Broadcast turntables?

[mr_petit]

@jlb2 what is the purpose of 4 TT and 4 tape decks? What kind of radio station would have used that much gear?

BillWojo

I think the complete layout is very strange for a radio station.
I mean why are all the turntables on one side and all the reel2reels on the opposite side?
There is no need to have multiple reel2reels close to the mixing console, one is usually enough; a DJ isn't going to swap tapes during his program, whereas records are swapped all the time of course (usually per song)
But they must have had a particular workflow in mind for the DJ otherwise they wouldn't have build it this way.
That said.. I also don't see a microphone for the DJ?
This looks more like a radio room for something like a classical music station where no spoken word is broadcasted, only continous classical music, and no interaction with listeners (maybe by seperate presenters in the opposing studio and that a seperate radio technician starts/stops music etc).
Not an ordinairy layout if you ask me but more a single specific goal.
I can't think of it being suitable for popular radio how it's broadcasted since the early/mid 60's where a DJ plays an intergral part of the radio programme.

Maybe all that equipment is there to serve multiple classical stations continously broadcasting uninterrupted music at the same time? Or they have 2 machines for backup. Or there are specific mono and stereo machines.
Or one or 2 machines were specifically used for recording. Recording the music that you're broadcasting doesn't make much sense, but recording the interviews (or live music) of course does.

Love the elipson speakers though.

 

[Pio1980]

@jlb2 what is the purpose of 4 TT and 4 tape decks? What kind of radio station would have used that much gear?

BillWojo

Production studio?

 

[empirelvr]

...
But they must have had a particular workflow in mind for the DJ otherwise they wouldn't have build it this way.
That said.. I also don't see a microphone for the DJ?
This looks more like a radio room for something like a classical music station where no spoken word is broadcasted, only continous classical music, and no interaction with listeners (maybe by seperate presenters in the opposing studio and that a seperate radio technician starts/stops music etc).
Not an ordinairy layout if you ask me but more a single specific goal.
I can't think of it being suitable for popular radio how it's broadcasted since the early/mid 60's where a DJ plays an intergral part of the radio programme.

At most big network AM radio stations in the US, (think: WABC and the like) union rules forbade a DJ or announcer from operating the equipment. (This seemed to end just as the Top 40 era of AM radio was ending and FM made it's ascendance.) I'm not sure about Europe but a similar rule could be a reason no microphone is seen at the console. The talent might have been in their own booth and the engineer did all the heavy lifting.

Or, as Pio1980 said, it could be a production studio and not an on-air one.

 

[LF240]

I think the complete layout is very strange for a radio station.
I mean why are all the turntables on one side and all the reel2reels on the opposite side?
There is no need to have multiple reel2reels close to the mixing console, one is usually enough; a DJ isn't going to swap tapes during his program, whereas records are swapped all the time of course (usually per song)
But they must have had a particular workflow in mind for the DJ otherwise they wouldn't have build it this way.
That said.. I also don't see a microphone for the DJ?
This looks more like a radio room for something like a classical music station where no spoken word is broadcasted, only continous classical music, and no interaction with listeners (maybe by seperate presenters in the opposing studio and that a seperate radio technician starts/stops music etc).
Not an ordinairy layout if you ask me but more a single specific goal.
I can't think of it being suitable for popular radio how it's broadcasted since the early/mid 60's where a DJ plays an intergral part of the radio programme.

Maybe all that equipment is there to serve multiple classical stations continously broadcasting uninterrupted music at the same time? Or they have 2 machines for backup. Or there are specific mono and stereo machines.
Or one or 2 machines were specifically used for recording. Recording the music that you're broadcasting doesn't make much sense, but recording the interviews (or live music) of course does.

Love the elipson speakers though.

Maison de la Radio is much more than a single radio station from what I've gathered. From Wikipedia - "Built in the shape of huge ring 500 meters in circumference, with a central utility tower, the building houses the administrative offices, broadcasting studios, and performance spaces for all of Radio France's national stations and its four permanent ensembles—Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre national de France, Chœur de Radio France and Maîtrise de Radio France."


A film was released in 2013 about it -



Here's the trailer -

 

[mr_petit]

Maison de la Radio is much more than a single radio station from what I've gathered.

