A disco-era machine forges its way into the electronic music revolution.

The machine is a called a Lathe, manufactured circa 1964 in Burbank, California. Prior to landing in the hands of Tim Xavier, owner of ManMade Mastering in Brooklyn, NY, the machine already had a prestigious provenance. The Scully Westrax Lathe is a dub plate and mastering machine that is the “quintessential first step for record duplication,” according to Xavier. While housed in Miami with its first owner, Aldo Vasquez, the lathe got its start cutting records for such disco titans as KC and the Sunshine Band and Kool And The Gang. The second owner, Jack “Murda” Biswell, caught wind that a studio group from Jamaica was going to buy the lathe, so he drove all night from Montreal to Miami to beat them to the punch.

After operating in Montreal as Chopstick Dubplate since 1998, Jack moved the company to New York . Xavier, a.k.a. “Turbo Tim” was living in Chicago when he first came in contact with Biswell. Jack needed more business and Xavier was well connected, so the trade off was Biswell teaching him the ins and outs of cutting. Within 24 hours of the negotiation, Xaviermovedto NYC to become Biswell’s apprentice. Xavier’s background in production, DJing, and running his own label, 773 Techno, made him a prime candidate for honing a new trade on the lathe.

Within a few months Xavier was mastering and cutting his own records. Within two years,Biswell offered Xavier the opportunity to buy the equipment. The apprentice had surpassed the master, and was on his way to taking the Scully to another level.

To better explain the lathe one must have a basic understanding of sound and the process of transferring the physical movement (musical waveforms) onto the record medium (lacquer disc). The process of transferring physical movement from modern (digital) to the primitive lacquer disc medium determines the sonic quality of the record. Step one: Music is played from a digital source and the physical vibration is transferred to the lacquer disc. Step two: Lacquer discs are shipped to a pressing plant where the lacquer discs are plated (stampers). These stampers are a negative impression of your music. Step three: melted vinyl pellets are then squeezed into a mold (stampers)—this is where the term pressing comes from.

In competition with modern standards in digital media, vinyl mastering requires much louder volume levels. Unlike digital media, high frequency energy (hi-hats and vocals) must be transferred to disc very carefully through a series of high frequency limiters otherwise the cutting stylus may modulate spitting highs and/or sibilance. The bottom line in a world of higher standards is that Xavier has made some simple yet complicated modifications, with help from California’s Scully vinyl-cutting veteran and technician. Len Horowitz and Switzerland’s Ivo Studer, for superior performance. In the vinyl industry, it’s all about volume wars with little or no audio distortion on transfer. Horowitz is responsible for outfitting Xavier’s lathe cutter with a high-powered magnet and tightly wound magnesium coil forms that essentially ensure loud and accurate groove cutting. These grooves and violent excursions must exist on the same medium without touching or colliding, or the record will skip on playback. To help remedy this situation, Switzerland’s Ivo Studer of www.vinylium.ch has calibrated and installed his patented Ultra pitch98 computer (Stuka Computer). This modern pitch system essentially allows engineers like Xavier to cut more time per side on a record at a louder volume, accurately. Xavier is able to cut 12 minutes maximum volume at 45rpm versus the proverbial eight minutes per side 45rpm. In Xavier’s opinion Studer is one of the most prolific technicians left in the industry. He is one of five technicians left in the world who continues to service and modify cutting heads, lathe amplifiers and pitch; he is the youngest in the industry, to boot.

Many top industry labels, DJs and producers have found Xavier’s cutting to be superior. His clientele list includes labels such as Complete Distribution (www.complete-usa.com), Rhythmic (www.rhythmicnyc.com), and artists such as John Selway, Mark Verbos, Abe Duque and Alexi Delano. Xavier  also runs labels: LTD 400, a minimal techno label which has gained renowned recognition in Europe with its one-of-a-kind handpainted cover art, and Clickhaus, a label featuring local Brooklyn minimal and glitch artists. This new technology combined with older quality is paving the way to a bright future for vinyl as we know it. For more information contact Tim Xavier at: 718-624-5838 or visit www.manmademastering.com.