Evening star., 1943-07-11
Music

Symphony.
BY ALICE EvERsMAN.

LIE IAdJOl ACC0uA4l8 COulk0AASo Va
this country are still pleading with
the public for old records. They.
continue to ask that all records,
worn out, broken or not in use for
some reason, be turned in to record
dealers who will purchase them and
send them to the factories. Shellac,
an important ingredient in the man
ufacture of discs, has been frozen
for war production and this handi-
caps the making of new records and
endangers one of the chief sources of
musical pleasure of countless people.
Gramaphone records can still be
produced by utilizing the shellac
from old records. 1t is more costly
procedure, but the only method
open to the manufacturers. The
demand for recordings continues
and while novelties are out of the
picture for the time being, the old
standbys are being repressed to sat-
iSy the demand. The grinding up
and reprocessing Of old records has
been completely successful and the
companies will be able to supply the
public needs provided this same pub
lie helps them with the material.
When the scrap records arrive at
the plant, trained operators separate
the usable from the unusable. Only
solid scrap will make new records
of proper quality and this first step
in preparing the material Is care
fully attended to. After inspection,
the records are weighed into lots OF
600 or 700 pounds each and are
then put into huge machine, which
grinds them to a fine powder. BY
a special process all unnecessary
particles such as the paper labels
are removed and the powder filtered
through a screen of fine mesh.
In the plant, the trim from the
edges of pressed records has been
carefully saved and this, together
with fresh material, is mixed with
the powdered scrap in a formula
that proportions each ingredient ex-
actly and which Is blended for 20
minutes to arrive at the proper fin
ished article. When this is complet-
ed the material is as good as any
used in prewar time. An enormous
machine, two stories high. churns
the mixed scrap into the final plas-
tic mass which Is then placed in a
roller for pressing and the result
is a new disc ready to receive the
imprint of immortal music and be
sent forth for the enjoyment and
education of music lovers.
Our fighting men, also, are ask
ing for more records. In an inter-
view somewhere in North Africa"
a group of American pilots begged
the correspondent to tell the folks
back home to ship us some more
music. You can really use music in
this country. It takes you a long way
back home. We had about $50 rec
ords when we came but there are
only 100 left. A lot of them go tick,
tick when the needle hits crack,
but they still give"
Records for our Fighting Men.
Inc. have started a new drive. the
second Nationwide one, for old rec
ords which they sell to the manu-
facturers and buy new ones with the
money. AS formerly the American
Legion and other patriotic groups
are collaborating and the distribu-
ton Of new records is supervised by
the Joint Army and Navy Commit
tee on Welfare and Recreation. Up
to the present time. 100000 new rec
ords have been sent to the fighting
forces here and abroad.
Apropos of recordings, the Colum-
bia Recording Corp. recently an
nounced that the Philadelphia Or
chestra has signed long contract
to record exclusively with them.
This breaks an association Of many
years standing with the Victor peo-
pie. Now the Columbia Broadcast
ing System has signed a three-year
contract with the Philadelphia Or
chestra to begin series Of weekly
Saturday afternoon broadcasts over
the Columbia network beginning
October 2. These concerts will ex-
tend through April 80 Of each year
and be played in the Academy Of
Music in Philadelphia.