Editing Golden Age of Radio (section)

==History of professional radio recordings in the United States==

===Radio stations===
Despite a general ban on use of recordings on broadcasts by radio networks through the late 1940s, "reference recordings" on phonograph disc were made of many programs as they were being broadcast, for review by the sponsor and for the network's own archival purposes. With the development of high-fidelity magnetic wire and tape recording in the years following World War II, the networks became more open to airing recorded programs and the prerecording of shows became more common.

Local stations, however, had always been free to use recordings and sometimes made substantial use of prerecorded [[radio syndication|syndicated]] programs distributed on pressed (as opposed to individually recorded) [[transcription discs]].

Recording was done using a [[Disc cutting lathe|cutting lathe]] and [[acetate disc]]s. Programs were normally recorded at 33{{fraction|1|3}} [[Revolutions per minute|rpm]] on 16-inch discs, the standard format used for such "[[transcription disc|electrical transcriptions]]" from the early 1930s through the 1950s. Sometimes, the groove was cut starting at the inside of the disc and running to the outside. This was useful when the program to be recorded was longer than 15 minutes so required more than one disc side. By recording the first side outside in, the second inside out, and so on, the sound quality at the disc change-over points would match and result in a more seamless playback. An inside start also had the advantage that the thread of material cut from the disc's surface, which had to be kept out of the path of the cutting stylus, was naturally thrown toward the center of the disc so was automatically out of the way. When cutting an outside start disc, a brush could be used to keep it out of the way by sweeping it toward the middle of the disc. Well-equipped recording lathes used the vacuum from a water aspirator to pick it up as it was cut and deposit it in a water-filled bottle. In addition to convenience, this served a safety purpose, as the cellulose nitrate thread was highly flammable and a loose accumulation of it combusted violently if ignited.

Most recordings of radio broadcasts were made at a [[radio network]]'s studios, or at the facilities of a network-owned or [[Network affiliate|affiliate]]d station, which might have four or more lathes. A small local station often had none. Two lathes were required to capture a program longer than 15 minutes without losing parts of it while discs were flipped over or changed, along with a trained technician to operate them and monitor the recording while it was being made. However, some surviving recordings were produced by local stations.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://southernspaces.org/2008/tennessee-jamboree-local-radio-barn-dance-and-cultural-life-appalachian-east-tennessee|title=The Tennessee Jamboree: Local Radio, the Barn Dance, and Cultural Life in Appalachian East Tennessee|first=Hanson|last=Bradley|date=30 March 2018|website=southernspaces.org|volume=2008|access-date=30 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180415094527/https://southernspaces.org/2008/tennessee-jamboree-local-radio-barn-dance-and-cultural-life-appalachian-east-tennessee|archive-date=15 April 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bostonradio.org/faq.html |title=Frequently-Asked Questions |access-date=2007-05-16 |work=The Archives@BostonRadio.org |author=Fybush, Scott |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070419153548/http://www.bostonradio.org/faq.html |archive-date=2007-04-19 |url-status=live }}</ref>

When a substantial number of copies of an electrical transcription were required, as for the distribution of a syndicated program, they were produced by the same process used to make ordinary records. A master recording was cut, then electroplated to produce a stamper from which pressings in vinyl (or, in the case of transcription discs pressed before about 1935, shellac) were molded in a record press.

===Armed Forces Radio Service===
{{Main|American Forces Network#History}}
[[File:Sinatra Radio.gif|thumb|300px|right|[[Frank Sinatra]] and [[Alida Valli]] converse over Armed Forces Radio Service during World War II.]]
The Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS) had its origins in the U.S. [[United States Department of War|War Department]]'s quest to improve troop morale. This quest began with short-wave broadcasts of educational and information programs to troops in 1940. In 1941, the War Department began issuing "Buddy Kits" (B-Kits) to departing troops, which consisted of radios, 78 rpm records and electrical transcription discs of radio shows. However, with the entrance of the United States into World War II, the War Department decided that it needed to improve the quality and quantity of its offerings.

This began with the broadcasting of its own original variety programs. ''[[Command Performance (radio series)|Command Performance]]'' was the first of these, produced for the first time on March 1, 1942. On May 26, 1942, the Armed Forces Radio Service was formally established. Originally, its programming comprised network radio shows with the commercials removed. However, it soon began producing original programming, such as ''[[Mail Call (radio program)|Mail Call]]'', ''G.I. Journal'', ''Jubilee'' and ''[[GI Jive]]''. At its peak in 1945, the Service produced around 20 hours of original programming each week.

