We all have to start somewhere. Even though Amanda Ghassaei’s 3D printed records clock in at a sample rate of 11 khz and 5-6 bit resolution, the tracks produced are clearly recognizable, albeit shrouded in some noise.

The discs were printed on an Objet Connex500, a machine that can produce objects with a resolution of 600dpi in the x and y axes and 16 microns in the z axis. It uses UV light to cure each layer of resin rather than the fused deposition process used by MakerBot and other 3D printers.

Amanda took the audio files and ran them through a Python script that generated discrete values. She then took those values and plotted them in a Processing sketch as thousands of triangular slices nestled into a spiral groove. The variations in the size of these triangles are what ultimately translate to the audio that’s picked up by the phonograph needle. The 3D file was exported from Processing in STL format using the ModelBuilder Library.

Amanda has kept exhaustive documentation on this Instructables page.

[via The Creators Project]