I know what Maison de la Radio is. It's in Paris, close to the Eiffel tower. I've seen it and how big it is. There will be lots of studio's and recording rooms inside. It's the federal radio building. Lots of countries (here in europe at least) have something similar (not necessarily 1 building but also often one central big media park) from a time that the state controlled 100% of the radio&television broadcasting and that commercial stations were forbidden.
My point was that someone stated that the picture showed a studio that is "the ordinary layout of the control rooms in European mainstream radios", which I severely doubted.
First of all, europe is very very big. And that it wouldn't be suitable for how popular radio is made where the DJ plays a central role.
The pictures I posted have, therefore, a completely different layout, and show that there isn't something like a "ordinary layout of the control rooms in European mainstream radios".
They all differ, certainly through the ages.

 

[Pio1980]

The Bundespost (German State post office) has broadcast authority, as in most countries for internal communications administration of all types as a gov't agency. Wired communications fell under the Post as a natural extension of admin responsibility, then wireless/radio/television, financed thru user participation /taxation.

The US commercial model is somewhat unique, programming being determined by statistical audience participation (popularity) ratings and sales pitches for products of questionable benefit at best.

The history of KFKB as a cautionary on this model;
https://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/kfkb/18621

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_R._Brinkley

 

[jlb2]

Wow, this radio studio thing seems to have derailed this thread completely. Since there has been so much interest and passionate discussion I wonder if we should not start a new thread dedicated to radio studios in the General Audio Discussions section, what do you think? For the time being, here are a few replies to the posts directed to me.

There is no such thing as "ordinairy layout of control rooms in European mainstream radios"

God knows that I hate to contradict people, but of course there is such a thing - and the photos you posted illustrate it nicely too. U-shaped layout with the mixing desk at one end, turntables on one side, tape decks on the other side... sounds familiar? Then there are just two variants:

• Self-op ("DJ-style") with a microphone at the mixing desk so that the presenter/producer is also the tech.
  
• Tech-op where the tech/s at the mixing desk is in charge of cueing and launching the recorded sounds and all the technicalities in the control room, while the presenter in the studio room - on the other side of the sound-proof window - does the talking and is usually also the director and producer, both being in communication by means of talkback and a specific sign language nicknamed "technical gestures".

I appreciate that Self-op is the only style that you know, but you have to be aware that Tech-op is very common in European radios, including community and commercial radios. Radio France is a "Tech-op only" radio - and very proud of the high level of creativity and technicity that this allows, while other European broadcasters (BBC, etc.) have a mix of both styles: mostly tech-op in nationwide stations, mostly self-op in local stations where the budget is tighter. Your photos show both styles, almost always with this same basic layout. I have been informed that the new (2021) RTBF studios in Mons are designed to allow both modes of operation too - but of course it's easier with the modern technologies.

Since you showed a photo of a local BBC station, check page 93 in the BBC guide to Acoustic Practice (http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/rd/pubs/...tural-acoustics/bbc_guideacousticpractice.pdf) which shows a better view of the whole floorplan. It shows how these BBC local studios can be used in both ways, with the on-desk microphones and thoughtully placed turntables for self-operation, but also a row of tape recorders and a separate studio room for tech-operation. As you can see by comparing both shots, all these studios have the same general organisation, dictated by ergonomics and experience.

Of course, as all rules, this one has a few exceptions, such as your photo with a turntable on the left hand and another on the right hand - great for juggling with LP's but too awkward if you add tape recorders, as they would be too far away from the mixing desk for one-person operation, and cueing tapes would be too noisy in the same room as the microphone. This studio is basically limited to DJ programmes, which is probably the whole point. Another oddball case is outside broacasting where you have to do with whatever room and furniture the organisers allow you to use - as in the example there: http://www.stanlaundon.com/tees.html (look up "outside broadcast" photos). For more information on how radio studios are organised, I encourage you to read this page: https://www.cloudrad.io/radio-studio.

(as you can see NOB probably had a contract with EMT )

EMT was indeed a major player in Europe for the mainstream (or "big" if you prefer) radios that had the budget to afford them. I don't know everything, but I am not aware of a "contract" between any manufacturer and any broadcasting company, if by this you mean a guaranteed stream of orders on the long-term.

a time that the state controlled 100% of the radio&television broadcasting and that commercial stations were forbidden.

