Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1922-04-12
Miss Florence Minis Sees Tone
Test in Tonkawa.
Dear Advertiser:

lest In lonkaWa. ;s5
Dear Advertiser: E}s3s s5
On Tuesday evening two artists,
Mr.. Glen Ellison, the Scotch bari
tone and Miss Alta Hill, pianist, apE
peared in a concert in Eonkawa, CIV
ing tone test with tha Edison ma
chine.
Through one of the furniture
stores here, invitations were issued
to very large number The Metho-
dist church was filled.
had heard of tone tests before
and always believed that the repro
duction of the human voice on talk
ing machines was very accurate, but
never before had seen it SO demon
strated.
Mr.. Ellison's program consissed
mostly of Scotch songs, some of
which Harry Lauder has made fa-
nous. One Of Mr.. Ellison's records
was placed an the machine. He then
sang with his own voice along with
the mechanical reproduction of it,
SO that he seemed to be singing agdu-
ct with himself. From time to time
he would stop, and if you didsnot
watch the movement of his lips, you
could not quite detect w..:ether you
were being entertained by the ma
chine or the present voice of the ar.
tist. +
So perfect was the time andythe
blending of the tones that thereseen-i
ed to be only one production afshhe
song when there were two. The~im-,
agination did not even have 4t6 be
brought into play, for if one .cply
closed his eyes, he could believe chat
the mechanical reproduction was$fhej
real voice.
During one of the numbers when
Mr.. Ellison was singing with theallaz
chine, the lights unexpectedly y ent
out. / thought it made no difference
to Mr.. Ellison that he could sing as
well in the dark as in the light but
suddenly the lights camss on, and 4.
Ellison had left the platform Had
been listening to the naehins
not know the differences r. 9F} 9F$
That was very good trick to- play
and thereby prove to the satisfaction.
of all, the excellence of the mechani-
cal reproduction.
Miss Hill placed one of her solo
records on the machine and then
played the composition so much in
unison with the record, that someone
turned to me and asked if the artist
only was playing. The audience was
delighted as it well may have been.
To the average audience there is
something more pleasing about such
a demonstration than there is about
an ordinary concert. The modern
mind likes practical proof and evil
dence of supposed facts. To some
souls, art is too ethereal. The fact
that it can be caught, from the clouds
and made, like electricity to go
through a material medium before it
reaches them, gives it the contact
with reality which makes it more in
telligible.
1t is through the records of CALI
curci and Alma Gluck that the great
majority of the people have leaned
to appreciate these artists, and
through them, good music.
Mr.. Ellison was exceedingly gra-
cious as most great artists are on the
stage, and most great people in life.
An artists personal charm and pleas
ant manner make half of his effect.
Immediately on approaching an au-
dience, he is taken into their good
graces, or he is unconsciously reject
ed. He is weighed in the balance, and
his good points are magnified or his
defects over-estimated through the
performance by his very attitude.
He must assume joy that he does
not feel, pretend a pleasure that he
may not experience, and finally,
through the evening the smile that is
at first on his lips, may finally reach
his heart.
These western towns are very pro-
gressive. Any joys and luxuries which
mere money can buy, they have in
abundance. The nearby oil wells
bring wealth, and with it cultural op-
Il,