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"AUDIODISCS - THEY SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES" is the title of Audio Devices' new, full color, sound movie which depicts important phases in the production of Audiodiscs as well as detailed information on the proper method of handling and using Audiodiscs and Audiopoints.

Many Educational Scenes

The movie, 17 minutes in length, was produced by "Pathescope Productions", NewYork-Hollywood in Audio Devices' plant and laboratories.

Among some of the interesting scenes in the movie are :

1. the automatic washer which washes the aluminum blanks one by one to remove every trace of dirt and grease;
2. the subsequent inspection of each base to insure that it is perfectly flat ;
3. the formulation and mixing of recording lacquers: the well equipped Audio laboratory where latest scientific devices tell just how every Audiodisc will behave today, tomorrow and every day thereafter;
4. the noise level check - done by cutting a groove in the Audiodisc with the cutter terminals open;
5. the wear test - where unmodulated grooves are cut and subjected to several hundred playings as a device measures increase in noise level ;
6. the controlled weather room where every kind of climatic condition can easily be regulated for rigid tests;
7. the misuses of Audiodiscs - scratching and scoring the recording surface with the drive pin - finger marking the disc - dropping the cutting head haphazardly on the disc;
8. the proper method of inserting an Audiopoint - the correct angle and depth of cut . . .
9. and many other educational scenes that will interest every recordist.

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Film Available For Local Showing

Audio Devices plans to show this educational film throughout the country to distributors, engineers of radio stations, motion picture and commercial recording studios, colleges and home recordists.
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Some day I'm going to murder the bugler
Some day they're going to find him dead

That long-felt ambition of every G.I. took a setback recently when it was announced, that the acute shortage of experienced buglers in the American occupation zone in Germany had necessitated a rush order to Army officials in the United States for 550 sets of recorded bugle calls. Seems that this distressing state of affairs came to light when the Special Service Section in Frankfurt became swamped with requests from organizations, minus buglers, who were having trouble routing sleepy G.I.'s from their warm bunks. The canned calls will be distributed throughout the European theatre as part of a new campaign to emphasize military discipline.

• Anmerkung : Ein (oder der) "bugler" bläst das Signalhorn oder die morgentliche Signal-Pfeife zum Aufstehen der Soldaten in den baracks.

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The U. S. Army Second Service Command, in an effort to stimulate recruiting in the peacetime Army, recently forwarded to all radio stations in New York, New Jersey and Delaware a recorded transcription of three versions of the Army's famous Duckworth Chant, one of the most infectious and interesting drill chants developed in World War II.

Requesting that these stations cooperate in the current recruiting drive by using these transcriptions (2min - 1min - and 50sec spots) in whatever free time they had available in the course of daily broadcasting, the Army pointed out that it was their belief that the Duckworth Chant was a more entertaining way of aiding the drive than the usual one and two minute spot announcements of straight dialogue.

The Chant was recorded in the NBC Recording Studios in New York.

Mercer McLeod, world traveler, actor, writer and master storyteller, brings his best talents to the fore in the brilliant new NBC Recorded Series - "MERCER MCLEOD ... THE MAN WITH THE STORY". Recognized as one of Canada's greatest actors, McLeod enacts the parts of all male characters in his stories with astounding voice changes and differences of pacing. The strange, improbable but not impossible eerie tales are currently being heard over radio stations throughout the United States and Canada. Recorded in cooperation with RCA Victor, Ltd. in Toronto, Canada, "MERCER MCLEOD . . . THE MAN WITH THE STORY" is produced under the supervision of the NBC Radio-Recording Division.

• Anmerkung : Das hier könnte bereits einer der ersten "gekauften" Artikel eines Radiosenders - in diesem Fall NBC - sein.

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By E. Franck, Research Engineer bei AUDIO DEVICES

The correction of some faults in recording technique tends to be automatic, because the bad result is obvious and the method of correction is simple. An example of this is overmodulation. When too loud a signal is recorded, the cutting stylus vibrates so far that the grooves cut into one another. When the record is played back, this is detected immediately by distortion at the loud parts of the record, or advanced echos or cross talk caused when a groove is cut into or deformed by the next following groove. In extreme cases, as in the diagram, there may even be tracking failure. All these results are easily recognized and the correction is a simple matter of recording at a lower volume.

Another fault usually found in records cut on portable machines is not so easily detected and we see signs of it repeatedly in discs cut by conscientious recording fans who make otherwise excellent records. We are referring to overload.

As a general practice, it is good to record close to maximum possible loudness for loud passages of music. This results in the greatest signal to noise ratio and minimizes scratch noise. However, many people using portable machines do not realize that their equipment cannot record to full volume without considerable distortion. This distortion is due either to overload in the amplifier because it cannot handle the necessary power or in the cutting head.

