Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-07-12
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES b. TRACEWELL.

for consideration would require that
after IL O'Clock at night radio speaker
may not be heard more than so feet
Such an edict would make compulsory
the turning down, instead of up. of the
volume control.
There can be no question any more
that the misuse of radio receivers and
speakers, in utter defiance of good taste
and decency and of the Golden Rule
has done great deal to leave a sour
taste in the mouth (and ears) of thou
sands of persons who value and like
radio as much as any one.
The radio world now prepares to stab
itself in the vitals by Incorporating on
the latest sets control which will
permit the purchaser to change the
tone" TO suit himself We submit that
nothing could be more against the very
genius of radio.
The ideal of broadcasting and re-
ceiving demands that the artists at the
microphone send forth as perfect tone
quality as their voices and instruments
can produce, and that the men at the
control of the panels send it forth on
the radio waves as near like itself as
possible.
This has been the constantly bettered
aim for the past 10 years. But now it
is proposed to turn a part of this mat
ter over TO the listener, who may or
may not be an expert" and to permit
him to change the depth or highness of
a voice to suit himself.
If he listens to some glorious con-
tralto, and happens to prefer the So
prano voice he will turn a little knob
and make her soprano!
We submit again, and will keep on
IN, L..
wrong, but contains III itself the seeds
of great mischief. The average auditor
is IN no position to make over voices
and instruments to suit his own ear
Every one who has played any sort of
musical instrument knows that the
human ear is by no means a precision
instrument. 1t IS affected not only by
heat and cold, but by mental states and
physical beings, so that even an artist
cannot make sure judgment in regard
to tone quality. To expect every Tom,
Dick and Harry to do it, with any salts
faction to themselves or. Justice TO
artists, is to expect the impossible. The
only thing that will result will be a vast
amount of turning bass drums into
snareS, barltones into tenors, sopranos
into contraltoS and the like. In the end
every one will be disguised.
X
Each radio set and speaker has a
voice or tone of its own, of which
the average owner becomes tired, after
year or so of listening to it. In most
cases he does not know what is the mat
ter. but calls up the store and COM
plains that his set does not sound as
well as 1t used to- The set sounds the
same, but his ears and tastes have
changed, and there is nothing that can
be done about it, except to buy a new
outtt. Many have done Just that but
The indications are that the golden age
has passed.
The question of "blah" over the radio
is much the same as the problem else
Where, but made more obnoxious by its
insertion constantly, so that one can
not turn it off except by turning to
another station, where he finds an
ether system of "blah" in operation
There may be "blahless" broadcastinp
1T merely remains for some courageous
institution to begin it.
The monotony of set programs. too
initiates against a continual eniov-
ment of radio, and this factor, to-
gether with the others named and
some unnamed, tends to make the END
OF radio broadcasting, in the popular
sense, not so visionary as it might seem