Radio Digest (June 1932-Mar 1933)

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29 NSTANTS" By Arthur J. Daly (NBC Production Manager) Arthur J. Daly IN THOSE halcyon days of not so very long ago when I was a student at college, I had the ill fortune to have a marked proclivity for tardiness. There was something in me which abhorred rushing into a classroom before things got started, even as nature abhors a vacuum. Just my luck then after a start like this, where minutes, even hours meant nothing, to come into radio which deals exclusively in time, and production work where minutes, and seconds, yea even instants are of the utmost importance. But this is not a treatise on broadcasting nor an exploitation of the functions of a production director therein. However, I am going to try to give a few slants on studio personalities and how they work. And may I say right here that although the microphone has no eyes, it is a great little personality catcher. When the attention is focused entirely on the voice, the microphone senses and knows without having to see or be told just how poised the artist is, just how much warmth the actor is radiating, just how sincere is a laugh or a tear. A thing which has always been of great interest to me, is the psychology behind a good show. To some artists and actors there is never any psychological feeling to be overcome — they are just naturally "mike-conscious." To them it is neither a buga-boo nor yet a thing to be spoken down to — it is simply the mechanical means of helping them to get their ideas or artistry across to a great number of people. Such artists have a genuine regard for the great power of old man "mike" but they never allow it to hide their own personalities. It goes without saying that these are the really successful ones in Radio. But there are others, and their numbers are more legion, who somehow never seem to get on intimate terms with a microphone. They are continually holding it at arms-length or treating it as though it represented a paid audience that was supposed to appreciate whatever was deigned to be said to it. And this is true of many people who have scored heavily in other mediums such as the stage and the concert field. Not apropos of the aforesaid but an interesting slant on how the mike affects some great artists, was the first appearance of Rosa Ponselle on the air. She finished her opening number and had five minutes before her next aria. She went out to the corridor behind the studio. I happened to come by and told her how beautiful her song had been. She said "Yes, but look at me" and held out both hands. They were trembling with as much agitation as though she were a schoolgirl about to make a graduation speech. On daily dramatic shows the psychological factor plays a very important part. The very fact that for a part of every day the players are leading the life of the characters they portray, sometimes makes the transition a difficult one. Perhaps something in their own lives goes wrong and puts them in a low mood. There are many times like this when a script would suffer in the playing were it not for a timely joke or pleasant word to break the tension before going on the air. I N RADIO every night is a first night calling for the production of a new script. One has to be a trouper. There is no chance to let down. Another factor affecting broadcasters psychologically is microphone position. Some cannot work if the microphone is an inch too high or too low for them. Some must be seated while they work, others must stand. In the old days there was no such thing as a "table-mike" and all were forced to stand. Since its innovation several years back it has won increasing favor with broadcasters. Floyd Gibbons as the "Headline Hunter" was one of the first to make regular use of this type microphone and now many others regularly use it — Heywood Broun always does. Two women broadcasters, whose personalities are otherwise as apart as the poles, namely Nellie Revell and Gertrude Berg (Mollie Goldberg to you), also have this mutual preference. Both are extremely "mike-conscious" and seem to be able to get about any idea they want to across "dat old debbil mike." It is interesting to note that both of these women broadcasters write their own material and as a result both have a much more sensitive touch in handling it than as though they had come to it "cold." In general people who come to radio from the vaudeville or the legitimate stage have a much harder time getting acclimated than those who have adopted it as a first means of reaching an audience. One factor that seems to defeat many of these players and singers is that they forget that to radio they are newcomers. They have established names in the older mediums and they are inclined to think that that will help to carry them along in radio. Unfortunately going at it from this viewpoint, many of them start at the top and work down, while real success in radio has to come to those who started simply and unostentatiously at the bottom. The announcer plays an important though often underrated part in helping a show to click. The announcer sets the pitch of a show, and if he gets it off to a flying start with a well poised and punchy opening, the artists take the tempo and get into stride from the first word or the opening bar of music. One of my favorite theories as to making a dramatic show register has to do with timing in the sense of the speed of playing. I have always felt that a radio show should be played i Continued on page 47)