Phonograph Monthly Review, Vol. 5, No. 9 (1931-06)

266 The Phonograph Monthly Review Correspondence The Editor does not accept any responsibility for opinions expressed by correspondents. No notice mil be taken of un- signed letters, but only initials or a pseudonym will be printed if the writer so desires. Contributions of general interest to our readers are welcomed. They should be brief and writ- ten on one side of the paper only. Address all letters, to CORRESPONDENCE COLUMN, Editorial Department, The Phonograph Monthly Review, 5 Boylston Street, Cam- bridge, Massachusetts. A Recorded Concerts Guild Through the courtesy of the Editor I am making an an- nouncement which should be of great interest to all lovers of recorded music residing in- Greater New York. Phonograph records have always been associated with the idea of music in the home. The great advances made both in instruments and quality of reproduction, the increased attention being given records in the newspapers and maga- zines and the fact that recently a well-known dancer dis- carded the use of a piano and substituted, with great success, symphonic records as accompaniment for her recital, have convinced me that records have far greater possibilities than mere home performence. I therefore am forming, with a few friends, the Recorded Concerts Guild which, while ready to keep in step with any future developments, will confine itself, in its initial program, to a series of about fifteen con- certs every two weeks or so in the period commencing early October and extending to the latter part of April. Tenta- tively, there will be nine or ten symphonic programs, three or four of chamber music, a complete oratorio and other items to be decided upon. The Guild has no backing and can exist only upon the membership dues of those who join. To meet the great expense required for renting of a hall, printing of circulars, announcements, tickets, programs, stationery, postage, etc., it will be necessary to pay the dues in one lump sum in advance, at most the mere price of a couple of records. No set figure has been decided upon because it will depend on the size of the membership. The usual method of playing a lot of miscellneous records is not, I feel, sufficient reason for the Guild’s existence. Re- production of our programs, through the finest electrical instruments, will be made in a manner which does away with the old handicap of breaking off the music while record sides are being turned. I need not say anything further about the added enjoyment to be derived from listening to the music being unfolded without the interruption we know so well. The next attraction is the important one of programs. They will be calculated to hold the attention of those who love the finest in music. The Guild will draw on all foreign and domestic records. The programs will follow the lines of those heard in the concert halls, but of finer content. They will be free from the hackneyed items which cause intelligent concert goers to froth at the mouth and write letters of indignation to the press. I believe that if a crowd can gather around a loud speaker to hear the results of a prizefight, there is no reason why a group of intelligent music lovers cannot gather about a loud- speaker and hear what they like under the ideal conditions set forth above. It will be a proud moment when we can offer concrete evidence that such folks do not need the ex- ternal trappings of the opera house or concert hall to lure them into listening to music. There are several halls under con- sideration, varying in size and rental. Final arrangements for one cannot be made until I see just how many people will wish to support this movement. I want everyone in- terested to communicate with me at once and I shall be glad to give further information regarding programs, mem- bership fee and other details which cannot be included in this announcement. I shall also arrange to have a meeting of prospective members, where everything can be discussed satisfactorily. Please address me c/o U.C.S. Co., 625 Madison Avenue, New York, N. Y. Emil V. Benedict Corrrect Centering Editor, Phonograph Monthly Review: To revive a topic that has evidently languished in your magazine, I would like to inquire concerning the amount of bad centering that gets by in good records of aristocratic labeling. An answer to a complaint about a year ago in this column stated that bad centering was relatively rare and isolated, but my experience has been to the contrary. Out of sixty-one electrical red seal records I have examined, twen- ty-three are well centered, nineteen passably, sixteen poorly, and three scandalously—a rather large proportion of the lat- ter two categories which would be larger if I had not re- frained from buying some records during the last year or so for want of good copies. Nor are examples isolated—out of six available copies of Paderewski’s Chopin Etudes, the best is positively unpleasant to listen to on one side; it took three sets of the Rachmaninoff Concerto to produce one that was passable, and the same applies to the Brandenburg Con- certo. I find fewer lapses in Columbia records, nevertheless a set of the Davidsbundler Dances ordered with centering specified was an extreme offender, and another set sent to replace it still has one poor side. A particular customer dealing with a record department less anxious to please than that of the Thearle Music Co., here would have found him- self unhappily placed. A less frequent defect is variation in pitch—as in Horo- witz’ Scarlatti Capriccio, Rachmaninoff’s Polka and Troika, side two of Cortot’s Rigoletto paraphrase. Mr. Benedict’s treatment after his excursion some time ago into the realm of record prices was on the whole rough, but assuming the answers his letter evoked to be sound, is it not still reason- able that when companies have recorded some of the great- est artistry, priced accordingly, the buyer should be guar- anteed against such elementary mechanical shortcomings as those mentioned? San Diego, Calif. H. C. A. Pickup Perfection Editor, Phonograph Monthly Reviews No doubt your attention has often been directed either from experience or correspondence to the problem of record grooves breaking down. Until last month I have had no end of diffi- culty with wear on records. I have used four different pickups and every conceivable type of needles from shadowgraphed steel of all different sizes to two kinds of non-metalic needles from England. The result has been invariably the same; if the records contain high volume levels and are played with anything like full volume, the grooves flake out and in some cases the needle jumps grooves, many times refusing to pass the troublesome spot. I had ruined a large number of valu- able records and was unable to get any information or aid from any source, My turntable was level, and the pickup arm moved freely, the motor speed was correct and steady. Need- less to say there was considerable blast in the speaker in play- ing records with full volume. I began to notice that records which I loaned the local broadcasting station gave them no trouble at all. In a con- signment of new records I played one side of one of them and noticed the familiar white flecked places: There was also some blast. Then I took the record into the station and played the other side, which was of the same movement and tonal level. It played through the same kind of needle with- out the slightest blast and no signs of wear. I thereupon de- cided to incurr the expense of discarding my old equipment and installing the Western Electric “Reproducer No. 201a” with oil-damped pickup. It has now been * in use over a month and has not given the slightest trouble about blasting, has not damaged any of the records even when playing at a tremendous volume and has overcome the old fault of over- emphasis of the bass, so common in the last few years. (These machines which have so much bass really get it by cutting off the high frequencies.) The high frequencies are what, to a large extent give the overtones for the entire scale, high and low. Whn the overtones are absent the tone colors of the different instruments lose their true character. I have even been able to pT&y those records whichc had developed flaws