Ahem... Look up "Europe 1", "RTL (French radio)", "RMC", "Sud Radio", "Radio Andorre" and "Radio Océan / Atlantic 2000" on the wikipedia for actual information on what you're talking about.

And that it wouldn't be suitable for how popular radio is made where the DJ plays a central role.

Ahem... Just for your information, since a good many years the most popular radio in France has been France Inter, a public radio made in 100% tech-op studios. That's right, no DJ, but a presenter and a producer (who are often the same person). The separation of the roles in Tech-op studios allows the production of much more richer contents than self-op. For instance, the final sequence of Nicolas Philibert's "La maison de la radio" mentioned by LF240 shows the live broadcasting of a musique concrète concert, something that cannot possibly be done in a self-op studio. I strongly encourage you to find and watch this wonderful - and very funny for the most part - documentary.

The pictures I posted have, therefore, a completely different layout, and show that there isn't something like a "ordinary layout of the control rooms in European mainstream radios".
They all differ, certainly through the ages.

Obviously not, they are operationally all the same - with a single exception - and this, for good reasons. But I do agree that the buttons and the walls are different.[/QUOTE]

 

[mr_petit]

So, more than one type like you claimend before... Nice to see you came to that conclusion too.
And if you look close, some have a layout with turntables under an angle, some with turntables strictly to the side, placement of reel to reel and jingle machines, some have a window to the guest studio whereas others don't have that and recieve the guests in the same studio etc etc etc.
Fact is that within the "two variants" they are also not the same.
It's just a matter of how far you take the oversimplification that defines how many variants there are.
Studio's are build bespoke, so there are always differences based on what the customer wants. And all your and my examples show that.
They are all designed differently and there is no "ordinary layout of the control rooms in European mainstream radios"; it's not a standard product; it's bespoke. But indeed if you start oversimplifying things, you eventually end up with not two, but only one.
If you end up with two, you didn't oversimplify enough

All the radio stations you mention are radio périphérique. So broadcasted from outside France (french radio monopoly lasted from '45 to '81)

NRU/NOB had bespoke EMT tables (mainly based on EMT930), just as the BBC had bespoke ones later on (based on EMT950).

 

[jlb2]

@jlb2 what is the purpose of 4 TT and 4 tape decks? What kind of radio station would have used that much gear?

Production studio?

Not necessarily, as the ORTF and now Radio France have a tradition of producing content-rich programmes even for live broadcasting. Having 4 turntables and 4 recorders is usually not necessary but it can be very useful in a few cases where the elements come one after another (see my example of musique concrète for instance, or drama with a lot of recorded sound elements). I don't know what this specific studio was, but for sure it was well equipped. The ordinary studios (according the the photos in the links I gave in another post and my own memories of Radio France studios) had two recorders and two turntables.

I think the complete layout is very strange for a radio station.
I mean why are all the turntables on one side and all the reel2reels on the opposite side?

Because they almost always are, a shown by the photos you posted and the links I gave.

There is no need to have multiple reel2reels close to the mixing console, one is usually enough; a DJ isn't going to swap tapes during his program, whereas records are swapped all the time of course (usually per song)
But they must have had a particular workflow in mind for the DJ otherwise they wouldn't have build it this way.
That said.. I also don't see a microphone for the DJ?

This is the control room of a tech-op studio. There is no DJ there, there is a tech and possibly an assistant. The presenter (who is not a DJ either), or the actors, or the musicians, are in the room on the other side of the window in front of the mixing desk.

This looks more like a radio room for something like a classical music station where no spoken word is broadcasted, only continous classical music, and no interaction with listeners (maybe by seperate presenters in the opposing studio and that a seperate radio technician starts/stops music etc).
Not an ordinairy layout if you ask me but more a single specific goal.

On the contrary, it allows to do anything, including spoken words and interactions with listeners. You just don't know about it.

I can't think of it being suitable for popular radio how it's broadcasted since the early/mid 60's where a DJ plays an intergral part of the radio programme.

That's a very strange idea, why would the presenter not be an integral part of the programme just because he is not operating the knobs?

Maybe all that equipment is there to serve multiple classical stations continously broadcasting uninterrupted music at the same time?

No, it has never worked this way.

Or they have 2 machines for backup.

Having one backup machine might be useful in exceptional cases, two would have been complete overkill. The ORTF was very serious about periodic maintenance and they had a dedicated service for this.

