In the Wake of the Week's Broadcasts

Radio Record, 27 May 1938, Page 6

In the Wake of the

Week's Broadcasts

RECORDING WAS WELL MADE,

Good piece of recording was the NBS wux impression of the voice of Johu Flynn, in his talk on the Australian Inland Mission from 2YA lasi week, under the title "The lying Man-

tle." Had I not known it was a recorded talk, I would certainly have ‘imagined -§ that the

quiet, modest, Inipressive voice of the famous preucher who believed = in practice, was coming to my ears directly through the microphone instead of first on to a reeording. Lhe voice, although so quiet, guve a vivid picture of the growth of the mission und listeners formed a remarkable im-

pression of low the great spaces of Inland Australia were studded with Wireless beacons for the hospital ships of the air.

ST. THOMAS AQUINAS LOST THE RACE.

Dr, J. Kennedy's talk on St. Thomas Aquinas in the "Whirligig of Time" series from 8YA last Wednesday eveling was, to my mind, hardly a success. When an expert treats a subject like

this, he often seeins to think only of the serious student and forget the layman. Adinittedly, it is

difficult, but need the life and work of St. Thomas have heen treated so academically? The trouble seemed to me to be not so much with the subject mat-

ter us with the method of presentation. ‘The sentences were long and inyolyed, and were delivered in) what someone described as "the typical pulpit voice.’ But, worse than this, the speaker had over-written his subject (a common fault). One could imagine him, every now and then, catching sigbt of the studio clock and putting on speed. If the delivery was lacking in tonal contrast, it was distinctly not lacking in contrast of tempo. ‘Toward ihe close, the talk became quite an exciting race against time, A long excerpt of Latin verse was squeezed in (rather novel. this), and then--boom! went the eight o’clock chimes, and that was the last we heard of St. Thomas Aquinas, cut short in full flight.

APPEAL OF TALK DEPENDS ON THE SPEAKER.

The other Friday night a reserved session of 4YA’s programme was taken up by a talk on Sunspots by Mr. M. Geddes, director of the Aurorae and Zodiacal Light Section of the N.Z.A.S.

Hardly sounded thrilling, but once again it proved that sO much depends upon the speaker

when it comes to giving radio talks. Possessed of an excellent radio voice and a true sense of proportion in assessing relative values, Mr. Geddes gave one of the most interesting talks heard from 4YA for a long time. Technicalities were avoided wherever possible. The speaker exploded the belief that sunspots affect the weather, which must have come as a blow to those "weatherwise" ones who foretell violent changes whenever sunspots are discovered. Mr. Geddes led up to aurorae and how they were created by the influence of the sun. As the present is a period of maximum sunspot activity, aurorae are likely to be frequent for some while, and as these phenomena have a definitely adverse effect on shortwave broadcasting the speaker dampened listeners by telling them that shortwave reception was liable to interference for some time to come. *

EXPLORING ON THE SHORT WAVES.

Momentary dissatisfaction with New Zealand programmes led me to make three or four interesting discoveries on shortwave last week. ‘The first was when I switched across about 8.30 one

morning and foun myself listening to the "Voice of Republican Spain" broadcasting in

unoglish from Madrid. It was a cheerful, clear and confident voice, telling of victories against the Fascists, and, although it was obviously talking propaganda as hard as it could go, one left it with the feeling that Franco is still a long way from being master of Spain. On Saturday afternoon, being uninterested in recitals of race results, I turn- |

ed the switch and found myself in Moscow for the Wnglish session, where Commissar Molitoff (translated) was giving a glowing account of education in the U.S.S.R. for the benefit of the Soviet Congress of School ‘Teachers. Exploring again on Sunday afternoon, I arrived at America in time to hear Congressman Herman Fish, of New York, urging all good Republicans to support the Wages and Hours Bill. And so back, via Guatemala, to the more orthodox diversion of 2YA. A. little of this shortwave touring goes a long way, but it’s nice to fall back on, especially when the reception is good, as it was last week.

TOO MUCH OF A TIME COMPLEX.

