Vocal Group Research Articles

General discussion

At the appropriate times during this symposium we have left this hall and descended the stairs to take on the common human role of consumers of food and drink. Here in this hall we have spoken of the consumer as if he were not present. Much has been said about educating him. Reference has been made to the very vocal groups claiming, under the guise of consumerism or popular journalism, to speak for him. Some are concerned to surround him with legislation, ostensibly for his own good. Too little has been said about observing him, although observation is the beginning of science. At tea just now many of us could be seen enjoying artificially coloured, artificially flavoured, iced cakes - full of empty calories - and a few, including myself, smoked cigarettes.

Industry, brickbats, and critics

Industry in this country has come under attack before, but probably never before has there been such a concerted and multipronged assault as we are witnessing now—nor probably have the arguments, charges, and issues been quite so basic or emotionally charged. Thus we have Ralph Nader taking on the previously almost untouchable automobile industry, kicking off his campaign with the book provocatively titled Unsafe at any Speed. We have Dr. Barry Commoner shaking the house that pesticides built. We have Dr. George Wald almost seeming to use a scattergun approach as he peppers the landscape with a variety of causes. And throughout the country, we have vocal groups pleading their cases—good, bad, and indifferent. Are we really all that bad? We don't think so. Step back and look at the overall record and it's really quite good by just about any standard. Milton Friedman in the Sept. 29 issue of Newsweek ticks off a number ...

Tax Burden of the Oil and Gas Industry

Tax Burden of the Oil and Gas Industry

The Effectiveness of the Controlled Reader in Developing Reading Rate, Comprehension and Vocabulary as Opposed to the Regular Method of Teaching Reading

SCHOOLS ARE constantly criticizedfor doing an inadequate job of teaching reading. Because of this persistent criticism by vocal groups, a number of teachers and administrators are inclined to respond to this pressure by making changes on the basis of claims made by maunfacturers, salesmen or pos sibly persons within the locality who have a vested interest in the technological device or new media. For this reason, effectiveness of new methods o r techniques of teaching reading, as determined by independent, unbiased research, is essential before the adoption of reading devices involving consider able expense to school districts. Few school dis tricts can afford the luxury of costly experimenta tion.

Aspects in Church–State Relations in Puerto Rico, 1898–1900

In 1898 the United States fought Spain, terminating her colonial empire in the Americas and in the Pacific. With this conquest came problems for the United States in Cuba, the Philippines, and Puerto Rico. From October 18, 1898, to May 1, 1900, United States military governments controlled the island of Puerto Rico; and on April 12, 1900 the President of the United States approved the organic act (Foraker Act) which Congress had passed as the first civil government for Puerto Rico. The study of Church-state relations in this period is an interesting one, since it represents the conflict of two widely different conćepts: a residue of Spanish patronage which fostered the Church and its schools while confining the activity of the Church because of paternalism, anti-clericalism and a trend toward the philosophy of positivism; and Yankee-Americanism that was dominantly Protestant and wedded to the proposition that the Church must be separated from the state. It was a rugged wrenching that brought the Puerto Rican Church from a position of dependency to that of autonomy and self-support. The Church, moreover, had to engage in a political and legal fight for the retention of such properties as schools, churches, and cemeteries. Into the fray came such interested competitors as a United States Commission sent by President McKinley to report on the conditions in Puerto Rico, a small but vocal group of anti-clerical Puerto Ricans, three military governments, and the first civil governors.

Quiet and Vocal Groups

Quiet and Vocal Groups

Wanted: Angry young people in education

A very few years ago there was a vaguely defined literary movement in England and to a lesser extent in the United States composed of young men eager to destroy time-worn literary ideals and techniques. This group, noted for the verve of its argument and the stark realism of its prose and poetry, was dubbed Angry Young Men. These iconoclastic young men were condemned by some as being zealots within a definable goal and certainly at times appeared to rebel for the sake of rebelling. However, neither the validity of their cause nor the effectiveness of their techniques are relevant to the topic here. But the need for a vocal group of persons unshackled by traditional prejudices willing and able to fight for the integrity of their profession is relevant. Young people in education today can look forward to decades of unprecedented professional opportunities. In realizing that the rest of the world is not all a jungle and that no one people have a corner on intelligence, Americans are feeling for the first time a tinge of inadequacy. Public awareness, which is of necessity the key to institutional change, has been aroused; and the issues in education have been described copiously, if not always objectively, through all available mass media. Scholarly debates on educational problems have been aired on radio and television, news of school happenings has been competing with crime for space in the daily newspapers, and even sophisticated literary journals, which hitherto scorned such mundane writings, have begun to review books on education. The total result of this unusual interest in education has been, unfortunately, to confuse the American public and to create a feeling of uneasiness regarding the capabilities of America's teachers.

