Phonograph Monthly Review, Vol. 2, No. 1 (1927-10)

The Phonograph Monthly Review 39 October, 1927 wa fr— " 1 ' I fail to understand why! For dance music, comes first a vigorous coupling of the two big Follies hits, Shaking the Blues Away and Ooh! Maybe It’s You, played by Harry Reser’s Syncopators with remarkable force and decision; the recording is unusually good, but the orchestral arrangements are hardly as interesting as those of Whiteman’s record of the same pie'ces. Harold Leonard can always be depended upon to provide well-played and melodious pieces, rather conven- tional perhaps, but excellent dance numbers; his latest offer- ing is Just a Memory and Joy Bells (1KT5-D), with several clever “quotations” in the latter. The two other dance rec- ords are 1103-D and 1108-D, both good but neither outstand- ing. The former is an attempt to duplicate Nichols’ hot jazz masterpieces, but the Little Ramblers can’t quite make the grade (Swamp Blues and Play It Red), although they are worth hearing. The latter is a Fred Rich coupling of Good News and Lucky in Love, which hardly comes up to the Ted Weems versions of these pieces. Milton Charles’ best re- corded organ pieces to date are heard on 1099-D (When Day Is Done and Just Once Again), but it is quite impossible for him to restrain from painting the lily, i.e. further sentimen- talizing the sufficiently sentimental When Day Is Done. Still, his rivals, Lew White and Jesse Crawford, cannot afford to forget that Charles is steadily coming up from the field in the movie-organ race! The sacred selections include 1101-D (Dearer than All and In the Dawn of Eternal Day) by Homer Rodeheaver and Doris Doe; 15177-D (Reaching to You and We’ll be at Home Again) by Mr. and Mrs. R. N. Grisham; and 14242-D (This Thing Was Not Done in the Corner and I’ll Just Stand and Ring My Hands and Cry), sermons with singing, by the tireless Rev. J. C. Burnett and his faithful assistants, Sisters Grainger and Jackson. Two Southern records are 15178-D (My Fat Girl and Let It Alone) sung by Chris Bouchillion, and 15179-D (The Letter that Never Came and Falling by the Wayside) by Charlie Poole accompanied by his North Carolina Ramblers. Last comes a rather disappointing race record by Maggie Jones in The Man I Love Is Oh So Good and You Ain’t Gonna Feed in My Pasture Now (14243-D), with eccentric but not particularly ingenious accompaniments by her own orchestra. Victor 35827—Rossini: Semiramide—Overture. (D12, $1.25.) Creatore’s finest (to date!) of all his splendid series is now made available in the regular release. The review is on page 481 of the August issue. G INN AND COMPANY of Boston, the larg- est publishers of text books in the United States, with branch offices in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Columbus, Dallas, and Atlanta, have just announced that after a careful examination of all similar products on the mar- ket, they have selected Columbia New Process Records upon which to record selections which are issued in record form as an integral part of the course of singing books, known as the “Music Education Series.” The “Music Education Series,” begun in 1923, has just been completed. It consists of 63 double- faced records, of which 44 are ten-inch and 19 are twelve-inch. On these records 229 pieces of music are recorded, all by members of the Phil- harmonic Orchestra of New York. The series includes a five-book course for schools in smaller towns, and an eight-book course for large cities. The records are equally adapted to either of these courses. One of the deciding factors in the selection of Columbia New' Process Records by Ginn and Company is the “laminated” or “new process,” the patents of which are controlled by the Colum- bia Phonograph Company. Records, such as Ginn’s Music Education Series, made for study and many replayings, whose every note must be reproduced exactly as recorded, and with a maxi- mum of clarity, should have a playing surface of the utmost smoothness and durability. This the laminated process insures. The usual phonograph record is made through- out of what is known as “solid stock,” which means that the interior is composed of exactly the same material as the surface. The expensive ingredients, of which shellac is the most impor- tant, are mixed throughout the entire record. By the laminated process, the shellac and other cost- ly materials, that are vital to the playing qualities of the record, and of value only in proportion to the amount contained on the surface of the rec- ord, are concentrated on that playing surface. This is accomplished by pressing upon each side of the solid stock of the record to be laminated a sheet of especially prepared paper, which is coated with gum. Before this gum is dry, a sprinkler deposits the shellac and other ingredi- ents upon the surface of the paper. Besides forming a foundation for the surface materials, and concentrating them upon the sur- face, the paper prevents the fibrous materials, mixed throughout the “solid stock” record and contained in what becomes the core of the lami- nated record, from working to the surface. The materials which are used to hold the record to- gether, give it strength, make it impervious to moisture, and act as a binder, are compressed in making a phonograph record under high hydrau- lic pressure, and, when this pressure is with- drawn, the fibrous materials commence to resume their original condition, expanding and disturb- ing, as a consequence, the evenness of the sur- face. These minute particles raise above the im- pressed record surface and impart to the repro- ducing needle a constant hissing which is termed “surface noise.” This objectionable noise be- comes the more apparent the older the record, because of the gradual reviving of the fibres. In a laminated record, this cannot happen. Laminated records, due to their structure, necessarily have greater strength, with the result that breakage in transportation is negligible. Furthermore, warping, which has always been a great problem in warm climates, is entirely elimi- nated.