The Phonograph Phonograph, also known as record player, electromechanical instrument for reproducing sound from a record. A record is a vinyl disk that has a spiral groove with tiny bumps on the walls of the groove; the bumps encode a musical or other type of recording. The phonograph has four principal components: the turntable, the tonearm, the stylus, and the amplifier, although an amplifier is not always incorporated into the instrument. The turntable is a flat, circular platform upon which the record is placed. An electric motor rotates the turntable at constant speed, usually 332, 45, or 78 revolutions per minut