The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-11-16
Frederick Haskin's Letter
Especial Of The Arru.l
The Manufacture of jazz.
tspeaal corr-spondence OF I

New York City, Nov. 14.-Ameri.
can ragtime is now factory-made
/ Popular songs no longer are the
products Of lone. gifted individuals
but the work of organized experts
/ Their various parts are created
and assembled with the same speed
! and mechanical perfection as mo-
tor cars. Who wrote the song hits
of yesteryear? In all probability
not those to whom they were cred
/ tied, but nobody remembers the
names of the authors anyway-it is
hard enough to remember the
names of the songs.
In these restless times the life
of a popular song hit is scarce
ly longer than the life of a tooth
/ brush. 1t wears out quickly I'M
der intense pressure, and the pub
lie is ready for a new one. En-
thusiasts like to buy half a dozen
songs at one time and play them
necessarily for perhaps a month,
experimenting their own efforts
on the family piano with phono-
graph records of the same tunes.
At such merciless repetition even
the most sympathetic ear is GER
tain to rebel, so that it is not long
before the jazz-wranglers weary OF
these melodies and replace them
with five or six new numbers.
In the face OF such an enormous
and ever-changing demand. the in
dependent song artist could not
hope to survive. In his place have
grown up large jazz factories, cap
able of producing and marketing
many songs year. Irving Berlin.
for example, who used to write his
own songs in the privacy of his
own home. now has a large and
sumptuous jazz factory, contain
ing % sound-proof studios and en-
ploying staff of 175 persons.
In Mr.. Berlin S plant, it is true
the usual factory atmosphere is
obscured by decoration. The stu
dos are finished in mauve and
French gray, with carpets an inch
and a quarter thick. ivory wicker
chairs upholstered with Powered
cretonne, wall friezes depicting the
MUSES. in gay and festive mood, and
soft, inverted lights. With these
concessions TO art. the routine of
song production proceeds as brisk
ly as any other business
This includes two important
tasks, according to Saul H Born
stein, general manager of the Ber-
lin plant. One is to take the germ
of an idea he says. "synchronize
it to the tempo of the hour. aud
make it into technically perfect
song hit. These ideas come from
two sources-the STAFF writer's and
the inspired outsider"
Building a Song.
Suppose you belong to the latter
class. You write a set of verses
which you think would make
snappy song. You take it to Mr..
Bernstein
How about the melody?" he i'm
mediately asks you. Got any ideas
for that?"
You believe you have. Accom-
panying him 10 his private. sound
proof office. which contains a
grand piano. you whistle a few
bars into his critical ear. LISTEN
ing attentiveIy. he gradually picks /
out the melody on the piano until !
The substance of connected song
appears. Then he pushes a but /!
ton and a staff writer comes in. Mr.. /!
Bernstein goes over the melody !
and words with him a couple Of
lines. after which you and the staff /
writer adjourn to another sound
proof room, where you devote the
rest of the day to perfecting the
/
Then this first rough draft" ex-i
plains Mr.. Bernstein, goes to an
1ther staff writer. who makes a +
perfect piano arrange :
nent; to another who makes a vo-
al arrangement; to another who
makes an orchestral arrangement; /.
% another who arranges it for dan
ing and still another who ar
'anses it for a band It is the
work of still another staff writer
o impTovise cues and gags" for
t, so that it can be introduced INTO
Vaudeville acts
When the story energies from
his process, a finished product
which is the work of half a dozen
nen, it is ready for exploitation. III
ome respects ths factory's most
Important task Thirty thousand
opies of the song are printed and
distributed TO 10000 orchestra
eaders in all parts of the coun-
ry. The vaudeville trade receives
5000 professional copies. Special
alesmen must interest vaudeville
principals in its use. The rights