( Listening · 4 min read )
Twenty minutes a side
A side of an LP holds about twenty minutes. We think that is the perfect length of attention — and we sequence every record around getting up to turn it.
One side of a 12-inch record at 33⅓ rpm holds about twenty-two minutes before the grooves get too tight and the bass starts to suffer. We like twenty.
The interval
Twenty minutes is about as long as most of us can listen without reaching for something else. Then the record stops, the arm lifts, and you have to stand up. It is a small interruption, and a useful one.
Sequencing for the flip
We sequence every record around that moment. Side A ends on a song that leaves the room quiet. Side B starts with something that makes you glad you got up.
Try it
Next time, don’t skip. Play one side, sit for the run-out groove, turn it over. That is how the record was meant to be heard.
— the Velvet team, Lisbon