• Anmerkung : In den letzten Neuman (Stereo) Schneidemaschinen vom Typ VMS 86 waren 2 dicke 500 Watt Sinus Endverstärker enthalten.

It can be in both places. The remedy is the same as before, merely record at a lower level even though the modulation never reaches maximum at the loudest parts. The scratch level with good cutting styli and blanks is low enough to permit quiet records even though not recorded to top level.

The best check for this kind of overload is to record some music at top level and then again at 6 to 10db lower. Both sets of grooves are then played hack adjusting the volume control so that they are equally loud. If there is overload present, the portion recorded at a lower level will sound better. On some machines it is astonishing how much improvement there is when the recording level is kept below the overload region.
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By K.R.Smith, Vice-Pres. MUZAK CORP., New-York-Chicago (This is the first in a series of articles bv leading figures in the recording field.)

A metal negative from your master disc cannot be better than the master recording supplied to Muzak. We are just as interested in helping our clients to supply a better product as they are themselves. A fine original product means a perfect transcription, which results in increased sales for you and more work for us. We have a few tips better transcription.
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• (1) Cleanliness - most important - assuming of course, your actual recording is good. Avoid dust, lint, finger marks especially. We can remove most of the free particles of dirt but fingermarks etch into the coating and invariably cause noise.
• (2) Package your discs correctly. Where practical, use a glassine envelope. Don't pack so tightly that corrugated marks will be pressed into the surface of the recording. Results are noise and latticed appearance of finished product.
• (3) Don't be, "penny wise and pound foolish," about changing the stylus. If there is the slightest doubt about it being dull or chipped, replace it. Generally speaking, a bright reflective cut is an indication of a good stylus. As a precaution, every so often playback your test cut and listen for noise - don't forget a slight noise in your original is greatly increased on the vinylite pressing.
• (4) Proper cut depth is important - 60% for groove and 40% for wall - too deep may cause you to lay down less amplitude of modulation, too light - poor tracking.
• (5) Lay down, with proper depth cut, full modulation. This can be approximated by feeding your cutter with a 200 cycle frequency. Note: VU meter for reading at full modulation of cut. You can see when this is attained by means of your microscope. Ride gain so that voice and middle low frequencies do not drive your VU beyond this point.

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The 1946 Radio Parts & Electronic Equipment Conference & Show, held a few
weeks ago in Chicago, was the most outstanding event in the history of the radio industry, according to figures released by Kenneth C. Prince, General Manager of the Show. More than 7,500 individuals registered for admission, and of these almost 2,500 were affiliated with distributing firms.

The largest previous attendance at any trade show in this industry was 4,400, exclusive of radio servicemen and amateurs. 169 manufacturing lines and 14 publications occupied booths. Audio Devices" booth at the show is pictured above. This had four display cases showing steps in the manufacture of Audodiscs, production of phonograph records from master discs by the gold sputtering process, the various types of Audio-discs and the complete line of Audiopoints for recording and playback.

Atom Test Preparations Recorded by Coast Outlet - Land, Sea and Air Recordings Made; Many Technical Problems Encountered

One of the most interesting technically, and exciting of all radio broadcast station operations is the special events division. Fire, floods, wrecks, parades, sports - all jam into this classification. But the one to end them all probably was the recently-completed 15,000 mile trip by the special events department of KSFO and the "Universal Broadcasting Company" of San Francisco to the Marshall Islands, some 5,000 miles out in the Pacific, for a program giving a preview to the atom-bomb tests.

To provide not only a glimpse of the preliminary work being done for the atom-bomb tests, but also word pictures of the site of the test and other neighboring Marshall Islands, the natives, their customs and activities, and their reactions to the preparations being made, it was decided to make on-the-spot recordings.

With this in mind, our special events department received permission from "Joint Task Force One" to proceed to the Bikini area to make recordings of these preliminaries attendant to the atom-bomb tests. The crew of three was made up of : Ray V. Hamilton, executive vice president; Austin Fenger, West Coast radio reporter; and the writer.

It was the intent of the operation to take this basic program material recorded on locale, and then fly them back to our main studios in San Francisco. These recordings were to be assembled, some voicing added where necessary for station and commercial tie-ins, timed, and duplicate recordings cut from the master assemblage. They were then shipped via air to nearly 100 stations scattered all over the United States, who were subscribers to a series of 15 programs. While such a system has been applied before this was probably the largest and longest of its type.

It was expected that all kinds of engineering problems would be encountered on a trip of this nature and they were.

Much experience had been accumulated on a recent, similar-style trip to Hilo, Hawaii to cover the disastrous tidal wave which struck there. Thus we had a working knowledge of the type of equipment that might be needed. Applying this information we decided to take along three 6-volt storage batteries, a 350-watt rotary converter with adjustable speed control, a portable disc recorder (112-line feed), standard dynamic microphones, special audio amplifiers, filters, recording discs, etc. Total weight was approximately 500 pounds.