Or there are specific mono and stereo machines.

No need to. Stereo machines have always been mono compatible.

Or one or 2 machines were specifically used for recording

In a production studio, one of the tape machines was indeed used for recording.

 

[Pio1980]

I have to wonder what was used for phono pickups, and about the tube era studio amps we never see here in the 'States.

 

[jlb2]

I have to wonder what was used for phono pickups, and about the tube era studio amps we never see here in the 'States.

The mono cartridges used by ORTF were designed specifically by Pierre Clément, and were of astounding quality. I had a demo on a 78rpm recently, and the result was... wow! I had never imagined a 78 rpm recorded in the '40s could be so clean and have a 3D rendering too! Unfortunately long gone (Pierre Clément died 50 years ago), but some can still be found and even serviced. The RTL studios in Paris had a specific version of blue colour which is now ultra-rare, of which I don't know much.

The stereo cartridges are much less stellar, these are lowly Shure SC35s. Clément never wanted to make a stereo cartridge, he simply did not believe in stereo. The legend goes that his cantilevers are so stiff vertically that they will damage a stereo record. I only found references in French, but Google Translate will help: https://www.audiovintage.fr/leforum/viewtopic.php?t=52211.

The preamplifiers are built-in, and were made by subcontractors according to ORTF requirements, I have schematics if you are interested. Interesting design, typical of ORTF with only two tube references for easy maintenance. I may have some schematics of ORTF power amplifiers too, but I'd have to rummage in my drawers if you are interested.

For the other broadcasters, I just know that M44s and Stanton 500s (and EMT on the turntables of the same manufacturer) were commonplace but I'm sure you already knew this.

 

[Pio1980]

The mono cartridges used by ORTF were designed specifically by Pierre Clément, and were of astounding quality. I had a demo on a 78rpm recently, and the result was... wow! I had never imagined a 78 rpm recorded in the '40s could be so clean and have a 3D rendering too! Unfortunately long gone (Pierre Clément died 50 years ago), but some can still be found and even serviced. The RTL studios in Paris had a specific version of blue colour which is now ultra-rare, of which I don't know much.

The stereo cartridges are much less stellar, these are lowly Shure SC35s. Clément never wanted to make a stereo cartridge, he simply did not believe in stereo. The legend goes that his cantilevers are so stiff vertically that they will damage a stereo record. I only found references in French, but Google Translate will help: https://www.audiovintage.fr/leforum/viewtopic.php?t=52211.

The preamplifiers are built-in, and were made by subcontractors according to ORTF requirements, I have schematics if you are interested. Interesting design, typical of ORTF with only two tube references for easy maintenance. I may have some schematics of ORTF power amplifiers too, but I'd have to rummage in my drawers if you are interested.

For the other broadcasters, I just know that M44s and Stanton 500s (and EMT on the turntables of the same manufacturer) were commonplace but I'm sure you already knew this.

Thank you so much for this.
The Clément cell is reminiscent of some other contemporary approaches, the Pritchard GE VR and the DECCA carts come to mind. DECCA was successful transferring their concept to multimode 2-channel, dunno why Clément didn't 'get' the advantages of stereophony.

 

[Pio1980]

The mono cartridges used by ORTF were designed specifically by Pierre Clément, and were of astounding quality. I had a demo on a 78rpm recently, and the result was... wow! I had never imagined a 78 rpm recorded in the '40s could be so clean and have a 3D rendering too! Unfortunately long gone (Pierre Clément died 50 years ago), but some can still be found and even serviced. The RTL studios in Paris had a specific version of blue colour which is now ultra-rare, of which I don't know much.

The stereo cartridges are much less stellar, these are lowly Shure SC35s. Clément never wanted to make a stereo cartridge, he simply did not believe in stereo. The legend goes that his cantilevers are so stiff vertically that they will damage a stereo record. I only found references in French, but Google Translate will help: https://www.audiovintage.fr/leforum/viewtopic.php?t=52211.

The preamplifiers are built-in, and were made by subcontractors according to ORTF requirements, I have schematics if you are interested. Interesting design, typical of ORTF with only two tube references for easy maintenance. I may have some schematics of ORTF power amplifiers too, but I'd have to rummage in my drawers if you are interested.

