Radio stars (Oct 1938)

RADIO STARS Don't Hesitate Alout Feminine Hygiene Use a modern method Why add to the problems of life by worrying about old-fashioned or embarrassing methods of feminine hygiene? If you doubt the effectiveness of your method, or if you consider it messy, greasy, and hateful, here is news that you will welcome. Thousands of happy, enlightened women now enjoy a method that is modern, effective — kills germs —and, equally important — dainty! ZONITORS ARE GREASELESS to apply and completely removable with water, Zonitors maintain long, effective antiseptic contact. No mixing. No clumsy apparatus. Odorless — and an ideal deodorant. Zonitors make use of the world-famous Zonite Full instructions in package. $1 for box of 12— at all U. S. and Canadian druggists. Free booklet in plain envelope on request. Write Zonitors. 4011 Chrysler Bldg., N. Y. C. SNOW WH Each in individ ual glass vial IN OUR NEXT ISSUE JOHN NESBITT WRITES AN EXCLUSIVE STORY OF THE MOST MEMORABLE TALES ON HIS PASSING PARADE Say Goodbye to Dull, Drab Hair In one, simple, quick operation, Lovalon the 4 purpose rinse, does all these 4 important things to your hair. I. Gives lustrous highlights. 2. Rinses away shampoo film. 3. Tints the hair as it rinses. 4. Helps keep hair neatly in place. Use Lovalon after your next shampoo. It does not dye or bleach. It is a pure, odorless hair rinse, made in 12 different shades. Try Lovalon. You will be amazed at the results. Approved byGood Housekeeping Bureau. 5 rinses 25 cents at drug and department stores. 2 rinse size at ten cent stores. LOVALON — the 4 purpose vegetable HAIR RINSE Del Sharbutt, who had rehearsed his sound effects perfectly, was in the act of rattling a tray, Coca Cola bottles and glasses when the unforeseen happened. Two glasses and a bottle suddenly clanked together and fell with a crash. In the control room it sounded like a train collision. Of course the wax was ruined and the whole show had to be done again. On another occasion the members of the same program were on their last recording of the day (they make five in six hours) and nerves were tense. The performers had turned in a perfect job, but word came that the volume mechanism hadn't. They had to do it over. Now, Singin' Sam commutes from his Indiana farm for these sessions in Manhattan, and he had his mind on catching the five o'clock train. He blew up on the next wax, then the orchestra flub-dubbed — and it wasn't until the fifth time that a perfect result was obtained. P. S. Sam missed his train ! The necessity for working against time in rehearsal, the tedious repetition and the relentless striving for a faultless result all make the business of recording more arduous and exacting than that of an ordinary broadcast. Once the wax is cut, the rest depends on the processing. It is next immersed in a silver nitrate bath which causes a layer of silver to form, thus making it a conductor of electricity. Next, it is put in a plating bath and a copper shell is formed on it by electrolysis. This shell is stripped from the wax and becomes a copper or metal master, a reverse copy of the original. The master is then submitted to another plating process and becomes the metal or copper mother. The mother, in turn, is put in a bath and from it is stripped the stamper. An exact reverse reproduction of the mother, the stamper is made of copper, which is nickelled or chromiumplated. From it the impressions are made in the final records, known as pressings. These are sixteen inches in diameter, and may carry programs on both sides, or on one only, as desired. The process described above is employed when a number of duplicate recordings are desired for distribution. If the platter is to be kept for reference, and not to be used more than fifty times, the recording is made on an acetate disc and may be played back immediately. This is known as an instantaneous recording, and is also used for auditioning would-be broadcasters. It is interesting to note that amateurs who have never heard playbacks of their voices invariably fail to recognize themselves. This is because a person's voice does not register the same to him as it does to his audience. If you will fold both ears forward and hold them partially shut with your hands while you are talking, you can obtain an approximate idea of how you sound to others. Sometimes advertising agencies • want records of their network shows for file purposes. These are taken off the air via a receiving set which emits sound but, instead, translates the electrical impulse into a mechanical impulse in the cutting head, and the stylus cuts the blank accordingly. An off-the-line recording is the same as a studio recording except that the program comes over a telephone line from the scene of the broadcast, rather than over the microphone wire in the transcription studio. This is used by such companies as CBS, which has no such department of its own. In the matter of price, a master sells for about $65 to $85, and each pressing around $3. Twelve-inch records are made, too, but they are used for short programs and announcements. The regulation phonograph record is ten inches in diameter and revolves 78 times per minute, whereas the sixteen-inch recording moves at the rate of 33l/3 revolutions per minute. Now that the transcription has been made, it is ready for broadcast. The average radio station is equipped with at least one playback unit, consisting of turntable, motor and pickup (or arm). The record is placed on the turntable, the motor started and the needle applied. The pickup then feeds the program by wire through the amplifiers and onto the ether. No sound is heard from the machine, but the program may be followed in the studio by means of a monitor speaker. Reproducing equipment must be kept in good repair and should be inspected at least once a week. Records should be dusted before they are played and a new needle used for each selection. And, lastly, each program should be rehearsed before the broadcast. This is necessary in order to acquaint the announcer with the type of material, the correct pronunciation of artists' names, timing and cues. It enables the operator to determine the proper volume levels so that the live announcer's voice will come in at the same level as that of the program. The omission of rehearsal may result in a variety of mishaps. For example, on one occasion a trusting and over-optimistic operator started a recorded program, then left it to itself. Unfortunately, he didn't know that the record was imperfect. The needle stuck in the first groove and couldn't get beyond it, so surprised and annoyed listeners were treated to a program consisting of the same line : "Good evening, friends — good evening, friendsgood evening, friends," over and over again. As mentioned before, certain sponsors have much to gain from the use of transcriptions. National advertisers naturally desire to reach as many people as possible. To this end they use a Coast-to-Coast network with a live show, but even so, there are outlying areas which the program cannot reach. In order to supplement the network outlets, an off-the-line recording is made of the live show during its original broadcast. Pressings are made and distributed to local stations in these areas. Of course, the time must be bought on each of the individual stations — which adds up to a goodly sum. The Goldbergs serial is one example of this procedure. Those advertisers who feature products such as bathing suits, which have a seasonal and regional sale, would, in the winter, use only transcriptions and distribute them to Florida, California and such sections of the country where swimming is possible. Others are interested in reaching only wholesale areas or small local markets. In this way transcriptions are invaluable, for the sponsor may place his program where it will be most productive and at the same time save himself the price of buying network time or hiring local live talent for each area. Sometimes the sponsor pays for the talent and recording, then lets his local dealers