Among the problems we encountered were those caused by climatic conditions and excessive vibration in planes. Because of high temperature, recording levels had to be decreased by approximately 12 to 16 vu due to the recording head damping, thinning, and softening of the disc materials. Equipment had to be continually wiped and oiled, microphones protected from the moisture by Protep- Sorb bags, equipment cases kept dry by burning light globes in them, microphone cable plugs enclosed in sacks made of parachute silk, the recorder slung in a cradle of rubber exerciser cord to overcome plane vibration, high-pass filters used to reduce motor roar, and an advance ball used to keep the recorder head from skipping due to excessive vibration. The crew isn't joking when they say, "The equipment will be lighter, next trip"!

(From a paper prepared by Allan Kees, Chief of Audio Facilities, Station KSFO and Universal Broadcasting System - San Francisco for the July, 1946 issue of COMMUNICATIONS.)
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The value of recording to radio in presenting the greatest "special event" in its history, the dropping of the world's fourth atomic bomb off Bikini Atoll, Sunday, June 30, 1946 was divulged recently to Audio Record by representatives of all four major networks.

As one network chieftain put it: "Recording was virtually a 'must" to radio because the various time changes and schedule arrangements often made it impossible to bring in 'live' our correspondents in the Pacific." Another chain official was in agreement saying: "The problem of atmospherics had to be considered carefully, making it far safer to pick up our men at Bikini whenever these atmospherics permitted the most suitable reception." "And then to," pointed out a third web representative, "recording made it possible for us to present our correspondent's views at a time most convenient to our thousands of listeners."

During the week preceding the actual dropping of the bomb on the seventythree ships jampacked in the Bikini lagoon, three of the principal chains aired many special broadcasts from the "Operation Crossroads" area. ABC, CBS and Mutual brought in their correspondents at regular intervals with the latest developments in the preparation for the "big show". All of these programs as well as special news bulletins from the Bikini area were recorded.

"This Week Around the World", a program devoted exclusively to the atom test, was presented by American Broadcasting Company on Sundays, June 23 and 30th. "Headline Edition", another atomic bomb feature with Pacific pick-ups was aired by the same net on Friday preceding the test. Mutual presented a special pool show entitled "Eve of the Atom Test" on Saturday, June 29 from 11:30 to 12:00 PMEDST featuring Secretaries Patterson and Forrestal, Generals Eisenhower and Spaatz. Vice Admiral Blandy and Admiral Nimitz. This program was recorded from the NBC Control Room in New York earlier in the evening.

On Sunday, June 30, Able-day at Bikini, American carried a special program at 12:30 PMEDST on which all ABC correspondents were heard. At 3:10, the same net aired the actual takeoff of "Dave's Dream" for the target area.

Later, on its National Hour, NBC presented Admiral Blandy from the Pacific from 4:00 to 4:30 PMEDST. The pool broadcast which was presented "live" over all networks, with Bill Downs, ace CBS correspondent on the scene, at 6:00 PMEDST, was rebroadcast by ABC at 11:15 Sunday evening. NBC's San Francisco outlet, KPO, also carried a rebroadcast of the event for its west cost audience.

When the stage is set for the dropping of the second bomb, net chiefs agree that they will again rely heavily on recording for radio's coverage of this historymaking experiment.
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Audiodisc Recorded Feature Voted Best "Special Events Broadcast" of Year

The 1946 National Headliners' Club Award "for the best special events broadcast of the year" has been won by Tom Slater, director of special events for Mutual, in connection with the Mutual network broadcast of the Army expcrmients in which radar contact was established with the moon.

The citation to Slater was one of the 20 prized Headliner Awards, plus a special citation, which were announced recently at national headquarters. The awards, given annually in the field of press, radio and photography, were presented at a dinner in Atlantic City, on Saturday, June 22, 1946.

The MBS broadcast of radar contact with our lunar satellite originated m the Army laboratories at Belmar, N. J., and included the actual sound of the radar impluses as they were sped on their way to the target, some 240,000 miles distant, and the sound of the return echo approximately two-and-one-half seconds later. The broadcast also included interviews with Col. Victor A. Conrad, commanding officer of the Signal Corps Engineering Laboratories at Bradley Beach, and Lt. Col. John H. DeWitt, Jr., the officer under whose guidance the experiments were conducted.

