Radio stars (Oct 1938)

RADIO STARS "YOU'RE LISTENING TO A TRANSCRIBED PROGRAM" {Continued from page 36) treated to prevent echo ; there is a control room separated from the studio by a glass partition ; and a loudspeaker connecting the two. It looks, and is, exactly like any small broadcasting studio. Enter the cast — star, singers, announcer and orchestra — and the producer, director, script-writer and control man. Scripts are brought forth and rehearsal begins. Each performer already has gone over his or her section of the show, knows what is expected of him. Each part is run through before the mike and timed on an electric stop-clock. If the show runs too long, cuts are made. If it is too short, there are additions. Changes are made in the wordage of scripts, sound effects are tested, and the director gets a general idea of the show as the integral parts come to him on the two-way speaker. When he deems each part perfect in itself, he calls for a "dress rehearsal" — a complete consecutive rendition of the entire program. Again the time clock is turned on and, if all goes well, the next step is the actual recording. Performers say that when they see the red light, the signal for them to begin, they experience the same sensation as they do when the "on the air" signal flashes for a live broadcast. During the recording period they are just as tense, just as eager to do their best as if they were actually on the air. The mechanics of the process are much easier to comprehend than the mysteries of wireless transmission. You know, now, that the show is performed before the microphone. From the mike there is a wire leading into a pre-amplifier and an amplifier in a separate recording room. From there the sound is transmitted through a control box, whose operator can regulate volume and tone level, and thence into the cutting head on the recorder. The latter machine is similar in appearance to a phonograph. On the turntable is placed a blank record, known as a wax master. Into this the stylus, comparable to a needle, cuts the grooves which record the sound impulses as they are transmitted. These waxes are seventeen and a half inches in diameter and can accommodate a fifteenminute program on one side. Thus, a new blank must be used for each fifteen-minute section. It happens, all too often, that the wax is imperfect. The stylus will strike a weak place and cut too deep or to shallow, as the case may be, and a new one will have to be substituted. The show must begin again from the start. It isn't always the mechanism that goes haywire, either, many a wax having been discarded because of some unexpected mishap on the part of the performers. On one occasion we witnessed the recording of a Coca Cola show, Refreshment Time with Singin Sam. The recording was made, and all had gone swimmingly until time for the final commercial during the last minutes of the period. Announcer {Continued on page 68) "A MAN CAN'T RESIST the appeal of soft white hands", says ANN MILLER*, charming picture star. Even hardworking hands can be attractively smooth — Jergens Lotion helps prevent roughness and chapping. says Ann Miller •Ann M.ller w.th James Stewart i„ Frank Capra's "You Cant Take It With You" (A Columbia Picture) Your HANDS can be helped to adorable Softness ! DON'T PERMIT your hands to get rough and red because cold, wind, and frequent use of water have dried the natural moisture out of the skin. Supplement that moisture by using Jergens Lotion. See how soon your hands become lovely! Two fine in Soon helps even rough, neglected hands to be soli and velvet-smooth. gredients in this fragrant lotion are used by many doctors for effective help in whitening and softening rough skin. Soothes chapping — helps restore caressing smoothness ! No stickiness! Hands cared for with Jergens are adorably worthy of love. Only 50f*, 25ff, 1 Off ... SI. 00 for the special economy size ... at any beauty counter. JaReeNsLanoN FREE! GENEROUS SAMPLE Mail this coupon. Sec— at our expense— how wonderfully Jergens Lotion helps to make red, rough, chapped hands smooth and white. The Andrew Jergens Co., |&46Alfrcd Street, Cincinnati, O. On Canada. Perth, Ontario). 67