welcome to
PHONOCUT

our mission

Music that matters deserves a record of its own

PHONOCUT is about creating records that might otherwise never exist. Unique records and limited editions, made one at a time.

Our friends at teenage engineering developed the APC-2, a professional record cutter equipped with our own PHONOCUT cutting head. With this machine, you can make records. Yourself.

A hands-on process. Shaped by your own ideas and creativity. With attention to sound, artwork and packaging. We share the knowledge and supply the materials you need.

A limited number of APC-2 machines will be available for direct purchase. We’re also looking for partners to build a worldwide PHONOCUT ATELIER network with us. Small, bespoke spaces where artists and labels have their records made.

APC-2 record cutter PHONOCUT atelier network

proudly introducing

the APC-2 record cutter

The APC-2 by teenage engineering is a professional record cutter designed and built to produce original playback discs with high-quality sound in real time.

At its heart are our own PHONOCUT cutting head and cutting amplifier. Our friends at teenage engineering designed and built a beautiful machine around them. Getting here took years of work, patience and more than a little stubbornness. We could not have done it without them.

The result is a machine for people who want to take record production into their own hands. Seventeen minutes of music means seventeen minutes of cutting, with preparation and finishing on either side. Craft takes time.

The first five APC-2 machines have been built. In 2027, 45 more will be built. A limited number will be available for direct purchase at €64,000 excluding VAT. Delivery, installation and training are charged separately.

The remaining machines are reserved for partners in the PHONOCUT ATELIER network. If you can imagine making records in your own shop, studio or a place you have yet to create, we would love to hear from you.

Order an APC-2 record cutter

our ateliers

A worldwide network

Imagine a small, bespoke place where beautiful records are made. A place to hear a first cut, meet the artists and makers behind an edition and watch a record take shape. Sound, artwork and packaging are part of the same experience. This is what we call a PHONOCUT ATELIER.

Each atelier has its own character, its own projects and its own clientele. A local partner runs the business and operates the APC-2. A place and a business you can make your own.

Partners can also contribute to editions from PHONOCUT and other ateliers. An artist might want to release an edition of 250 records across several cities. The partner working with that artist can invite other ateliers to produce part of the edition locally. The partners agree on the cut and packaging before production begins. A larger project, made together.

We want the people in this network to know each other, share what they learn and develop ideas together. There is still plenty to discover, and you will help shape what comes next.

We are building the network during 2027. We’ve already found our first atelier partners in Milan, Vienna and Amsterdam. Now we’re looking for more people and places to become part of it. People with a love for records and a place in mind. Or a place they have yet to find.

Start a PHONOCUT atelier

our records

Music made tangible again

Some of us grew up collecting records. Listening, reading the sleeves, holding the covers in our hands. The sound mattered. So did the object. That is the feeling behind the materials and packaging we have developed for PHONOCUT.

P_BLANK_1, our first PHONOCUT blank, was developed with Parley Future Materials. A transparent 10-inch disc made from 95% recycled Ocean Plastic collected by Parley for the Oceans, with a thin cutting layer of virgin PET making up the remaining 5%. By far the most environmental friendly music record ever created. Trash transformed into treasures.

The music is cut on one side, with room for approximately seventeen minutes. The other side can be screenprinted. Sound and image, each with its own surface. The transparency becomes part of the design.

We also offer all standard record formats. 7 inch, 10 inch, 12 inch, even 5 inch. In many colors and styles. One sided and two sided. And if you’re looking for something special, just let us know!

Create your edition

our packaging

An original piece of art

Most records today come in the same standard sleeve. The cheapest paper, printed by the thousand. The music may be special, the sleeve isn’t.

We started our packaging from scratch, with five principles:

1. Use only the best materials, carefully chosen.
2. Find the most sustainable solution for every detail.
3. Give the artist as much creative freedom as possible.
4. Keep it modular, so an edition of one costs no fortune.
5. Make it printable and customisable on a standard printer.

