turntable was invented by Shuichi Obata, an engineer at [[Panasonic|Matsushita]] (now [[Panasonic]]),<ref name="billboard">{{Cite periodical|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XCMEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT140|magazine=Billboard Magazine|date=1977-05-21|publisher=Nielsen Business Media|page=140 | title=Tracking the next century's disk spinner | author= Steve Trainan }}</ref> based in [[Osaka]], [[Japan]].<ref name="medium"/> It eliminated belts, and instead employed a motor to directly drive a platter on which a vinyl record rests.<ref name="oxford"/> In 1969, Matsushita released it as the [[Technics (brand)|SP-10]],<ref name="oxford"/> the first direct-drive turntable on the market,<ref name="reverb">{{cite web|title=History of the Record Player Part II: The Rise and Fall|url=https://reverb.com/news/history-of-the-record-player-part-ii-the-rise-and-fall|website=[[Reverb.com]]|date=October 2015 |access-date=5 June 2016 | author= Jess Mayhew }}</ref> and the first in their influential [[Technics (brand)|Technics]] series of turntables.<ref name="oxford"/> In 1971, Matsushita released the Technics SL-1100. Due to its strong motor, durability, and fidelity, it was adopted by early [[hip hop]] artists.<ref name="oxford"/>

A forefather of turntablism was [[DJ Kool Herc]], an immigrant from [[Jamaica]] to [[New York City]].<ref name="reverb"/> He introduced turntable techniques from Jamaican [[dub music]],<ref name="cambridge">{{Cite book|last1=Collins|first1=Nick|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bQeAtG97BmEC&pg=PA105|title=Electronic Music |last2=Schedel |first2=Margaret|last3=Wilson|first3=Scott|date=2013|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-107-01093-2|doi= 10.1017/CBO9780511820540 |page=105}}</ref> while developing new techniques made possible by the direct-drive turntable technology of the [[Technics (brand)|Technics SL-1100]], which he used for the first [[Sound system (Jamaican)|sound system]] he set up after emigrating to New York.<ref name="reverb"/> The signature technique he developed was playing two copies of the same record on two turntables in alternation to extend the [[Breakdancing|b-dancers]]' favorite section,<ref name="cambridge"/> switching back and forth between the two to [[Music loop|loop]] the [[Break (music)|breaks]] to a rhythmic beat.<ref name="reverb"/>

The most influential turntable was the [[Technics SL-1200]],<ref name="wired"/> which was developed in 1971 by a team led by Shuichi Obata at Matsushita, which then released it onto the market in 1972.<ref name="medium"/> It was adopted by [[New York City]] [[hip hop]] DJs such as [[Grand Wizzard Theodore]] and [[Afrika Bambaataa]] in the 1970s. As they experimented with the SL-1200 decks, they developed scratching techniques when they found that the motor would continue to spin at the correct [[revolutions per minute|RPM]] even if the DJ wiggled the record back and forth on the platter.<ref name="wired"/> Since then, turntablism spread widely in hip hop culture, and the SL-1200 remained the most widely used turntable in DJ culture for the next several decades.<ref name="oxford"/><ref name="wired"/>

Technics also introduced the first direct-drive [[Linear tracking#Linear tracking|tangential-arm]] turntable, the model [[Technics SL-10|SL-10]], in 1981.

==References==
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[[Category:Consumer electronics]]
[[Category:Japanese inventions]]
[[Category:Musical instruments invented in the 1960s]]
[[Category:Turntables]]