International projectionist (Jan 1963-June 1965)

Theatre Sound • • • Updating the Disc Reproducer By ROBERT A. MITCHELL Projectionists are no strangers to the use of phonograph records for overture and intermission music in the theatre. The projectionist not only plays the records on a turntable in the projection room, but is usually responsible for selecting the appropriate musical Single groove of constant depth. MONAURAL Doubly modulated. ne signal on each side) STEREOPHONIC FIG. 1 — An ordinary phonograph record (monaural) has a constant-depth groove that varies from side to side in accordance with the recorded sound vibrations. There is thus only one sound signal in the groove. A stereophonic record, on the other hand, carries one signal on one wall, of the groove and the other signal on the other wall, the two sets of variations being separated by an angle of 90 degrees. The combination of two channels of sound causes the depth as well as the lateral position of the groove to vary. 6 numbers to use with each film program that comes along. Recorded music is admittedly "canned," and hence lacking in the "immediacy" of live musicians performing in the orchestra pit, but it should be remembered that the motion-picture is itself canned entertainment in the sense that it has been pre-recorded and worked up into a finished product before being presented to the public. There is thus no disparity in character between the recorded music played before the motion-picture presentations, or during intermissions, and the audiovisual entertainment on the screen. The advantages of recorded music are its ready availability in the widest possible variety, its offerings of music played by accomplished artists employing the finest instrumental means, and its technical excellence when reproduced by suitable equipment through modern theatre sound systems. And compared with the cost of live talent, records are inexpensive. Incidental Music Indispensable Only the very largest theatres can afford an orchestra in the pit or an organist to evoke musical magic from the pipes of the "Mighty Wurlitzer." Other theatres must have recourse to recorded music for the pleasure of the audience and to establish the appropriate moods for maximum enjoyment of the pictures. A theatre without music during the pre-show and intermission invervals seems rather "barren" — an atmosphere too cold to encourage frequent attendance. Incidental music cannot be neglected by any theatre management that aims to please its patrons and remain in business. Phonograph records have been used in movie theatres ever since the inception of the electrical process of recording and amplifying sound ( about 1925 ) . Silent movies reigned supreme in the '20's, but some of the very smallest theatres found it advantageous to substitute electrically amplified phonograph records and special musical transcriptions for the tinkling nickelodeon piano. More prosperous theatres nevertheless retained "live" music because it could be perfectly keyed in mood and tempo to the action on the screen. This was particularly true of theatres having wondrous orchestral pipe organs which ordinarily cost much more than the most expensive projection equipment. Indeed, the organ was so popular that it continued to be played during intermissions in many theatres long after talking International Projectionist January, 1963