The program was presented over Mutual on Sunday, Jan. 27, and was emceed by Mr. Slater. Through his efforts, a master recording (if the broadcast is being presented by Audio Devices, Inc., to the Script and Transcription Exchange and by midsummer pressings will be available for free loan distribution. It is interesting to note that the Hayden Planetarium, New York City, earlier this year announced that a recording of the program would be played at regular intervals in their auditorium for a period of one month. Actually the time had to be extended a second month to meet popular demands. (Audio Record readers will recall that a full account of this historic event which was recorded on an Audio-disc appeared in our March Issue.)
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Iowa Station Commended by Nation; Recorded Coverage of Fire Excellent

Station KDTH - Dubuque, Iowa, now places more emphasis than ever before on its recording department, especially since the news "beat" which was scored when Dubuque's Hotel Canfield burned to the ground last June 9th, killing twenty of the one hundred twenty-nine guests. (It was the second major hotel disaster in a week following the Chicago Hotel La Salle fire.)

After being alerted within a short time after the alarm was turned in, George Freund, KDTH News Editor and Bob Gribben, studio recording engineer, arrived on the scene with the station's portable recording unit and a supply of Audiodiscs ready to go to work. An on-the-spot, factual description of the fire was recorded and rushed to the transmitter which went back on the air at 2:40 A.M. to begin coverage of the hotel holocaust.

The station's 1000 watt transmitter gave across-country coverage through the use of the Audiodisc recording and supplied service equal to network coverage without the aid of a network.

Letters congratulating the station for putting its transmitter back on the air with the early and factual news report have poured into KDTH from distant cities throughout the entire country.

• Anmerkung : Das war jetzt leider primitivstes Bildzeitungs-Niveau. 20 Tote von 129 Gästen, und alles mit oder auf Audiodisc aufgenommen. Gratulieren wir "posthum" der damaligen KDHT Radio-Station, daß sie diese sensationsgeilen Nachrichten auf "unseren" Audiodiscs sofort und überall hin gesendet hatte. - Man könnte hier auch ganz laut "Scheisse" schreien. Das sind aber die Auswüchse von privaten von Werbegeldern abhängigen Radiostationen - Sensationen senden um jeden Preis.

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by John E. Holmes - Supervisor of Recording, NBC - New York
(This is the second in a series of articles by leading figures in the recording field.)

The training of personnel in the engineering department of the Radio-Recording Division of the National Broadcasting Co., Inc., must be divided into several catagories.

In New York the engineering department of the Radio Recording Division has its own group of studio engineers who "ride gain" only on shows and musical productions for recording. There is a field group that do recordings with portable units. There is a group that is responsible for the electrical and mechanical maintenance of the complete recording plant. The final group, and that group, whose training we will discuss is the recording operating group, the people who are responsible for the finished product.

The recording art in all of its detail is very highly specialized. Consequently there are few engineers available with an adequate background in this art.

• Anmerkung : Damals in den USA um 1946 wurde der Tonmeister als Küsnstler (artist) und der Toningenieur als Techniker (tecnician) in einen Topf geworfen.

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During the recent war there were no engineers available for the expanding recording department at N.B.C. It was during this period that women were first employed. It was the experience of the National Broadcasting Co. that the women thus employed in the recording department did a very satisfactory job.

The problem that first has to be met is to choose the proper type of person from among all people interviewed. It was found that it is best to find people whose background is somehow related and whose aptitudes can be adapted to the recording work. A real interest in recording is a prime requisite - for through experience we have learned that a person with the type of mind that can segregate and actively think of several jobs at once is particularly valuable.

The first step is to introduce the new employee to every type of recording unit and to acquaint him with the standardized methods of handling each. The second step is the familiarization with recording stylus and its particular function. Of course every possible fault of the stylus is taught and the instant recognition of these faults and their cure is very important. The next step is the basic electro-mechanical function of the recording head. The limitations and variations of the recording head is taught in easy stages as there are many specialized cases involved. The choosing and inspection of the recording blanks in all of its possible combinations is the next step.

The normal training period is three months. During this time the new operator works with experienced personnel on the normal day-time shift. The supervisor in charge works with him or assign him to work with an "old" hand. At the end of the three month period the operator is allowed to do a little more of the actual work each day until such a time that complete confidence is gained. Usually a man is able to stand watch by the end of the sixth month and from there he learns that there is still much to learn about the art.
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• Anmerkung : Es ist nicht ersichtlich, ob hier die Kunst des Plattenschneidens oder die Kunst als Tonmeister am Mischpult gemeint ist bzw. war.

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By Ernest W. Franck, Research Engineer

The small dimensions of grooves and recording and playback points are always a handicap when one tries to visualize the exact mechanics of disc recording. It is thus helpful to imagine dimensions increased to the size
of something familiar in every day life.

Let's take a reproducing stylus and imagine the tip enlarged to the size of a pencil eraser. The eraser end of a pencil is a good choice since its tip will be roughly sperical just as the end of a playback stylus. The pencil eraser is about fifty times the size of a playback point.

