Radio age research, manufacturing, communications, broadcasting, television (1941)

t< NIPPER" LISTENS IN Radio's Alliance With the Phonograph and Use of Electronics in the Production of Records Keep "His Master's Voice" a Symbol of Tonal Quality Hou) Discs Arc Made. series of activities in engineering, manufacturing, packing, shipping, advertising, promotion and distri- l)ution. With all of these interdependent activities functioning, the '"Music America Loves Best" finds its way from the recording studio into mil- lions of homes, in war plants or on some far-off military outpost. By J. W. Murray General Manager, RCA Victor Record Activities RCA Victor Division THE insistent purr of a buzzer cuts across the studio, hushing abruptly the babble of voices, the scraping of fiddle strings and the random tunes of the reeds. It's the "get ready" warning. Musicians adjust their chairs, poise instruments, and fix their eyes on the conductor standing be- fore them. In an adjacent control room, sound technicians carefully make last-minute inspections of their equipment. Suddenly the buzzer sounds again —two quick, warning sounds. The conductor silently signals for attention, then spreads his arms in a sweeping gesture and a great concord of music pours forth from the orchestra. Music Recorded Round and round in slow rhythm, turntables in the control room spin their even way, and a cutting nee- dle dips smoothly and accurately into a wax-coated disc. Another masterpiece of melody is being etched indelibly on a Vic- tor record to be added to the world's musical treasures. With this impressive routine in an RCA Victor i-ecording studio in New York, or Chicago or Holly- wood, a whole chain of events is set into motion—an interdependent "Nipper" Becomes Famous The old Victor Talking Machine Company, and later RCA Victor, spent millions on scientific develop- ment of the phonograph, on the improvement of recording methods, in signing up the world's finest ar- tists, and in advertising the advan- tages of recorded music. It is in- teresting to note that Victor ac- quired the famous oil painting of the dog "Nipper" from an English painter, Francis Barraud; and in the first 25 years spent $24,000,000 in making the dog, listening atten- tively to "His Master's Voice", one of the world's best-known and best- loved trademarks. In 1930, the phonograph joined hands with its erstwhile rival, radio, when the Radio Corporation of America acquired the Victor Talking Machine Company. The depression caused Victor record sales to drop to a mere 3,000.000 discs in 1933, but through those dark days RCA engineers were making continuous improvements in recording and sound reproduc- tion. The phonograph kept pace with progress so that it was ready for a comeback when the world economic situation improved and people once again had money to spend for the good things of life. With the advent of more prosper- ous days, the popular demand for recorded music increased so fast that the industry's record produi- tion was unable to catch up with it. In 1942, RCA Victor attained a new all-time high in record pro- duction of 59 million units. This total is especially significant when compared to the 250,000 units pro- duced by Victor in 1901; the 55 million units produced in 1921, the previous all-time high; and the slightly more than 3 million pro- duced during the depths of the de- pression. Records have scored a comeback in popular favor that has few if any i)arallels in industrial history. World War II brought many problems to record manufacturers. It was soon realized in this country, as it had been in England, that re- corded music is of great importance to national morale. It helps enter- tain and refresh the spirits of the people at home, who are working longer hours and living under the stress and worry of wartime. To service men in camps and at battle stations all over the world, recorded music is like recapturing a few moments of "home"; it has been of inestimable value in relieving the tensions that precede and follow combat. In the war factory, too, recorded music is helping to relieve fatigue and inspire production sol- diers in their job of making Amer- ican fighting men the best equipped in the world. Production Maintained In the face of rapidly increasing (iemand for records, the industry was confronted with limited manu- facturing facilities, manpower shortages and scarcity of materials. Despite all existing problems, RCA Victor has continued to main- tain a high standard of quality and fo keep up a flow of records which has served to fill most fundamental needs. In order to bring the bene- fits of recorded music to the great- est number, RCA Victor has had a wartime policy of concentrating its in-oduction on those types of music desired by the greatest number in every category of musical taste. From time to time, through the years, there has been speculation about so-called "revolutionary" new methods of recording. For exam- jile, it is pointed out that entire symphonies can be recorded on a strip of film, or tape, or a wire. RCA is in close touch with such [RADIO AGE 38