Timaru Relay

Radio Record, Volume II, Issue 49, 21 June 1929, Page 8

Timaru Relay

---- A Musical Treat NEVER in the history of Timaru had: musicians such a large audience, or speakers such a large circle of listeners, as was the case last night, when the concert given in the Theatre Royal by the Timaru Orchestral Society was relayed to 3YA and broadcast.. The programme was transmitted by land-line to the studio of 3YA, Christchurch, and put on the air by that station. Mr. J. Ball, editor-announcer of the B.B.C., officiated at the microphone, and Mr. W. Edwards, one of the company’s technicians, made the arrangements for the relay. : A special telephone wire was arranged for between the theatre and 3YA The night was not altogether unsuitable for the relay, spasmodic bursts of static being only a slight hindrance, and on the whole the effort can be re--arded as a successful one. The items by the orchestra and the vocal numbers were heard clearly, and at good strength. Naturally reception was not so perfect as in the case of broadeast direct from a studio, but it was better than has been the case in most previous long-distance relays. During an interval a eulogy of Timaru and South Canterbury’s climatic,

seenie and industrial features was delivered by Mr. Ball, and it is safe to say that more people heard of the town and district on this occasion than ever before. \ Prior to the opening of the concert, the president of the soceity (Mr. G. H. Andrews) spoke a few words for the benefit of the far-away members of the audience. He thanked the Broadcasting Company for the enterprise they had shown in arranging for a relay line from the theatre to the transmitting station, thus permitting thousands from one end of New Zealand to the other to listen to the music. The broadcast that evening, he said, marked another mile-stone in the progress of Timaru. Many in the audience might remember the first cycle, and some the first motor-car. Then came the gramophone, and following that the excitement of the first aeroplane. ‘That evening Timaru was to have its first concert broadcast, and the effort would probably lead to a modern relay station being erected in Timaru. . There were people who said that the gramophone and the wireless lessened the interest in concerts of the type of that to be given that evening, but such

was not their experience, as the audience in the theatre that evening was the largest the society had had, and their list of subscribers and the num ber in the orchestra were also larger than ever. It was really very credi-/ table that a town the size of Timuru should have an orchestra of 53 enthusiastic members, and that the public had supported them the way they had, the’ theatre being packed to capacity. His opinion was that the gramophone and the wireless were mediums by which people could cultivate a greater appreciation of music, which otherwise they might not have been able to develop. Commander Byrd, in the Antarctic, had this week sent w radiogram stating how much his party had enjoyed the New Zealand wireless concerts, and he hoped the members of the expedition were all listening in that evening. That the audience fully enjoyed the many orchestral numbers was evidenced by the hearty and prolonged applause at the conclusion: of each item. The well-balanced orchestra of fifty musicians, under the baton of Mew. ¥. J. Hyde, played with genuine im spiration, and the full effect of the works selected, was frequently brought out in no uncertain manner. uiemenaneenshiomabantiosnemmniamnesteal $$$ -_ --"