EDUCATION DUE FOR A NEW LOOK

NEWSPAPERS, MAGAZINES, RADIO, AND TV are currently devoting a great deal of space or time to various phases of education in the U. S. The lack of adequate instruction in the physical sciences, mathematics, and languages in many high schools is being emphasized to the point where no thinking citizen can remain uninformed about the tragic situation. A study of curricula in high schools in the United States and those in the U.S.S.R., England, and western Europe shows that our high school training compares unfavorably in some important areas. This is shocking to most Americans. In striving to make our education universal, we frequently achieve mediocrity. In many communities the really talented student is being stymied. The public, especially the parents of bright children, is suddenly disturbed and demanding correction of these conditions. The small but highly vocal group in the educational field which has been insisting for years that it alone knows what is ...

ARE WE LOSING OUT IN NUCLEAR POWER?

Subdivision of Nuclear Technology Formed by ACS Division of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry CONTROVERSY and strong difference of opinion on most topics are part and parcel of the Washington political scene. The question of whether the United States is losing its commanding position in the development of nuclear power is no exception. Among those who know the facts, there are opposing points of view including, according to newspaper comments, those of members of the Atomic Energy Commission. With experts in disagreement, is it any wonder that the public is confused and disturbed One vocal group insists that the U. S. is falling behind quite rapidly in the international atomic power race and that the Soviets and nations which the Soviets are aiding are outstripping us. Lewis L. Strauss, AEC Chairman, speaking recently at commencement exercises at the Carnegie Institute of Technology, criticized proposals that the Government finance major atomic power plants. He strongly objects to ...

The Effect of Domestic Policy on the Southern Agricultural Problem

Domestic policy in relation to agriculture is not a recent phenomenon. Even during the era of free land farmers were interested in legislation which affected its settlement and also in peace treaties and other measures by which the land area was increased. According to Edwards:2 The struggle to shape national policy with a view to protecting and furthering agricultural interests began with the formation of our Federal system. In the vote on Constitutional ratification, the more distinctly rural sections, representing the debtor class, opposed prohibition of State power to issue paper money, and questioned the 'sanctification' of contracts. Once launched, the Federal Government, in response to threats of secession from Southwestern farmers, was almost immediately obliged to negotiate with Spain for the use of the lower Mississippi River and for deposit rights at New Orleans. In domestic policy, the agrarians broke with the Federalist Party on Hamilton's measures, which were designed, as it seemed, to subordinate the interests of a population 95 per cent agricultural to the paramount control of an oligarchy of traders, bankers, and speculators. Under the lead of Southern planters, notably Jefferson and Madison, the agrarians formed the DemocraticRepublican, later known as the Democratic, Party and gained political control in the Presidential election of 1800. Thus began a theme of national policy for the aid, or benefit, or relief of agriculture which has grown in breadth and complexity to the present. Always the basis has been some real, or imagined, difficulty of the industry which loud and vocal groups, often a small minority but which spoke as the leaders of the mass of farmers, used to bring political pressure on the Congress for action. Over the years since the founding of the nation agricultural policy has grown from a thin thread of agricultural information into a thick, twisted rope of close production controls, price supports, and manifold measures to expand demands; and the end is not in sight of this growth in breadth and complexity. But fortunately more attention than ever before is being given to the dependence of agriculture on a high level of economic activity and full employment, in which the problems peculiar to agriculture are being solved, it is hoped, along with the problems of the entire economy, the whole of which agriculture is a part. In examining the effects of domestic policy3 on the South's agricultural prob-

Some Thoughts on Conducting

“THIS ARTICLE,” says the author, “is primarily intended for choral conductors. It hopes to say in brief that conducting of vocal groups fundamentally should be along musical lines, and only incidentally along vocal lines.” Mr. King, in addressing choral conductors, realizes that “experienced conductors, his seniors in the field” will feel that the article is elementary in approach; nevertheless he covets participation of all who conduct choral groups in a frank and honest discussion of the various factors, elementary and otherwise, which contribute to musical conducting. “It is my thesis,” says Mr. King, “that one's conducting should be understandable by any choral group, and by instrumentalists as well. We have too many conductors whose sign language can be understood only by their own singers—and then only after a considerable familiarity with the signs has been established.”

