THE ELOCUTIONIST

Radio Record, Volume I, Issue 16, 4 November 1927, Page 12

THE ELOCUTIONIST

DIFFICUL/L TO BROADCAST, If there is one word that causes & broadcasting manager’s heart to sink, it is "elocutionist." The unsuspecting individual who comes in to the studio, and offers to give a recitation on the air little knows what extremely thin ice on which he, in his ignorance of the technicalities of radio, blunders. The air still has its limitations, despite the remarkable strides which have been made, and the humble recitation is the least attractive of the hundred and. one diversities offered. When we have television this will be overcome to a very large extent, but there is still the difficulty of what is known as ‘‘frequencies" in the human voice to contend with. ‘he rise and fall of ordinary conversation is as natural as it is necessary ; without it, the monotony would be intolerable. And this is the elocutionist’s dowufall, on the air. His listeners cannot see him, and consequently the force of action is lost. He has, therefore, to obtain effect through the inflection in his yoice, and this is drastically curtailed. It takes an artist of more than ordinary abilitv to rise paramount above all these difliculties. A radio valve large enough to hofd a tall man now operates in the trans-~ mitter of the American station WJZ. ft is seven and one-half feet high, weighs 100 pounds, and has a power of 109,000 watts.