The NBC Chimes Machine (1999) | Hacker News Reader

The NBC Chimes Machine (1999)

theradiohistorian.org

62 pointstintinnabula14 comments

Open articleView on HN

A restored machine in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7M4SnhIhgOc

huh...so it's an electronic Mbira/Kalimba/Thumb Piano/Music box.

I would have thought it was a hammer hitting vibraphone bars.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mbira

Right. But thinking electronically the vibrating capacitor is easier to turn into an audio signal.

How they sounded: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rP6Z86iDFjU

There was a 4 chime variation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NBC_chimes#The_%22fourth_chime...

On D-Day in World War II: "At 2:30 a.m. the network was put on 'flash' basis; the NBC four-chime-alert calling all newsmen and commentators to their microphones, key operating personnel to their stations, sounded from the newsroom control room"

The fourth chime and NBC Radio's announcement of D-Day are here: http://www.nbcchimes.info/nbcsounds.php

Unrelated, but I noticed the anchor said Allied as "a-LIED" instead of "AL-lied" I'd typically hear today. I wonder if that was the typical pronunciation back then?

Edit: it appears the pronunciation in the UK is the same one used in the audio, according to https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/allied.

I'd hazard a guess this means the US pronunciation has evolved over time

Given the date and the pronunciation "a-LIED", this sounds like the Mid-Atlantic accent, an invented accent that was taught in acting and preparatory schools in those days.

Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn were among the best-known practitioners of this accent. It was very common in movies and newscasts back then.

In the NBC Chimes Museum article, the announcer in the first audio clip under "1944 the fourth chime" is another good example of the Mid-Atlantic accent.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-Atlantic_accent

https://www.google.com/search?q=mid-atlantic+accent

Speaking of US non-rhotic accents, I was amused[1] to learn that the admonishment to

    Use Yah Blinkah

has recently been joined by

    Stay Wicked Fah Apaht

Bonus quinzy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7g3RuoreRc

[1] which explains why I am also a fan of Mister B, who puts the RP in RaP.

> the notes of the famous NBC chimes are G-E-C, standing for the General Electric Company.

When making comments like this you should note that this is your own speculation or provide a link to support your claims.

The linked article only says:

> A seven-note sequence which was first used, G-C-F-E-G-C-E, was determined to be too complicated for the announcers to play correctly on a consistent basis. It was first simplified to G-C-F-E, and finally to just G-E-C.

my bad. i lifted quote from wikipedia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NBC_chimes#cite_ref-3

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.31210009801968&vi...

You might want to read the sentence after that quote :)

If any are still around I would love to know where they are. I hope there are a couple hiding out in attics or basements somewhere...

A decent YouTube video that goes into the history and shows a restoration of such a machine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0_WL735Ueg

The presenter does a good job of describing how it works and showing the parts inside.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com