Nine Letters from Émile Zola to Frans Netscher

Few periods have been more important in the history of Dutch art and letters than the decade between 1880 and 1890. Those years saw the rise of the painters of the “Hague school”—Josef Israëls, Blommers, the Maris brothers—and a reorientation of Dutch art toward the realism of the masters of the seventeenth century. A literary renaissance of some importance accompanied this artistic revolution. Dutch authors turned more and more from the insipid idealism of earlier days toward a new realism, strongly reminiscent of that prevailing in France. Balzac, Flaubert, Maupassant, the Goncourt brothers, Zola—these were the idols of the new school. The naturalistic doctrines of Zola carried an especial appeal to the young critics and novelists, and a small but vocal group of imitators carried his banner in Holland during the years 1880–90.

The Microphone and the Chorus

DOUBTLESS many people have wondered why the majority of radio programs are given over to instrumental groups such as symphony orchestras, bands, and smaller ensembles rather than to vocal groups. The question then arises, Why do we not hear over the radio more vocal performances by the fine oratorio societies, a cappella choirs, and glee clubs of which the country can so rightfully be proud? It will of course be inferred that for quality in performance choral groups are not as good as instrumental groups, hence radio's seeming preference for instrumental groups. It is my purpose to discuss the reasons why instrumental ensembles are, for broadcasting purposes, superior to vocal ensembles. From observation, I have found that there are two reasons why this is true: (1) Radio operators have not perfected their technique in broadcasting choral music, and (2) choral performance itself is inferior in tone quality, intonation, and dynamics-three major elements that have a marked effect on the microphone. Sometime ago I listened to a broadcast by a college a cappella choir from a station that would rank with the best in the United States. The selection was the Song of the Volga Boatmen. Instead of the light, in-thedistance effect of the opening measures, there was considerable volume and the tone was badly distorted. The volume increased as the song progressed and at the peak, the quality and clarity left little to be desired. But, toward the close, when the singing should have faded away in the distance, it took on the same volume and bad quality noted at the beginning. Altogether the radio reproduction of a very good piece of singing was most unsatisfactory. In looking for the explanation, it was quite obvious that the operator responsible for monitoring the broadcast was either ignorant or inexperienced. He evidently was trying to the volume indicator register evenly throughout, and, in so doing, destroyed the shading--one of the major musical values of this particular selection. The operator who monitors a broadcast by twisting a little dial can make or break a performance. He should be a musician or, failing this, he should at least possess musical sense. Having this, he will not do the ridiculous thing just recounted, nor others equally bad but not so obvious. Even with this factor taken care of adequately, there still remains the matter of how much sound and what kind shall go into the microphone. The proper placing of the microphone for a broadcast is, of course, the responsibility of the radio station. It should be placed so that the various parts of the choir are in balance. One of the worst faults often observed in the broadcast of choral performances is the overpowering tendency of the soprano section in mixed choruses. Here again the station operator is supposed to function. Nowadays, the choral director can check up on the proper placing of the microphone by use of a sound recorder. By means of auditing through the public address system, which is part of any reputable recorder, the best arrangement can quickly be determined by experimenting during rehearsal. Once determined, the most satisfactory arrangement should be charted and always used. As a rule, soprano voices should be placed much farther from the microphone than the male voices. If the sopranos cannot conveniently be placed farther away, they may be placed at either end of the usual semi-circular grouping rather than directly in front of the microphone, and their tendency to preponderance will thus be avoided. The practice of using more than one microphone has not come within my experience, and, in my opinion, such a practice seems neither wise nor necessary. It is likely that vocal broadcasts are more often ruined than helped by the use of more than one microphone because of the difficulties involved in mixing the various pick-ups. After all, a person who sits in a favored location hears perfectly a musical performance with one pair of ears. It is therefore reasonable to assume that a single microphone as favorably placed will register the same desired balance.