Now we can imagine a reproducing point the size of a pencil eraser being
guided along a groove. We have a close approximation to actual conditions if we further imagine that this groove was made with a recording point slightly smaller than a pencil eraser, so that tangential contact of the playback point is made at the sides and slides along without touching the bottom of the groove at all. Even with this great enlargement, the depth of the groove would be only slightly more than one-tenth of an inch.

Now for the speed - and here is where our enlargement is helpful. The grooves of a typical transcription run about 100 feet per minute (12" diameter at 33-1/3 R.P.M.). Multiply this by our factor of 50 and we find our eraser size point travelling along the grooves at a rate of 5,000 feet per minute or nearly one mile a minute.

When we get used to this speed, we can modulate the groove and we find
how busy a life the playback stylus leads. A groove fully modulated at 400 cycles per second is twisting back and forth five times every foot. The total amount of this weaving approximates the full width of the groove. The forward visibility from the tip of the stylus is about 2 1/2 inches. Imagine travelling along at a mile a minute and not being able to see 3 inches ahead! At higher frequencies the turns will be sharper but will swing less. A 4,000 cycle groove will bend twice in 1/4 inches, even at this fifty times enlargement.

By J. Allen Brown - Assistant Director, Broadcast Advertising - NATIONAL Association OF BROADCASTERS

The radio industry did itself proud through its many contributions in behalf of the national war effort. All transmitters in the country (some 900 stations) broadcast dramatic war stories of American heroes. The civilian's role in the war was told, and every member of the family was encouraged to buy "War Bonds" to the tune of hundreds of millions dollars.

The Treasury Department's transcribed programs proved of inestimable assistance in the bond campaign. In fact, the success of this gigantic program hinged in large measure on the medium of recording. The Treasury programs were of superb quality; indeed, the best the industry had to offer in direction, talent and reproduction. And they were heard not only on the nation's most powerful stations but also - owing to the fact that they were transscribed - on the hundreds of small outlets which are so important in their respective areas.

In the field of special events and news coverage, recording facilities have made it possible for all stations to broadcast the most imaginative and colorful work of the world's greatest radio reporters. The networks have recorded some of their memorable broadcasts so that affiliates might present them again, and in order that they might be made available to local clubs and institutions.
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During the war, Edward R. Murrow, then chief of CBS World News Bureau in London, did an eye-witness report of a bombing mission over enemy territory. (und das war doch nur Deutschland) This spectacular broadcast was recorded from the network by CBS and shipped to affiliates. Under the title "Unorchestrated Hell", it was given repeat performances on many stations. In addition, a digest was published in booklet form.

George Hicks, ABC war correspondent, covered another of the war's most exciting stories by means of recording. Stationed on an Allied warship, his recorded description of enemy planes attacking the ship in the English Channel during the Normandy invasion was an outstanding news story, and was made a "pool" broadcast for all networks, and recorded for "public sale" throughout the country.

During the early part of the war, the Mutual Broadcasting System gave spot news every 10 minutes in which recording facilities played a major part for broadcasting and re-broadcasting big news events.

A decade ago, one of the biggest news stories of its day was the explosion of the German Zeppelin Hindenburg as it approached its New Jersey mooring station after an Atlantic crossing. The passengers were caught like insects on burning fly paper. Many of them somehow extricated themselves and jumped to serious injury or death on the ground below. All this was described by the horror-stricken, half-crying radio announcer, as recording machines caught every sound and reverberation. These recordings, broadcast later, shocked a spell-hound nation.

Transcribing for delayed broadcasts is routine programming in radio. It is especially heavy during the summer months when time conflicts develop because of daylight savings time. The American and Mutual networks present a large number of delayed broadcasts in keeping with the various time zones.

Many stations make a regular practice of recording a network show which
comes down the line at the time occupied by a permanent local program. The delayed show is presented later in the day, or perhaps the next day. Facilities for recording in the studio offer a wide range for more effective programming.

The finest talent in the world from such entertainment centers as New York and Hollywood are being made available to every station in the nation today by syndicated transcription companies. Top skills in producing, directing, acting and music, go into the creation of shows especially transcribed for broadcasting.

Perhaps the largest commercial transcription network of its time was the
General Motors advertising campaign in behalf of Chevrolet some ten years ago. Over 400 large and small stations throughout the nation broadcast this series. Reports had it that no other commercial program in broadcasting history up to that time had been heard over as many stations for a single sponsor. This was possible only through the medium of recording.

