Music Trade Review

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THE MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
With the Makers and Sellers of TaJkiivg Machines
Of course, to a large extent, this may be true,
but it is not always the machine that is at
fault. A large percentage of those imperfections
Theory That Vocalists Never Hear Their Own
are merely accentuated reproductions of the sing-
Voices as Others Hear Them—Many Unex-
er's faulty methods. This has been proved by
pected Defects Discovered—Professors of
having the same singer make three separate rec-
Voice Culture Use Records of Pupils Efforts
ords of a song he has learned by repeated usage
in Their Rooms.
to sing in stereotyped style. Each record will
Dr. Wangermann, who has been for many years show the same faults and imperfections.
In addition to enabling students to correct their
chief assistant to Thomas E. Edison at his phono-
graph factory in Orange, N. J., and who is him- methods by having a record of their errors con-
self a cultivated musician and vocal instructor, tinually before them, the "talker" has another
has been elaborating on a subject which we re- practical use in vocal schools. Few of the world's
ferred to in The Review some time ago— greatest vocalists have consented to submit their
i. e., that no vocalist has really ever heard him- efforts for permanent record and run the risk of
self or herself sing. That is to say, they have their being farmed out in penny amusement pal-
never heard themselves sing as others have heard aces. But many recognized operatic experts have
them. Of course, they receive a mental impres- sung into the talking machine, and these records
sion, which, to their sense of hearing, is more or are remarkably valuable to students.
They are of great assistance in studying a
less equivalent, but it is not the genuine product
of atmospheric sound waves striking upon the scene or a part, containing as they do many
drums of the ears, as is the case when listening variations from the printed score, such as ca-
to another singer. In other words, the tones danzas, and all sorts of vocal liberties taken by
which flow from the throat of a vocalist are recognized artists, which it is difficult for the
weighed, measured and absorbed by the brain ordinary amateur to observe and harmonize.
and the nerves connecting it with the vocal chords
without any effort on the part of the ears. An
BOILED DOWN TRADE BITS.
almost entirely deaf person, to whom the singing
or speaking of others might almost pass for Relating to Talking Machines Picked Up Dur-
dumb show, can hear himself speak or sing quite
ing The Review's Round of the Trade.
distinctly. This is regarded as proof of the
strange theory.
E. F. O'Neill left for his regular territory
Hence it is argued that the impressions of his Thursday, making his first stop at Pittsburg, Pa.,
or her own singing absorbed by vocalists are often and then working west to Chicago. From thence
erroneous. It is impossible that they should real- he will go to the Southwest, and does not expect
ize the exact effect their tones and methods pro- to hang up his hat at 28 Warren street, New
duce upon actual hearers in their audiences. York, headquarters of the Universal Talking Ma-
Many minute imperfections are overlooked, and chine Manufacturing Co., before September.
the singer does not distinguish between the vari-
The company have added an unknown tenor,
ous qualities of tones so widely as does the with an unusually rich voice, to its already large
hearer.
list of professional record makers. General Man-
VALUABLE MUSICAL ADJUNCT.
ager Macnabb expects great results from his dis-
It is for reasons such as these that the talking covery after the training period is over.
machine has recently been very largely employed
by many eminent vocal instructors both here and
Trade this week has been quiet—slacking off,
in Europe. This curious innovation is largely as is customary at this season. The manufactur-
due to Dr. Wangermann, who was associated with ing companies, and some of the prominent job-
Edison in the conception and invention of the bing houses, still report a good run of business.
phonograph, and who has labored for years to The record firms are slowly catching up with
bring it to its present state of perfection and its orders, and are in good shape for any calls.
popularity.
Many well-known teachers of singing have in
An impressive brass sign has superseded the
their class-rooms complete apparatus, not only for wooden ones at the entrance of the Victor Dis-
the reproduction of vocal efforts, but for the tak- tributing & Export Co., 77 Chambers street, New
ing of records, so that students may actually hear York. The lower stairway has been freshened up,
with their own ears exactly the impression their the sides being grained in imitation of oak.
singing conveys to an audience.
The talking machine department of Adams Dry
The system is for a pupil to sing a composition
with all the care and perfection of which he is Goods Co., a leading store of New York, which
capable into a talking machine receiver, and from will have its formal opening Monday, was
the record thus made, hearing it again and again equipped with a full line of Victor goods, which
reproduced, he may study its most minute imper- they will handle exclusively, by the Victor Dis-
tributing & Talking Machine Co. When the de-
fections and strive to correct them.