For the other broadcasters, I just know that M44s and Stanton 500s (and EMT on the turntables of the same manufacturer) were commonplace but I'm sure you already knew this.

I think the schematics could be of some interest, and pix if available.

 

[KentTeffeteller]

Presto was the leader in field disc cutters, afaik. The standard before portable tape recorders appeared.

And in broadcast studio fixed installations too. And also used by well heeled amateurs, and enterprising people like Sam Phillips of Sun Records fame.

 

[jlb2]

I think the schematics could be of some interest, and pix if available.

Here are the preamplifiers of the Belin and Bourdereau versions of the ORTF grams - very similar beasts, as you can see. I found a thread with pictures of yet another implementation by SAF - another subcontractor of the ORTF - with pictures of how these things were built: https://www.audiovintage.fr/leforum/viewtopic.php?t=60876.

The Pierre Clément company also made "lightweight" turntables (everything is relative) aimed mostly at the hifi enthusiasts - although the RTF also bought these lesser models for non-studio use. Their preamplifiers are practically the same as the broadcast monsters except for the unbalanced outputs. The schematics and other documentation files are available on Vinylengine: https://www.vinylengine.com/library/pierre-clement.shtml.

As for the tube monitoring amplifiers, I could only find this one: SE5A77, which is the built-in amplifier of an early design by Elipson nicknamed "the nun" because its unusual shape reminded some people of a woman in prayer. This active monitor was mostly a prototype, barely finalized (the tweeter was actually a microphone capsule) and was only sold to the RTF AFAIK, but it was of historical importance, and strangely sophisticated for its time with tri-amplification and ovoid (not spherical) resonators. Here is a photo of "the nun", next to a much more recent Elipson 4050 that was used later on at ORTF - the SE5 amplifier is in the base of the speaker: (note the Belin tape recorder in the background)

And here is the link to a discussion in which "the nun" was discussed in much more detail and fairly substantial information is provided: https://leforum.audiovintage.fr/leforum/viewtopic.php?t=37558.

BTW I only posted the files that don't exceed AK's 1 MB limit, but I have more documentation that I can send on request if interested, in particular the whole manual for the SE5 amplifier and for the Belin and Bourdereau grams.

 

[jlb2]

dunno why Clément didn't 'get' the advantages of stereophony.

I have never heard of a reason for this either, I don't even know if he knew himself. Even greats minds have their limitations.

 

[jlb2]

So, more than one type like you claimend before...

No, just one. You obviously did not read that I was talking about control rooms. Tech-op studios have one, self-op studios don't. I see that for some reason, I hurt your feelings by increasing the scope of my post to the various types of radio studios. Sorry, my goal is not to upset you but I do feel that some in-depth technical knowledge is interesting. On your side, please try to understand that my posts are absolutely not meant to insult you.

All the radio stations you mention are radio périphérique. So broadcasted from outside France (french radio monopoly lasted from '45 to '81)

Sorry again, but you are way off. Even with transmitters located just on the other side of the border, the radios périphériques only operated by authorisation of the French authorities. Moreover, two of them had their studios in Paris, several if not all had studios in France, and RMC at least had a transmitter in French territory. And I can assure you that they were commercial radios because I used to listen to them. RTFW.

NRU/NOB had bespoke EMT tables (mainly based on EMT930), just as the BBC had bespoke ones later on (based on EMT950).

Now I see what you were talking about. No, there is no need to have a contract with a manufacturer to change the tonearm, it only takes placing an order with a specific request - or sending them in for a retrofit unless you have an engineering service to do it yourself. On the EMT grams the tonearm was on a separate module, so it was fairly easy for a client to install, or have EMT install, the tonearm they were used to, even if it was not on the EMT catalogues. It was not a specific development. I have seen this done all the time: the Austrian radio bought Studers with Lemo sockets instead of XLR, the BBC demanded 50 ohms video connectors instead of the standard 75 ohms on their video equipment (the French wanted 1,6-5,6 coax which equally nonstandard), and so on. And I'm not even talking about all the strange requests that we had to accommodate back when I was an engineer designing equipment for the industry. Remember that we are talking about professional equipment here: the customer is not limited to what is described in the brochure. Having specific tonearms installed is not even original.

