Radio today (Sept 1935-Dec 1936)

THIS SOUND" BUSINESS — new sales trends in public address — hints on modern sound installations WINDOW BEAUTY ABOVE THE BUZZ * No sooner doe6 a New York City Municipal Court go into session than a coarse hum rises from the persons assembled. Uproar is level and deadly and it finally got on the Nerves of the Bench; public address systems are to be installed throughout the city. Municipal sessions open with the calling of the calendar by the clerk, and although these fellows get shrill and desperate in their efforts to be heard above the buzz of the accused, yet there has been some doubt that the litigants always heard their names called. Wired for sound, the clerks will be able to use cool tones. PERMANENT CORRECTION OF BAD ACOUSTICS The entire problem of acoustical correction is simple when properlj understood. The mystery of this science, which for so long had engineers baffled, has been removed along with the mystery of electricity and other forms of engineering. Common sense and good judgment together with scientific background should enable public address and sound men to cope successfully with acoustical problems that they encounter. Curved surfaces in particular are troublesome. When encountered, particularly on rear walls, place large quantities of sound-absorbing materials on the surface. Even then, the condition is only tempered if the curvature is decidedly sharp. The echo resulting from the curve will be materially reduced by the material and conditions will usually be satisfactory on a temporary basis. Extreme high ceilings and walls are also difficult since material should usually be placed on the walls about half of the distance from the floor to the ceiling. Thus a major problem in scaffolding often presents itself. On the other hand, low-ceiling rooms can often be made satisfactory by leaning the proper amount of material against the walls. The walls farthest away from the loud speakers should be treated first. This is usually the rear wall. Next, treat the side walls, starting at the rear and going forward at least one-half the distance to the stage. Placing the materials on the walls above the heads of the audience is more effective than merely leaning it against the wall at the floor. However, conditions are often such that nailing into the walls is not permitted. Wherever possible, place the material in a position where it will be exposed to the mean free path of sound in the room. A SOUND MAN'S BLAST Writes James B. Kearns, National Sound Service, 130 Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn, N. Y. : "I read Badio Today's article 'Badio's Cancer Spot — New York City,' and I quite agree with you. BUT why limit the scope of your broadside; why not include such damnable snakes in the grass as the mail-order houses who practice the theme song, 'I can get it for you wholesale.' "It has been my experience in the past few years of being chiefly annoyed in the amplifier game by wholesale houses offering the public their products at our cost. "If this doesn't constitute cutthroat practices then I'm a China Smartly colored in red, gold, white and black, this decal offered by Am perite Corp. scores a "first" in display items for "sound" dealers. man. I not only speak for myself but for other sound men as follows: 'Upon calling on a prospective customer to sell him sound equipment for his place of business, we estimate the job and when the customer hears the price, he reaches into his desk, pulls out a mail-order catalog and says quite emphatically, you're a gyp. I can buy that same amplifier equipment for just half your price.' What would you do ? ... So did I. "Instead of being able to keep the field clean and enabling one to make a living, these mail-order houses drag the whole situation down into the mire." After election, this king of sound trucks may become a perambulating movie show. Its amplifiers will carry a voice 10 city blocks. October, 1936 37