From 1943 until 1949 the AFRS also broadcast programs developed through the collaborative efforts of the [[Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs]] and the [[Columbia Broadcasting System]] in support of America's [[cultural diplomacy]] initiatives and President Franklin Roosevelt's [[Good Neighbor policy]]. Included among the popular shows was ''[[Viva America]]'' which showcased leading musical artists from both North and South America for the entertainment of America's troops. Included among the regular performers were: [[Alfredo Antonini]], [[Juan Arvizu]], [[Nestor Mesta Chayres]], [[Kate Smith]],<ref>[https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/left-to-right-actor-pat-obrien-and-cbs-radio-singer-kate-news-photo/905998976?adppopup=true Photograph of actor Pat O'Brien and singer Kate Smith on the Viva America program for CBS Radio on Getty Images.com]</ref>  and [[John Serry Sr.]]<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=L3WyZ9A4_XEC&q=VIva+America&pg=PA198 ''The Directory of the Armed Forces Radio Service Series'' Mackenzie, Harry. Greenwood Publishing Group, Westport CT, 1999 p. 21] {{ISBN|0-313-30812-8}}<span>  Viva America on books.google.com</span></ref><ref>Media Sound & Culture in Latin America. Editors: Bronfman, Alejanda & Wood, Andrew Grant. University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, PA, 2012, p. 49 {{ISBN|978-0-8229-6187-1}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=ehN4sM0Xy_UC&dq=Alfredo+Antonini+Elsa+Miranda&pg=PA49 books.google.com See p. 49]</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Anthony|first=Edwin D.|title=Records of the Office of Inter-American Affairs|volume=Inventory of Record Group 229|publisher=National Archives and Record Services – General Services Administration|location=Washington D.C.|year=1973|pages=25–26|lccn=73-600146 <!-- dead -->|chapter-url=https://www.archives.gov/files/research/foreign-policy/related-records/rg-229-inter-american-affairs.pdf#page=33|chapter=Records of the Radio Division}}</ref>

After the war, the AFRS continued providing programming to troops in Europe. During the 1950s and early 1960s it presented performances by the Army's only symphonic orchestra ensemble—the [[Seventh Army Symphony Orchestra]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=L3WyZ9A4_XEC&dq=Seventh+Army+Symphony+Orchestra&pg=PA198 ''The Directory of the Armed Forces Radio Service Series''] Harry MacKenzie, Greeenwood Press, CT. 1999, p. 198  {{ISBN|0-313-30812-8}} "Seventh Army Symphony on Armed Forces Radio in 1961 performing works by Vivaldi and Dvorak" via – Google Books</ref>
It also provided programming for future wars that the United States was involved in. It survives today as a component of the [[American Forces Network]] (AFN).

All of the shows aired by the AFRS during the Golden Age were recorded as electrical transcription discs, vinyl copies of which were shipped to stations overseas to be broadcast to the troops. People in the United States rarely ever heard programming from the AFRS,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://community.mcckc.edu/crosby/AFRS.htm |title=Armed Forces Radio Services broadcasts |access-date=2007-05-16 |work=Bing Crosby Internet Museum |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070221191200/http://community.mcckc.edu/crosby/AFRS.htm <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 2007-02-21}}</ref> though AFRS recordings of Golden Age network shows were occasionally broadcast on some domestic stations beginning in the 1950s.

In some cases, the AFRS disc is the only surviving recording of a program.

===Home radio recordings in the United States===
There was some home recording of radio broadcasts in the 1930s and 1940s. Examples from as early as 1930 have been documented. During these years, home recordings were made with disc recorders, most of which were only capable of storing about four minutes of a radio program on each side of a twelve-inch [[78 rpm]] record. Most home recordings were made on even shorter-playing ten-inch or smaller discs. Some home disc recorders offered the option of the [[LP record|33{{fraction|1|3}} rpm]] speed used for electrical transcriptions, allowing a recording more than twice as long to be made, although with reduced audio quality. Office dictation equipment was sometimes pressed into service for making recordings of radio broadcasts, but the audio quality of these devices was poor and the resulting recordings were in odd formats that had to be played back on similar equipment. Due to the expense of recorders and the limitations of the recording media, home recording of broadcasts was not common during this period and it was usually limited to brief excerpts.

The lack of suitable home recording equipment was somewhat relieved in 1947 with the availability of [[wire recording|magnetic wire recorders]] for domestic use. These were capable of recording an hour-long broadcast on a single small spool of wire, and if a high-quality radio's audio output was recorded directly, rather than by holding a microphone up to its speaker, the recorded sound quality was very good. However, because the wire cost money and, like [[magnetic tape]], could be repeatedly re-used to make new recordings, only a few complete broadcasts appear to have survived on this medium. In fact, there was little home recording of complete radio programs until the early 1950s, when increasingly affordable reel-to-reel tape recorders for home use were introduced to the market.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://audiolabo.free.fr/revue1999/content/History_tape.htm|title=The History of Magnetic Tape|website=audiolabo.free.fr|access-date=30 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720220508/http://audiolabo.free.fr/revue1999/content/History_tape.htm|archive-date=20 July 2011|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=UnivMemphis>{{cite web |url=https://umdrive.memphis.edu/mbensman/public/collectingarticle.html |title=A History of Radio Program Collecting |access-date=2007-05-18 |author=Bensman, Marvin R. |work=Radio Archive of the University of Memphis |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100618065554/https://umdrive.memphis.edu/mbensman/public/collectingarticle.html |archive-date=2010-06-18 |url-status=dead }}</ref>