In the national spot field, the transcribed announcement not only conveyed its messages and sold products, but set the nation to singing the "Pepsi-Cola song", the "Chiquita Banana song" and others. In recent months millions have been educated by Chiquita not to put bananas in the refrigerator.
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• Anmerkung : Beachten Sie - die Werbung von Chiquita - der Banansong - hatte die amerikanischen Hörer "educated" - ausgebildet / geschult !!, Bananen nicht mehr im Kühlschrank zu belassen.

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This ingratiating one-minute singing commercial told the banana story, assisted in the "food for famine" campaign, and has now become a contender for a bright spot on the Hit Parade. Dance bands over the networks, on platter shows and in juke boxes, have the nation doing the rhumba to its rhythm and singing its catchy phrases.

The memorable fireside chats and dramatic network speeches of the late
President Franklin D. Roosevelt were recorded by the National Broadcasting Company and made available in albums to the government, to museums, and to various historical and educational institutions.

Radio has progressed to the position of "number one public servant", thanks in part to those events and ideas which were TRANSCRIBED FOR BROADCASTING.
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Almost six hundred radio stations throughout the United States have booked the Veterans Administration's top-flight network talent transcribed series "Here's to Veterans."

• Anmerkung : In 1946 sollen es über 4.000 große und kleine kommerzielle Radiostationen in den USA gegeben haben. Und für Geld machten die alles.

Thirteen of the major web shows cooperated in the production of the series, making special recordings featuring information of vital concern to the nation's ex-servicemen and women.

Programs in the series are: Hit Parade, Waltz Time, Kollege of Musical Knowledge, Stairway to the Stars, Hildegarde, Supper Club, Great Moments in Music, Kate Smith, Highways in Melody, Danny Kaye, Saturday Night Serenade, Frank Sinatra and Fred Waring.

The Veterans Administration, producers of the series, worked in cooperation with the Advertising Council. The series was made under the direction of Jos. L. Brechner, radio service director for the VA, and Chas. E. Dillon, who supervised the national coordination of the series preparation.

Don Weiss, VA radio chief in New York, and Lou Marks of the VA's Washing staff handled the production of ten in the series - these shows originating in New York. Dean McNcaly handled the production and transcription of other shows originating in Hollywood.

The series was recorded by NBC Recording. Initial arrangements with agencies and sponsors were made by Drew Dudley of the Office of Mobilisation and Reconversion, and George Ludlum of the Advertising Council in New York.

Complete press brochures were sent to all stations in the country, providing press releases, promotional material and full information on the series. Stations then filled out an enclosed card, mailing it to the VA's Central Office in Washington. Within a few days the set of thirteen programs was in the hands of the stations requesting the series.

Each of the programs in the transcribed series is a "capsule" edition of the big network show making the transcription. The stars themselves, or the regular program announcers, read the helpful informational spots (two on each program) which took the place of the normal commercials. Each of the 14:30 shows end with a one-minute theme tag over which the local station announcer reads a brief message giving the address, telephone number and location of the nearest Veterans Administration office.

Production has already begun on a second series of 13 programs.

One day during the late president's administration, a large mysterious package arrived at the White House. X-rays by government agents disclosed a solid black mass interwoven with wires. Baffled by this mystery parcel, the agents took their problem bundle to an isolated spot in the country - dug themselves a protective foxhole - tied a rope around the package - suspended it from the branch of a tree and cautiously pulled the other end of the rope. Nothing happened. Only a deep "thud". The package, it was found, contained nothing more than 10 or 12 recorded discs - speeches of Winston Churchill. The Prime Minister had sent them as a gift to F.D.R.  (FDR war der Präsident Franklin d. Roosevelt.) "I guard F. D. R." - Sat. Evening Post
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By Albert Pulley - Chief Recording Engineer RCA VICTOR RECORD DEPT.
(This is the fourth in a series of articles by leading fiigures in the recording field.)

If I were asked to name the most important requirements for good phonograph recording in the order of their importance I would list them as follows:

• 1. Fidelity and performance of the electrical equipment used in the recording channel.
• 2. Perfection of mechanical equipment with respect to accuracy and constancy of speed, groove dimensions, etc.
• 3. Studio acoustical properties and microphone placement.
• 4. Ability of the recording engineer to adjust the equipment to give the proper "balance" and other conditions necessary to accomplish a good recording.

These are the factors which are given the most consideration before a recording session takes place at the RCA Victor Recording Studios.

They are not the only element that go into the making of a technically good master phonograph record, but they are the basic considerations. If any of these factors is sub-standard, it follows that the finished product will be below par.

There is an honest difference of opinion among engineers, musicans, and music lovers as to exactly what constitutes the "perfect" recording and what bearing it has on the above requirements. This is particularly true with respect to the third requirement - studio acoustical properties and microphone placement, as they determine the "quality" of the finished record. It has long since been established that what is required by one or more acoustical engineers as a technically perfect studio may not always provide a record performance satisfactory to the greatest number of listeners.

