How to add sound to amateur films (1954)

Using Gramophone Records We have noted already that the mood of a piece of music seldom follows that of a film for long. You can get over this difficulty by making your film fit a chosen record. However, this imposes limitations. It is much simpler to accompany the different sequences of your film with suitable excerpts from a variety of records. Thus you may use peaceful music to show two people walking over the hills. When they come to a rushing stream, however, you will change to something more lively. The change from one record to another necessitates a short break if only one turntable is available. When the turntable spindle is sufficiently long, some people drop the new record on top of the old one. This practice saves only a little time, however, and it is liable to scratch the records. No matter how adept you become, you are unlikely to complete a change of record in under two seconds. If you have to start the new record at a selected point, it will take a good deal longer. You must make the break in the music as inconspicuous as possible, so use the volume control to fade out one record and fade in the next. If you can fade out the first record at a cadence, a pause of several seconds will often pass unnoticed provided the record is changed without fuss. With a little practice, you will find it easy to recognise, and even anticipate, a cadence. This is the point at which the music comes to rest on its keynote, just as a hymn tune does at the end of each verse. Needle-changing is another difficulty associated with the use of a single turntable. Since there is not enough time to change a worn needle between records, you are forced to use a semi-permanent needle at least. This tends to 14