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Please support us in reaching the new breathtaking funding goal of 500.000 EUR and we will happily reward each and every proud new owner of our PHONOCUT with additional 5 Blanks for free (So each PHONOCUT will be delivered with a total of 10 Blanks for your first PHONOCUT adventures.)
How can me make this happen ????
If you are not a proud owner of a PHONOCUT yet: Get one of the last units available for pre-sale on Kickstarter NOW!!
If you already own a PHONOCUT (thank you!!): Please consider the opportunity to add the new super special priced PHONOCUT BLANK 10-Pack reward to your excisting pledge and/or help us to spread the word and share the good news that finally everybody can cut her/his own vinyl records with just the push of a button.
THANK YOU
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but now, back to the story…
RECORDS MADE BY YOU!
Since the invention of records in 1889, mankind has been dreaming of an affordable machine to produce small editions of high quality records right on top of the office desk, or even the living room table. Today, more than 120 years later, the production of records is still locked up behind the walls of pressing plants.
Allow us to introduce the PHONOCUT HOME VINYL RECORDER. For the first time, anyone can now make quality records at home with just the push of a button.
Most importantly, you do NOT need any technical background to operate our PHONOCUT. All you have to do is following 4 simple steps:
Yes it can! Please have a look at this UNCUT VHS Video demonstration directly from our hotel room at the Making Vinyl Conference in LA, featuring our fully functional PHONOCUT and Arts and Music Technologist KamranV:
Even if you might never have thought about creating your personal vinyl record so far (and even if you do not even own a turntable yet!!), you will easily fall in love with our PHONOCUT as it opens up a whole new universe of creative possibilities.
Please allow us to start inspiring you with a first short list of some exciting projects we enjoyed the most while playing around with our first, fully functional prototype.
A. PHONOCUT Mix Tape Records
Especially for > Everybody
The perfect way to cast digital music into analog grooves. Create your very personal PHONOCUT from your favorite digital playlists or even the radio. Bring back the iconic feeling of the glorious mix tape era and never forget that maybe there has never been a better way to say “I miss you” or “I love you” than with a very carefully selected personal dedicated recording of no other kind.
B. Small Record Editions wherever you are – Your first own record
Especially for > Musicians and DJs
Playing an intimate or unique gig and wanting to capture the special vibes and sound waves of this event directly to vinyl? Doing your own recording session has never been easier. No matter if you play in a small club, on the street, or even if you just love to sing in your bathroom or loosing big time in tonight’s late night Karaoke battle.
Additionally, PHONOCUT enables you to produce records of your own songs on demand, producing them on the fly in real time whenever a listener buys your record.
C. Perfect Test Records – Professional Studios
Especially for > Studio owners and record labels
OK. This section is easy, because in our understanding every single studio owner should right away pledge for this magic machine that will finally enable him to immediately produce unlimited amounts of super affordable test cuts of recording sessions. Downscaling the financial pre-investment in expensive equipment dramatically!!
Be invited to carefully listen to the short side-by-side comparison sound file below, recorded last week during a fantastic session with acclaimed singer Alex Lilly at one of the most iconic LA studios.
COMPARISON SOUND FILE :
D. Magic Moments from and for the ones you love
Especially for > People in love
Again a section that does not need many words to make you feel: Missing your darling babe to the moon and back? Pour all your love and feelings into the grooves of a vinyl and transfer your love in a most unique way:
> PHONOCUT HOME VINYL RECORDERS<
Yes, we also offer a cool T-shirt (a first design concept you will find below), but allow us to be very honest with you:
This campaign is all about breathing life into one of the most magic machines ever invented in the long history of producing vinyl records!!
If you support us NOW to successfully fund this project, it will be our pure delight to reward you with the very first PHONOCUTS that we will proudly bring to life at the end of 2020.
Each and every PHONOCUT pledge level will contain EVERYTHING you need to right away start cutting your first PHONOCUT records. Including your first 5 PHONOCUT BLANKS.
These SPECIAL PHONOCUT BLANKS are 10″ in size (the iconic shellac dimensions, a little bigger than a 7″ single, a little smaller than the classic 12″ LP), with a playtime of 10-15 minutes (~3 songs) on each side (depending on the sonic profile of the recorded audio) and specially developed for the use in your PHONOCUT RECORDER.
We will make it easy for you to re-order and globally purchase unlimited amounts of more BLANKS as soon as we start shipping. Each BLANK sold will be subject to the Private Copying Levy, thus accounting for the merits of artists and content creators.
> ULTIMATE POSH EDITION PHONOCUT <
Never before has it been so easy to finally produce a GOLDEN RECORD!!! Considering all the billions that have been invested by major labels to reach this iconic goal all over this planet – this strictly limited POSH reward level of just 7.777 EUR looks like a bonsai oak next to the Eifel Tower. Especially as this reward includes everything to cut not just only but exactly 77 golden vinyls.
