NBC Transmitter (Jan-Nov 1942)

14 NBC TRANSMITTER • Yehudi — the little man who wasn’t there — has finally been found. For years, it seems, he’s been operating the famous NBC chimes, the most popular musical trademark in the world. In Hollywood’s Radio City, in San Francisco, in Chicago, or in the NBC studios in New York, a simple push of a button sets off the familiar “bing-bongbing,” heard nearly twenty billion times each year throughout the world. There is nothing to strike, no bells to ring. The chimes, in fact, are not really chimes at all, but amplified oscillations in radio tube circuits. Identified with NBC for nearly 15 years, the chimes came into use when the NBC Network needed a signal, a “goahead” device to put programs on the air. The early days in chime history were somewhat hectic, and many NBC veterans recall the weird arrangements that sometimes went out on the air. 0. B. Hanson, Ernest La Prade and Phillips Carlin each had a hand in the development of the present-day three-note signal, but not before experiments with seven-note, five-note and four-note signatures had been tried. “The chimes were worked by hand, much like the ordinary dinner-table chimes to day,” La Prade ( now NBC director of music research) recalls. “When we used seven notes, it seemed no two announcers ever got them in their proper order.” The familiar “g-e-c” notes were finally adopted, and NBC engineers developed an automatic system. Each of the three notes are composed of eight partial notes, and the twenty-four partials are then tuned to perfection by an oscilloscope and standard frequency oscillator. In today’s modern studio, the chimes are put on the air by a push of a button. This push trips an electrical relay in the master equipment room, setting rows of fingers on a revolving drum to plucking the eight separate metal reeds. The combined tones resulting are the three famous notes, each in perfect and automatic pitch. No microphone is used, as each of the metal reeds and a parallel strip of metal form a small condenser. The vibrations of the reed vary the capacity of the condenser, and these vibrations are amplified directly onto the NBC network circuit. According to mathematics, Yehudi’s “bing-bong-bing” is the most familiar melody in the country, with the notes ringing in the average listener’s ears 16 times each day. And a Gala Time Was Had by All! • The annual outing of the National Broadcasting Company Athletic Association took place at the Crescent Club, Huntington, Long Island, June 23. An all-day session of fun and sports started with the departure of A.A. members and guests on the Long Island Railroad from Pennsylvania Station. Cabs waiting at the Huntington station whisked the lads and lassies to the expansive club grounds. George H. Frey, of Sales, who is the new A.A. president, arranged a crowded day of tennis, swimming, horseback riding, golf and other sports. Luncheon and dinner were served at the club and an elaborate oasis for parched palates was provided. And, as if these facilities weren’t enough, there were cold kegs of beer studded around the lawn, where selfservice was the order of the day. And at night, there was dancing. A sliding roof in the clubhouse revealed the starlit heavens. There’s a report that A.A. committeemen had been going to a Gypsy tea room to get advance weather reports for the day. STATION SHORTS • Men employees of WTAM (Cleveland) highlighted their recent banquet by renaming their recreation club and dedicating it to “America’s unconquerable spirit for victory.” The 5T members of the group decided to formally change the name of the organization from the “1070” Club to the “1100” Club to conform with a recent change in the station’s frequency. • Men in the Armed Forces who receive the hospitality of the Milwaukee County I SO aren’t going to lack music. Over 2,000 records, most of them popular, have been donated by the musical library of WTMJ — W55M, The Journal Stations, following an inventory. Many of the records are valuable as collectors’ items. • Agnes White, KFI (Los Angeles) home economist, may soon take dialers right into the model kitchen of her own lovely home in the Palos Verdes hills. Because of the rubber shortage, she hopes to broadcast her five-a-week “California Home” series from there by a remote hook-up, saving many miles of monthly driving. LA PRADE HONORED IN CINCINNATI — Cincinnati Entjuirer Photo. Ernest La Prade (center), NBC director of /nusic research, is shown receiving a Doctor of Music degree at the College of Music of Cincinnati. La Prade’s numerous musical activities include collaboration with the NBC engineering department in acoustics and electronics. He has attracted widespread attention as an author and composer.