Music critics have their own ideas about what music should sound like. We can't please everyone so we think in terms of pleasing the greatest majority of people who listen to records in their homes.

To do that, we have to decide what problems must be overcome before the artist reaches the studio. We must select the proper microphones for the type of instrumental or vocal recording being made. We decide upon the proper microphone placement, as determined by the composition of the group making the recording. The correct choice of microphones and their proper ratio or "balance" between the several voices of the orchestra that is essential to the perfect recording.

Aside from attending to purely technical considerations, such as fidelity of the electrical components of the recording system and the perfection of the mechanical devices used, which permit of a true relation between what is heard on the monitor speaker system and the finished record, the recording engineer must be constantly alert to detect extraneous noises that will mar the quality of the finished recording.

The fourth requirement listed - "the ability of the recording engineer to adjust the equipment to give the proper musical balance and other conditions necessary to accomplish a good recording" is a vital one. In addition to adjusting the microphone pick-up for the proper "balance", the engineer must make sure that the volume range resulting amplitude of cut is within prescribed limits during the recording, in order that the record may be played on all phonographs with maximum fidelity.

If these requirement are satisfied, what is generally considered as a "perfect" recording should be obtained.

"1 Milliarde Schallplatten produziert"
Milestone Reached In Company-Record History;
Record's Original Sound Made On An Audiodisc
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A few weeks ago in Camden, N.J., where forty-eight years before the Victor Talking Machine Company was founded, the one billionth RCA Victor record was manufactured ... thus marking a milestone in the history of the company as well as the record industry itself.

The original sound of the billionth record - a performance of two Johu Philip Sousa marches by the Boston Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Serge Koussevitzky - was cut on a standard Red Label Audiodisc.

The historic disc, after being gold-plated, was given to Major General A. H. Turnage, Assistant Commandant of the United States Marine Corps, who accepted it in the name of the Corps, for inclusion in the Marine Corps archives. The choice of the Marine Corps as the recipient of the billionth record has a historical significance which is directly related to the two compositions performed by the Boston Symphony - "Semper Fidelis" and "Stars and Stripes Forever."

From 1880 to 1892 John Philip Sousa was leader of the Marine Corps band. In 1888 he composed "Semper Fidelis," which is the motto of the Corps. In February, 1902, several years after he had resigned from the Corps to form his own band, he recorded the stirring march tune for the Victor Talking Machine Company, which was then in its infancy as a manufacturer of records and phonographs. "Semper Fidelis" was so successful that it was recorded again and again by Sousa and his band, as well as other bands that made records for the Victor Company.

In the spring of 1946. when it became apparent that the RCA Victor Record Dept. was certain to manufacture its billionth record before the end of the year, the Boston Symphony Orchestra - which was the first full-sized symphony orchestra to record for Victor - was asked to record some single records. Dr. Serge Kousscvitzky chose the two marches by John Philip Sousa as among the compositions he would like to record. Some months later it was agreed that to this particular recording would go the honor of becoming the company's billionth disc. Because "Semper Fidelis" is so closely identified with the Marine Corps it was quickly decided that the most logical recipient of the milestone record would be the Corps.

Aside from the historical aspects of the record itself, the manufacture of the billionth disc in 1946 is of particular significance as a symbol of the revival of an industry which several times in its history had seemed to be giving way to other forms of musical entertainment. Today, record manufacturers estimate in excess of 300,000,000 discs will be manufactured this year, the largest production ever attained and from three to four times the pre-war output.

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One of the Government activities which is most interesting to American business firms, engineers, educational and research institutions, is the "Office of Technical Services", Department of Commerce.

The OTS Director, Mr. John C. Green, has assumed the functions performed by the "Office of Publication Board". It also includes the Technical Industrial Intelligence Branch, National Inventors Council and Production and Development Division.

The OTS gathers "on-the-spot" (unmittelbar) technical information in enemy countries (aus dem Feindesland) and prepares reports based on comprehensive studies of enemy industries. It solicits and evaluates ideas and inventions of value to industry, provide advice on patents and inventions and serves as a general information bureau on technical data in the possession of the Government.

The OTS also sponsors industrial research projects and negotiates and supervises the execution of contracts with private non-profit research laboratories for the development of such projects. It acquires, abstracts and indexes scientific and technical documents, both American and foreign, and publishes the Bibliography of Scientific and Industrial Reports.

Readers of "Audio Record" will be particularly interested in the "Communications Unit" of the OTS under the direction of Mr. Edwin Y. Webb. This Unit has investigated and prepared reports on hundreds of machines, equipments, components and materials connected with the communications industry.