 

[Pio1980]

Here are the preamplifiers of the Belin and Bourdereau versions of the ORTF grams - very similar beasts, as you can see. I found a thread with pictures of yet another implementation by SAF - another subcontractor of the ORTF - with pictures of how these things were built: https://www.audiovintage.fr/leforum/viewtopic.php?t=60876.

The Pierre Clément company also made "lightweight" turntables (everything is relative) aimed mostly at the hifi enthusiasts - although the RTF also bought these lesser models for non-studio use. Their preamplifiers are practically the same as the broadcast monsters except for the unbalanced outputs. The schematics and other documentation files are available on Vinylengine: https://www.vinylengine.com/library/pierre-clement.shtml.

As for the tube monitoring amplifiers, I could only find this one: SE5A77, which is the built-in amplifier of an early design by Elipson nicknamed "the nun" because its unusual shape reminded some people of a woman in prayer. This active monitor was mostly a prototype, barely finalized (the tweeter was actually a microphone capsule) and was only sold to the RTF AFAIK, but it was of historical importance, and strangely sophisticated for its time with tri-amplification and ovoid (not spherical) resonators. Here is a photo of "the nun", next to a much more recent Elipson 4050 that was used later on at ORTF - the SE5 amplifier is in the base of the speaker: (note the Belin tape recorder in the background)

And here is the link to a discussion in which "the nun" was discussed in much more detail and fairly substantial information is provided: https://leforum.audiovintage.fr/leforum/viewtopic.php?t=37558.

BTW I only posted the files that don't exceed AK's 1 MB limit, but I have more documentation that I can send on request if interested, in particular the whole manual for the SE5 amplifier and for the Belin and Bourdereau grams.

Thnx!
Fascinating to see French broadcast pro grade gear.
Was the general run of French commercial audio gear as well made, but scaled down?

 

[mr_petit]

No, just one.

Sorry that I showed different layouts of radio studio's
Where you said that there is only one "ordinary layout of the control rooms in European mainstream radios", later said suddenly there were two, now there's just one again, but the pictures simply show that there are many.
Studio's are bespoke build. simple as that.
Saying they are all the same is just silly. All the pictures show that it's just not the case.

Sorry again, but you are way off. Even with transmitters located just on the other side of the border,

And I was taking about broadcasting monopoly (that means transmitters transmitting on french soil). If you look back you can see the word in my post.
Maybe you overlooked that. You're confirming here what I've said and yet claiming I'm way off...rather perculiar.

Now I see what you were talking about. No, there is no need to have a contract with a manufacturer to change the tonearm,

Maybe look more into the technical changes because you're clearly not familiar with it. It's more than just the tonearm; the upper deck is different and there are more technical changes inside. If you knew, you would acknoledge those changes but you're missing out on those..
Those EMT's even have their bespoke type plate with bespoke type designation (so given by EMT).
BTW a contract is nothing more that an agreement intended to be enforceable by law. So maybe you're putting meaning to a word that isn't there.

 

[bonzoro]

I’ve built several “Broadcast” turntables, most were idlers, however Fairchild had a few belt drives that were also used in commercial endeavors, I’ve seen one 412 and a few 750s set up for DJ use.

The big idler’s are special and with modern materials/parts and a well designed plinth they can be made much quieter than the LP noise floor.

My Builds:
Rek O Kut (ROK) Rondine Deluxe B12H
View attachment 2635366

ROK TR12 & TR43 Therese ar very special tables the TR12 is 33/78 and the TR
43 33/55

This one will get passed down to my Grandchildren View attachment 2635381

View attachment 2635369

As @BillWojo mentioned the Russco Studio Pro, sometimes confused with the Cue Master, but the Pro is a much better machine 33/45, another machine I’m keeping.



View attachment 2635372

And for good measure the Fairchild 412-1, my version. ;-) asynchronous motor and dual belt drive, motor to intermediate pulley then intermediate pulley to platter….another heirloom

View attachment 2635398



View attachment 2635381

My understanding is that a few Thorens TD 124’s were also used in Broadcast

View attachment 2635392

VR
Andy

Glad somebody mentioned the Rek O Kut Broadcast tables. I've got a relatively rare B-16H which is still in the rolling Cabinet (which were usually tossed) which I hope to start the resto process this winter. You don't see the 16" TT's very often. Plays all sizes from 45 to 78. I don't care for the industrial gray paint but I will change that.