HIS MASTER'S VOICE.

Shannon News, 17 September 1929, Page 3

HIS MASTER'S VOICE.

Animals of the Zoo. Soon you will be able to hear on the gramophone most of the noises made by the animals at the Zoo. For the past two days the experiment was carried through by HIM.V. of securing these records by means of special microphones electrically conneeted ( with the recording equipment in the Gramophone Company's motor-car. It has been a job of patience as well as ingenuity, as a London Daily Herald representative found when he went to see some of the experiments. There was the .case,, for instance, of the pukka camel with two humps ( a dromedary you may not know, has only one). This camel has a baby, born in the Zoo. In order to make the mother perform it Avas necessary to take the youngster away. In a couple of minutes Mrs Camel was calling for her , young with a noise which might have ! been a moan, a groan, the synchronised buzzing of a multitude of bees, or the, sound of a distant aeroplane. At. any rate, whatever it was, the microphone faithfully recorded the sound. Getting the monkeys "to talk" was great fun. 'A couple of keepers chased each other up and down the centre of the monkey-

house for all they were worth The monkeys instantly responded with a sustained chorus of screeches and shrieks, which nearly broke the recording instrument. Most of the baboons in the Zoo are males. They could not be persuaded to "say" anything until they were shown a lady baboon. Then thev made an .awful row. "We dare not" put the female in the cage with the males," sai|d the recording official. "She would be dead in two minutes.". A 60-year-old cockatoo with an extensive vocabulary provided an amusing experience. For a long time she remained stubbornly mute, but all at once burst out with such phrases as, "Hold tight," "I want a drink of water," "How are you?" "I am very well." The rattlesnake made a noise * which sounded like an escape of ste*am. One of the most interesting recordings was that of the sea lions, which started roaring as soon as they could smell fish. While- they were being fed a man mingled among the excited crowd of spectators with a microphone under his arm. It remains to be seen whether the sqa lions or the crowd made the better record. The bears were "got" by giving them a taste of honey, and then showing them some more. The effect was painful! ' In the majority of cases. the animals answered the calls of the keepers quite promptly. There was one exception. When the "Daily Herald" man asked: "What about the giraffe?" a keeper replied, "The giraffe, sir, ain't got no vocal chords." A Minstrel Show. The old-time minstrel shows • are pleasantly revived by a new record which gives a number of the songs that twenty years ago were on everybody's lips. A chorus of male voices sings in true minstrel show style, as if they thoroughly enjoy themselves. They prove that time cannot efface these melodies of other days. Among the numbers grouped on the one disc are "Make a Lot .of Noise," "Down Where the Water Melons Grow," "Lazy Moon," "Oh, Dem Golden Slippers," "Alius the Same in Dixie," "By the Light of the Silvery Moon," "Abraham Lincoln Jones;," "Under the Bamboo Tree," "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny," and "Climbing Up the Golden Stairs." It will be noticed that grave and gay have been admirably mixed. This record is a splendid companion to the one of negro melodies made recently with the help of Paul Robeson. (H.M.V. E. 8.39). The King's Gramophone. The announcement has already been made that the King repeatedly found considerable enjoyment at Craigwell House, when the weather conditions compelled an indoor stay, in the playing of a new gramophone especially delivered, writes Robin H. Legge: in the "Daily Telegraph," London. This gramophone is the very latest "His Master's Voice" instrument, the distinguishing feature of which is that the records are not reproduced by mean s of an ordinary acoustic soundbox, but by an electric pick-up and amplifying valves which actuate an improved type of loud speaker. The. volume of "tone can be regulated so as to suit all areas in which the instrument may be called upon to play, and the reproduction is .uncommonly faithful. I am told that of the records supplied His Majesty prefers music performed by such orchestras as the London Symphony and the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra to jazz and the extreme modern musie which is prominent to-day. * Melodious Aria. Florence Austral's latest record is one that should appeal to a very wide public. She -sings—and sings finely—"Senta's Ballad" from "The Flying Dutchman," probably the.most melcd-. ious and striking number from this early opera of Wagner's, an excerpt that bear s separation from its context far better than may. It has for its companion number the delightful "Spinning Chorus" for female voices from the opera. The blend of voices and orchestra is artistically balanced, and the, reproduction up to.the best standard. : Rousing Old-Timers. Stuart Robertson, with Chorus.' H.M. V. 82992.—1 prophesy that this record will be, and deserves to be, as popular as any yet issued (states a London critic *ii/"The Gramophone"). We needn't worry very much about the sale of a few thousands of records in •a week or two—and then no more—of those maudlin, or poisonous, or both, songs which are foisted on the public as a regular trade nowadays. The phase will soon be killed as long as those riotous old favourites! are going strong. "These," by the way, aro "Clementine,"" "Solomon Levi," "There is [why "There's" on the label?] a Tavern in the Town," and "John Peel." The performance is almost ideal, and a very special feature is the exceedingly brilliant piano part. Who is responsible? If the .pianist, he or she should be given the very great credit.

"Romantic" Hymns. ducted by Arthur Meale, with crgan. Arthur L. Harris). H.M.V. 82951. One of the best cf the romantic type of hymn records; little misplaced expressiveness, and no lack of energy. "Jesu, Lover of My Soul" is the better hymn, and the better given. The other is "Eternal Father, Strong to Save." Each is sung to the familiar Dykes tune. Notable First Record. The first record by the great contralto, Sigrid Onegin, is to hand. Hers i s a voice of captivating beauty and remarkable range. Her head notes have the qualities of a soprano, and the lower register is of a lovely rich quality that

is full of expression. No more completely satisfying voice has been heard on the gramophone. Even on th 3 fullest notes there is not the slightest suspicion of heaviness, and the half-tonea and mezza voce never lose their intensity or purity. Onegin, too, realises to the full the dramatic context of the music she is singing. There is conspicuous #nerit in her recording of the Gluck's "Orfeo." The interpretation of the poignant music has none of that academic dreariness which in less imaginative performers masquerades under the title of tradition. Her second number is "Ah mon fils" from Meyerbeer's "Le'Prophete." The wonderful top notes flow golden and flawless to the appointed end. If all contraltos had voices like Onegin. . . . H.M.V., DB1190).