PHONOCUT SLIDE is our first packaging. Nine elements, made from recycled paper by Gmund Papier in Tegernsee, available in a range of colours and combinations. Together with the disc, it gives the maker room to shape the complete release. From the first groove to the paper in your hands.

And we’re already working on our next packaging concept.

Create your edition

our editions

The first PHONOCUT editions

The first editions show what happens when the machine, the materials and the music come together. Made with artists who have their own ideas about how their music should sound, look and feel.

Our live editions begin with a performance. The first record is cut as the music is played, in the same place and at the same moment. Our first live edition grew out of SHIMMER’s performance at the APC-2 release party in our atelier in Vienna.

Our studio editions begin with a recording. The artist takes part in shaping the release, from the sound of the cut to the artwork and packaging. For the first, we worked with one of our favourite artists. NENA. Together with her team and family, the atelier in Vienna created an edition of 145 copies of Alles wird gut.

Different music, different artists, different approaches. Each edition has its own reason to exist.

If you are interested in creating your own edition, get in touch to ask about availability.

Create your edition

artists & labels

Your music. Your record.

An edition starts with your music. Then come the choices. Which recordings belong together. How the record should sound. What the artwork and packaging should say.

You do not need to own an APC-2 to create an edition. Work with an atelier on a release from your recordings, or talk to us about a live session. Hear a test cut. Work on the presentation. Shape a physical edition for the people who care about your music.

A single record, a limited edition or a project developed around a particular performance. Tell us about your music and the record you would like it to become.

We are also looking for artists and labels who want to make their catalogue available to the PHONOCUT ATELIER network. Recordings that can become editions in different places. Together, we would discuss which music you want to share, how it should be presented and the terms on which it can be produced.

Create your edition Add your catalogue

partners

Start your own PHONOCUT ATELIER

Perhaps you already have a shop, a studio or a place where people come together. Perhaps you have been dreaming of opening one. And somewhere in that picture, you can see yourself making records.

You may have years of experience running a business. You may be thinking of taking your first steps. What matters is a love of records and a willingness to learn, put in the work and turn your idea into a working atelier.

As a partner in the PHONOCUT ATELIER network, you run your own business. We place the APC-2 in your atelier, install it and teach you to cut records. For your monthly fee, we take care of your APC-2, so you can cut records. We also supply materials and services, and connect you with other ateliers and projects you can contribute to.

We want your atelier to be a sustainable business, too. We’re working through what each record costs to make, what it can sell for and what remains after the costs of running the atelier. Those numbers need to work for you. We will only succeed if you succeed.

to get started, installation included

€15,000excluding VAT

per month, machine included

€1,000excluding VAT

Joining the PHONOCUT ATELIER network would start with an initial investment of €15,000, followed by a monthly network fee of €1,000. We’re still shaping the details and would love to explore how this could work for you and your atelier. We’ll talk through the full terms together before you decide to join.

You can, of course, also purchase an APC-2 directly for your own productions, without joining the network.

Start a PHONOCUT atelier

investors

More records. More places.

With the support of our dear friends, partners, family and the world’s very best seed investor, we have been able to build PHONOCUT on our own terms.

Now the APC-2 is here. Our dream machine come true. The next step is to build more of them and bring the PHONOCUT ATELIER network to life around the world.

We would love to take that next step with people who share our belief in what these records can mean. Helping this dream grow while staying true to our original mission.

If you would like to join us as an investor, get in touch with our founder, Florian “Doc” Kaps. We also welcome people who can contribute experience, connections or another kind of support to help us build the PHONOCUT we dream of.

Talk to Doc

press

The stories behind PHONOCUT

A machine developed and built by teenage engineering. A record made during a live performance. People building places where visitors can see, hear and even smell how records are made. The adventures of Doc Quichotte?

For interviews, product information, images or enquiries about filming the process, please get in touch. Tell us about your publication, what you would like to explore and your deadline.

Press enquiries Talk to Doc