Evening star., 1928-11-08

Intensive 'listening-in" over radio
during the past month brought home
to broadcasters and set owners alike
the necessity for more study OF what
may be called the total tone" of in
diVidual or organization.
1t is one thing to get up and talk
or play before a microphone and dis
tinctly another to make that voice or
musical instrument come from loud
speaker pleasingly.
Not enough thought has been given
to this phase of broadcasting at the
radio stations. else one would not still
hear the ether crammed with music
which has something off" about 1t
to the sensitive ear.
The non-sensitive ear of the un-
critical person must not be allowed
to be the Judge In such an important
matter. Only those with the most DEL
icately tuned aural apparati have any
right to question the stations IN such
a matter.
When they do they will discover
that as far as they can find out. no
particular emphasis has been placed
by the stations on making study
of the total effect upon the human
ear of voice or instruments-in COM
binstion.
10, a
knows. whether he owns a crystal set
or the latest multitude affair run off
the electric socket, single conbina-
tion of sounds coming from the air
into his ear.
It makes no difference to him, the
listener whether there are 10 instru-
ments Or 100 in an orchestra: what
he receives is a blend of them, which
for all practical purposes is one sound.
This truism is so commonplace that
1t seems to be overlooked generally.
One wonders if broadcasting stations
listen-in as much as they might. IT
so, why cannot they note, as well as
the listener, that the violin of the
industrious leader of certain or
chestra has a thin. almost strident
quality which overshadows, as It were,
the pleasing bass and middle registers
offered by the other musicians?
Lest any impatient broadcaster think
that we exaggerate this matter, we VIII
say that we have listened to this par
ticular organization over seven differ
ent sets of the very highest quality
These are the latest type receivers and
speakers, electrically balanced to give
the finest tone quality, made possible by
years of experimentation resulting In
scores of utilized patents.
On every one of these outfits that par
ticular violin came in with an unplcas-
ant quality, made all the more pro-
nounced by the fact that the leader
played most of the time. This is a
habit orchestra leaders have, one which
they mistakenly adhere to, we believe.
especially if something is wrong with
the tinbre of their violin.
just what is the matter with this
violin we do not know, but if we were
q millionaire we would purchase the
leader in question a new one and ship 1t
to him, express prepaid, with our COM
plimerts. He is an artist and good
conductor. but something is wrong with
his instrument.
Short of that, one would like to start
a movement among the fans to raise
fund for a new violin. There is little
question that thousands of listeners
have noted this same insufficiency and
would be willing to contribute to a new
instrument for the honest fellow who
saws away for them so industriously
every evening.
There is another orchestra which
contains a saXophone invariably played
off key. Whether it is the instrument
or the player we do not know, having
never seen the player nor played a
saxophone, but we do know positively
that we never listen to either one any
more.
Whereupon, no doubt, the gentleman
playing the saxophone will lisp. TOO
bad" and the radio station manager
will ask, well, who cares?" But that