> THE FIRST CUTTING EDGE PHONOCUT T-SHIRT <
As soon as we will dare to discuss the delicate situation to use some of his amazing, all analog photos or even some VHS footage from our LA adventures for the production of our cutting edge PHONOCUT T-Shirt designs with our legendary photographer Lousy…
… we will reveal the final designs that you will be able to choose from as soon as we send out the final survey after successful funding of this campaign (same applies to your size)
T-Shirts will be screen printed by hand at our Phonocut Manufactory in Vienna onto nothing less but finest, organic cotton shirts.
Impossible Project founder and Supersense visionary Florian “Doc” Kaps, known for rescuing Polaroid film from oblivion in 2008, launches this post-digital project in partnership with lathe master Flo Kaufmann, Internet Entrepreneur David Bohnett, and Arts Technologist KamranV.
With industrial design by SWATCH co-inventor Elmar Mock’s invention house Creaholic,
PHONOCUT delivers high-quality vinyl recording with ease leveraging high-torque, low-power electric motors, mechanics and digital controls with sleek hi-fi design never before possible. With revolutionary electronics and a new generation cutter head especially developed by Flo Kaufmann at his flokason lab for this machine.
Since the invention of record discs in 1889, mankind has been dreaming of a simple but precise desktop machine which would enable anybody to produce their own quality records with just the push of a button. Since the 1930s several machines were introduced to the market that all failed to reach a broader audience, mostly due to poor sound quality, overly complicated technical handling or unaffordable pricing.
Today, vinyl records are celebrating a surprising comeback but still their production is locked up inside of high-tech pressing plants, restricted to minimum editions of hundreds of records.
We do believe that the timing is finally perfect to re-think and re-invent record production based on the incredible new opportunities of today’s technology.
THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT PHONOCUT IS ALL ABOUT. Let us write the next chapter in the proud history of vinyl records together.
As you most likely can imagine it required all our resources to develop this fully functional prototype over the last 4 years. Now, after a whole range of super successful test cuts and more than 150 PHONOCUT records later, we will use your money to take the next essentially important steps to convert this one of a kind unit into a machine that can be mass produced in highest quality at an affordable price.
This is a sophisticated and very cost intense process, comprising many steps like the development and production of tooling, engineering many parts from scratch and the testing and re-designing of components.
Last but not least your pledge is truly important to kickstart this project as it will be a strong an clear sign that there is demand for our beloved PHONOCUT and you, our brave backers out there, do share our vision.
A sound says more than a thousands words (or something like that) and we will continue to upload selected PHONOCUT sounds samples here in the course of this campaign (as soon as all rights are cleared).
Today, let’s start with the heartbreaking finale of Doc’s Kickstarter video speech, recorded at the Ace Hotel in Palm Springs (which can not be repeated often enough!)
SOUND SAMPLE NO. 1
We are honestly super proud of the high fidelity PHONOCUT records we already made, all the more since we are currently still working with a handmade prototype with many 3D-printed parts.
Please allow us to thank the many amazing people who worked so very hard with us to create this magic PHONOCUT machine, from the deepest bottom of our all analog hearts.
Most importantly…
… from our core PHONOCUT team in Vienna:
Lukas Obwaller!!!! & Martin Diamant & Marlene Kelnreiter & Lex Webbomaestro
…and from our amazing friends at Creaholic:
Martin Sigrist!!! & Magic Mario Tronza
……. and our external supporters:
3d construction visionary Eric Hattler & Conceptual design master Stefan Schneller
All of our outstanding musicians who supported this project with their art:
Jarina De Marco & Laura Escudé & Alex Lilly & William Tyler & Liano
Moreover:
Brite Spot Diner & the one and only ACE HOTEL, especially Ryan Bukstein
Our friends from Austro Vinyl & KCRW Radio
Film Editor: Marek Bihuň
All analog Photo and VHS Guru: Lousy “Gluten Free” Auber
Additional film & video snips: Jens Meurer & Michael Luger
We worked very hard for 4 years in order to initiate this campaign based on extensive testing with a fully functional prototype of our PHONOCUT HOME VINYL recorder. This is because it is really important for us to minimize your risks!
That said, we very well do know that many challenges will emerge on our path. Especially because we already accomplished several Kickstarter campaigns of different size in the field of photography.
(The Instant Lab and the ONE INSTANT pack film, just to mention two).
The biggest risk we can foresee is the danger of exceeding our very tight and ambitious time schedule. But as we only work with local partners and a truly professional network, we are confident that we can really make it on time.
Visit our Environmental Resources Center to learn how Kickstarter encourages sustainable practices.
We completely developed and will primarily produce PHONOCUT according to highest quality standards with our carefully selected trustworthy partner network across Europe. PHONOCUT is made out of highest quality materials, built to be by your side forever and one day.
The best feature about PHONOCUT is that finally record industry might be independent from traditional pressing plants which arguably use one of the most energy-wasting and chemistry-heavy production process ever established.
In our long history of global distribution we have built a large network of trustworthy partners in order to keep distances as well as our overall footprint low. Moreover, we invested much time, research and energy to develop clever and environmental friendly packaging.