HOW TO ENTERTAIN WITH RADIO

Radio Record, Volume I, Issue 11, 30 September 1927, Page 3

HOW TO ENTERTAIN WITH RADIO

THE POINT OF VIEW OF THE GUESTS Are you pleasing yourself or pleasing your guests? That is the fundamental question every host giving radio entertainment must ask himself. Inevitably the host is torn between two desires-first, to "‘show off" and demonstrate how many stations he can catch, and secondly, to give his guests a pleasant evening. How best can he do the latter in manipulating his set? By switching wildly through the night, or sittmg pat and quiet? Read what "Switch" thinks.

Probably in hundreds of New Zealand homes nightly the same scene is being enacted. The host sits at the receiving set and proceeds to treat his visitors to music or speech mysteriously inveigled gfrom the outer darkness. With the turn of his dials he produces music or speech from the joudspeaker from near or far It is the host’s chief desire to please his guests, but an unseen conflict rises between the duty to entertain and the desire to "‘show off" what his set can do. If he has a set capable of reaching out from station to station, he invariably commences a series of jumps through the ether. , UNNATURAL CONTRASTS. What is the natural result? His guests are inflicted with a weird medley of a disjointed character which defies even the most skilful arranger of musical "switches" to emulate, ‘To the average mortal who has a liking for music, this poewildering exposition soon becomes a positive infliction, but to the cultured lover of music the effect is utterly appalling. For example, the guests sit rapt. in pleasure listening to the vocal number, "When Shadows Gather,’? but before four or five bars have issued from the 1loudspeaker there is a gurgle, and in a twinkle a jazz orchestra is pounding out "Ain’t She Sweet?" Before the ffaests have time to recover from the shock they are switched on to a tenor who is in the middle of "The Link Divine.’ He is not permitted to proceed far, however, but has to give place to a brass band "lifting tl 2 roof’’ with "Star of Hope." But the triumph of the band is short-lived, for in a trice the scene is changed again, atid the solemn tones of a mighty organ are threading through a Beethoven "Andante" murmur alluringly from the loudspeaker. But the host is not to be denied, and he swings his audience back to the jazz band and "Gimme a Little Kiss, Will Ya, Huh?" A homeopathic dose of the snorting and shrieking of a saxophone, and the listeners are introduced to Professor Blank in the middle of a discourse on ‘"[he Hinstein ‘Theory.’’ His learned disquisition survives only half a minute, and then comes a fragment of a weather forecast. The climatic conditions to’ come are sufficient unto the day thereof, and the host recklessly obliterates the meteorologist’s prognostications, and gives his guests a nibble at a piano virtuoso’s conception of Chopin’s "Waltz in A Flat," which is followed by a slice of ‘‘There Ain’t No Maybe in My Babv’s Eyes,’"’ blatantly asserted by a nasal-voiced tenor and endorsed by a jazz band from a distant Australian station, or quite likely, on the other hand, invitingly played by a first-class combination of talent. Possilly some of the guests feel their fect tingling to the alluring beat of the music, for many of us relish the tripping lilt of ultra-modern dance music, but~ this pleasure is short-lived, for the host Whisks his guests into the middle of Handel’s "Largo" played by a ’cellist. OUTCOME OF A MAD FANDANGO. And so the thing goes on without a respite until at length the guests, with their musical sense shocked and bewildered, declare it is time to depart, ‘The tenets of good form have prevented them from expostulating against their host’s mad fandango through the air, but they go away with a feeling of disappointment, and regret. The host closes down with the self-satisfied air of a man who has treated his visitors in regal style. But, what a farce the whole affair has been! And it could have been avoided by just a little thoughtfulness and common sense. The mau in the street is quite aware that the wizardry of radio permits the owner of a good receiving set to pass from one station to another. He is not averse to this changing over, either, but lic does not relish his entertainment being served up in disjointed fragments. If the host is iuclined to chauge from one station to another, by all means he can do so without shocking his audience by switching in and out in the middle of the broadcast items and producing an incongruity more like a phantasmagorial nightmare than an entertainment which could be thoroughly enjoyable and satisfying. ORGANISE THE PROGRAMME. if his guests relish the lively music of a jazz band in‘preference to higher class music he should let them hear it. this brings one to another aspect of entertaining by radio. It is a simple duty of the host to cater for the tastes of his guests, if he is desirous of pleasing them. When he possesses a set that is capable of affording a variety of programmes from various stations from which to select his itenis, there is no difficulty in comPiying with the tastes of his guests. The programmes of the various stations appear in the Press, and by stulying these he is able to compile an entertainment that will afford the maximim of pleasure to his visitors, Even

in a small gathering there are likely to be widely varying tastes, and by judicious selection the individual desires can be catered for. in due proportion. There are many people who would prefer to listen to only one station which is being received well, and are agreeable to hearing some items that are not in accordance with their taste, in preference to being switched over to another station in pursuit of a more welcome item which is spoilt through unavoidable static, fading, and distortion. Much should be left to the host’s own common sense or experience in such cases if he is prepared to exercise it, but thoughtlessness in this respect spoils what could be a completely enjoyable night for a party of guesta. Excessive volume is another and rather frequent blight upon entertainment by radio. Far too frequently the proud host cannot resist a ten-

dency to demonstrate the power of his set, Scarcely anything could be more unpleasant to the musical sense than the distorted tumult created by the overloading of a set with the inusic~of a band or orchestra. An essential, next to correct pitch in musical expression, is tonal quality. It is not sufficient for an artist to paint a landscape true to proportion and perspective; the correct colouring is an indispensable corollary. ‘Tone and expression are the colouring of music. Neither can be obtained when the valves of a radio set are overloaded. Faithful definition of light and shade is impossible when the volume is excessive. If a broadcast station is close at hand, it is most desirable to keep the volume down to that point where the tone becomes natural. Isven faithful reproduction, if with tremendous yolume, in an ordinary room, is objectionalble to all tastes. It is nerveracking, atid produces quite an opposite effect to what music naturally causes. Ifow, then, can our guests enjoy their radio evening under such circumstances? It is the happy imedium which radio entertainers should strive for, and an abiding consideration for the pleasure of one’s guests would preclude stentorian reproduction from the loudspeaker. The good name of radio lies at the disposal of all owners of receiving sets, and this trust should be faithfully honoured. How can anyone who is unacquainted with radio be favourably impressed with it when lis host persists in the pursuit of a far-distant Station on a night when the ether is full of static? Beginners and veterans are equally hateful of static, and yet many a tadio host. racks the feelings of his guests by long-distance reception on a bad static night. It is no pleasure to the listeners to have their ears assailed with an atmospheric bombardment, no credit to the operator of the set for permitting this objectionable racket to upset his guests, and it gives radio an undeservedly bad name. If static is so intense that it is likely to seriously spoil reception, it would be far better to close down thie set for the night, and to arrange for another eyening’s entertainment if practicable,