ENGINEERED BY SOUND

Chronicle (Levin), 27 April 1946, Page 7

ENGINEERED BY SOUND

With the release of Columbia's first Australian production titled | "Smithy" coming closer weekly, great interest is being taken in the I method use'd for recording the | sound track. Clive Cross, who is in | charge of sound reproduction for the Columbia fil%, finds his job 1 fascinating, as well as remunera- ; tive. After a trip abroad Clive rei turnecl home convinced that he j could duplicate the most advanced ' ! overseas equipment. After plenty of j research and midnight pil, he suc- | ceedecl and "Smithy" is benefiting , by the result. The new microphones i are equal to the latest types in Eng- | land and America, and are geared ! to pick up the smallest sound. Vol- ! ume can be controlled, as can the i quality and timbre of voices. Colds i are the main problem, especially on l a draughty sound stage. By twiddling a lot of dials, he can nearly match the voice level previously recorded by an actor — but the , nasal congestion ' caused by 'flu eludes him. Sound engineers can jmake or break any star — if they j feel inclined — so it's just as "well | that Clive has a friendly nature and is well liked. Voices can differ ! from daj to day in tone and range, ■ (which adds just another complication to his life. Women, as a rule, [ have a much higher range, but they ! also vary the tone a great deal. Something not generally known is that Australia was well in tne forefront of sound recording when it was still in its infancy. Jiist two years after the first sound film ,knocked. Hollywood cold', Australia was' producing its own talking pictures.. . ?