It has also arranged showings of these products both in Washington and throughout the country. Earlier in the year models of the "Tonschreiber", the German field model machine for recording sound on tape, were received and shown to thousands of interested engineers.
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• Anmerkung :
  Hier steht es also und das ist nicht getürkt. Konträr zu der so oft zu findenden AMPEX Historie und den Schilderungen von Jack Mullin von der Westküste Amerikas wurden auf der anderen (Ostküsten-)Seite Amerikas von offiziellen Regierungs-Stellen auch (also ebenfalls) erbeutete bzw. konfiszierte deutsche AEG K4 Magnetophone - und vor allem mit bereits eingebauter HF-Vormagnetisierung - demonstriert.
  
  
• Das genannte Datum war der 5. November 1946, bis dieses angebliche "Geheimnis", das eigentlich seit Juni 1941 (das war die für alle geladenen 2.000 Gäste damals öffentliche UFA-Palast Vorführung in Berlin) gar keines mehr war, für die Majorität der Interessenten "gelüftet" wurde. Diese Informationen hatte ich bislang in keiner amerikanischen Publikation gefunden.
  
  
• Andere Qellen bezeugen lediglich, daß eine Menge kleiner Firmen händeringend nach zukünftigen Ersatzprodukten anstelle der (recht brutal) gekündigten Liefer-Verträge für amerikanische Kriegsgeräte suchten, so ja auch die kleine Firma AMPEX in Californien.

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• Anmerkung 2:
  In 2019 ist mir der "Intelligence Report" vom November 1945 zugemailt worden, in dem fast alle bislang bekannten AEG Magnetophones sehr detailliert beschrieben sind, wie gesagt, auf 60 handgetippten Schreibmaschinen-Seiten im November 1945 geschrieben.

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By Ernest W. Franck, Research Engineer (bei "AUDIO DEVICE" in New York)

In recent years there has been considerable activity in recording on magnetic wires or thin metallic tapes. The recording process, which is merely passing a wire almost as fine as a hair through a varying magnetic field, is not disturbed by vibration or movement and, therefore, found extensive military application during the war, such as recording in a moving tank. Furthermore, the wire can be wiped off and a new recording made at will.

During the war the Germans used a form of magnetic recording wherein metallic wire was replaced by a plastic tape with a very thin coating of magnetic iron oxide. This was used extensively in portable field models of the "Tonschreiber". Considerable development was also done of a high quality "Magnetophone" for radio broadcasting use, generally referred to as the studio model.

Army and Signal Corps men (Jack Mullin war Offizier in solch einem Signal Corps.) coming back from Europe were loud in praise of the studio model and their reports of its performance placed it above any magnetic recording available here and actually in a class with lacquer discs.

It was only recently that a studio model "Magnetophone" was brought into this country and, through the efforts of Mr. E. Y. Webb, Department of Commerce, Communications Division (see page 3), a public demonstration was made.

The performance is nothing short of startling. The volume range is great and under ideal conditions may reach 60 db. The frequency response is up to 10,000 cycles when equalised. The motion is perfectly steady with piano music, comparing favorably with a high quality 35mm sound on motion picture film.

Without question, this machine, which is the first of its kind to approach (sich annähern an) lacquer discs in performance, will find many applications, but it must first get over many hurdles. The drive mechanism must continue to give steady motion after long daily use, as in broadcast work. Some means must be found to keep playing time constant in spite of changes in length due to tape stretching and slipping. The tape may be too thin for sprocket holes, but many electronic means have been suggested, and one may be feasible.
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• Anmerkung : Diese Probleme waren bei der AEG K4 Maschine alle bereits gelöst, sofern man das nicht in Abrede stellen wollte oder aus Eigeninteresse "anzweifeln" mußte. Auf jeden Fall mußte diese damalige Vorführmaschine die HF-Vormagnetisierung bereits eingebaut haben.

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Besides a good machine, a good tape is needed and American manufacturers must develop the equipment and technique of coating magnetic recording tape. This activity would quite naturally devolve upon people already in the field of making a sound recording medium by a coating process, such for example as Audio Devices. Actually this work was undertaken in this company some time ago in anticipation of probable developments in this field.
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• Anmerkung : Der letze Satz sagt doch aus, daß die "AUDIO DEVICE" Leute diese "Magnetophon"- Magnetband- Technik bereits etwas früher gekannt hatten, denn Jack Mullin fing ja bereits Ende 1945 an, die Fähigkeiten seiner modifizierten "Kriegsbeute" USA weit zu publizieren. Weiter oben wird von der Einrichtung eines völlig neuen Labors geschrieben - natürlich nur für die "record blanks", die Schneid-Folien, jedenfalls wer es glaubt. Das Blatt "audio record" ist eben nur ein Werbeblättchen von der Firma "AUDIO DEVICES" gewesen, fast genauso wie die BASF und die AGFA Blättchen.

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