Here and there the student, may notice faulty partment is completed an auditorium, covering
phrasing, a wrong management of the breath, •1,650 square feet, and seating over 200 people,
imperfect articulation, or an impurity of intona- will serve to demonstrate the instruments ade-
tion which, with practice, may be avoided. I t is quately. Edward Crandall is the manager, and
thus that the talking machine has become an aid being an experienced talking machine man, the
to the artistic cultivation of the voice and an in- department is in capable hands.
centive to proper methods in the art of singing.
There seems to be no end to what is being
MAKES SMALL DEFECTS APPARENT.
It iB even claimed that the talking machine prac- done in the talking machine line. Mr. Brown,
tically places the singing voice, as it were, under of Brown, Page & Hillman Co., Peoria, 111., says
the influence of a tonal microscope, by showing he believes there are people now living in Peoria
up in slightly exaggerated form all lapses from who will before they die be able to gather around
vocal purity and making minor errors stand out the court house and listen to the inauguration
ceremonies at Washington, and hear every word
conspicuously.
All familiar with ordinary talking machine rec- when uttered there.
ords of songs and singers have observed curious
Thos. Goggan & Bro., Galveston, Texas, music
and often comical breaks or irregularities in the
quality of the reproduced voice, and these are and piano dealers, have an important talking
usually regarded as imperfections in the record. machine department.
TALKING MACHINE HELPS SINGERS.
TALKING MACHINES IN WAR.
Much in Use by the Japanese—Some Interest-
ing Remarks by a Traveling Commissioner
for the Gramophone Co., of London.
Traveling commissioners in the service of the
Gramophone Co. have returned from a tour in
Siam, Japan, Persia, China, Russia and other
countries, on the termination of a successful hunt
for new "records." The resultant "bag" is varied
and weird in the extreme.
"The first item on the programme is a comic
song by the leading comedian in Siam," explained
a gramophone expert to a little party which
assembled at the company's offices yesterday af-
ternoon. Then, having apologized for an ineffec-
tual attempt to pronounce the name of "the Dan
Leno of Bangkok," the operator fixed the disk
and switched on the machine.
Presently the company was listening to a sa-
cred band of musicians playing in a Rangoon
temple to an audience of idols. Then the won-
derful voice of Sobinoff flooded the room with
pure, tender melody.
Who is Sobinoff? To-day he is a common sol-
dier lying in the Russian trenches somewhere
north, with a rifle at his shoulder. But
a month ago he was pouring this same pas-
sionate song—a Russian war song—into the ears
of St. Petersburg society. Sobinoff is the great-
est tenor in the Czar's dominions. He is, besides,
a Reservist, and when his turn came he went
willingly to Manchuria.
In Port Arthur and Mukden—in every Russian
hospital at the front—Sobinoff's comrades, as
they lie on their weary couches, listen to the in-
spiriting song that delighted yesterday's audi-
ence.
"Sobinoff received £2,000 for singing to our rep-
resentative," again interjected the matter-of-fact
operator. He further explained that 12,000 talk-
ing machine records and hundreds of machines
have been sent out to the Japanese and Russian
hospitals in war-swept Manchuria.
"The Japanese wounded," he added, "love to
hear the next piece, and dream of home and con-
quest."
And the magic-working machine began to emit
a slow, measured, and rather mournful tune, in
which brazen instruments droned and drums
thundered. It was the Japanese national an-
them, performed by a skilful band of Geishas in
Tokio.
A violent and vigorous war song by the Mi-
kado's leading tenor was not quite so much ap-
preciated by his London audience.
"It sounds as if he were having high words
with female relatives," was the appropriate simile
of a listener.
PREACHING FUNERAL SERMONS.
The preaching of funeral sermons through the
talking machine is now becoming an established
custom in all parts of the country. It is now the
fashion for those gentlemen who wish to immor-
talize themselves to say their final farewells into
the talking machine and have the message pre-
served, and after death heard by relatives and
friends.
B. F. Goodsell, of Ashmond, Erie County, O. r
has taken this step, believing that no one can
speak better of him than himself. With this
idea he wrote an address which contains his
views upon many topics, as well as a final mes-
sage to his friends, and is now ready for the final
call whenever it may come.
This seems to be robbing death of much of its
horrors. Anyway, it is becoming the fashion,
and it is hard to offset that.