4 Is it really imperative that a station should keep to the split second in presenting its programmes? Perhaps the NCBS have to be more precise than the NBS stations in keeping up to time

Where advertising contracts are in volved, but on Sunday such considerations do not matter.

as advertisements (fortunately) ‘are not put across, 4ZB apparently got a few seconds behind last Sunday, which was serious. So serious indeed, that a record to which I was listening was clipped short. No sooner had it been cut off in its dying moments, so to speak, than a man started speaking. half-way through a sentence. It was John Stannage giving the last of his radio-operator talks. No introduction. no nothing-just a hasty scamper to make up those lost seconds. A small thing, bust extremely irritating to lixteners. 3Z

CONCERT STAGE AND MICROPHONE.

It has often, quite properly, been suid that a singer, a pianist, or an instrumentalist may be a very fine performer on the concert stage, yet lack something when it comes to facing a micro-

phone. I Was inclined to think that an instance bearing out this statement was supplied = by

SYA the other night when Cynthia Herbert-Smith gave listeners a choice of Brahms. She began extremely well, but there was a recurrence in some of her work of a slight fumbling with the keys, particularly in the right hand. She played strongly and faithfully, but appeared to lack confidence. I am not aware that she has had any exiensiye experience of broadcasting, so possibly more microphone work will eliminate the fault. x

COULD HAVE BEEN MUCH BETTER.

I thought the performance of the Dunedin Glee Singers (conductor, Mr. H. P. Desmoulins), broadcast by 4YO the other Monday night, was not so good as others. Their liveliest num-

ber was the popular "Sing a Song of Sixpence," but it Was not their happiest, for there was

a prevailing tendency to get out of tune, I liked the Celtic funeral number , "Ossianie Procession,’ even though it got off to a bad stuart; the

rise and fall of volume were well maintained. Of special interest wus. "The Shepherdess," Dr. Galway’s musical interpretation of Alice Meynell’s poem. Dr, Galway, Dunedin's city organist, wrote the music specially for Alfred Walmsley’s Madrigal Club. It has now been published by the Oxford University Press, and, inspired by the Madrigal Club’s success. the Glee Singers attempted it, with satisfactory results. It is a slow number, with coutrasting pace in the body. If anything, the Singers were inclined to over-accentuate the more rapid muovcment.

worms UP ] THE SKY.

rN After hauling a microphone and sundry other pieces of radio gear up the spiral stone steps of the Christehurch . Cathedral tower the other night, to let 38ZB listeners know something more

about the Cuthedral bells than their mere sound, Ian MacKay went through a very ub-

happy quarter of an hour. Virst of all, under the direction of the bell-master, Mr. G, Claydon, he tried his hand at ringing and, through not letting the rope of the big bell slip through his fingers at the right time, he shot, with all his 14 stone, 12ft. into the air. Sw far so bad. Then came a ladder-climb up to the balconies. One hand was on the rope and the other held the microphone, and an electric torch was tucked under one arm. All the bells in the tower were rung and the swaying of the whole of the upper works wag not very pleasant for the man from the earthquake district of New Zealand. MacKay carried off the relay. very well, however. He told listeners that if they heard a strange thumping sound coming through their sets, it would undoubtedly be the rapid beating of his heart, as the stone work on which he was standing moved and creaked. But it's not so bad as it sounds, for all stone towers carrying heavy bells are so construeted that they "give" with the swing of the bells, And so the cathedral tower, passed scores of times a day by many thousands of people, took on quite a different angle as 3ZB presented it, per microphone.

GEORGE EDWARDS WAS DISAPPOINTING.

My first bearing of a George Edwards production came to me last week through courtesy of 2YD. It was called "IXnights of the Round Table--Tris-tran and Iseult,’" and was the ¢C-ama-

tised version in 10 minutes of the great love stories of the ages, ranking with Antony and

Cleopatra. Aucassin and Nicolette, and the late King and Mrs, Simpson, Frankly. however, as George E@wards produeed it, the story left me extremely cold. Most of it was in the Elizabeth "s’death and odds-bodkins" style, the tale had no subtlety, and was merely bald narrative, and the sentiments expressed by the chief actors were so banal as to be boring. This, of course, was not the fault of 2YD. which is rapidly winning a wide public as 4a station with the brightness of the commer¢eials without the tedium of advertisements.