New Britain herald., 1926-07-30
WTAPHONE BRINGS
 REAL MUSIC TREAT
Permits SynchrOnizatiOn With
 Motion Pictures

New York. July 50 lPl A sym phony orchestra of 100 pieces play ing a musical score synchronized with the motion picture has been made possible for the smallest houses by the perfection of the vita phone.
 The music is photographed" with the picture, but its sponsors have made II clear that the yitaphone is not like other inventions which have attempted to project normal tones through light rays controlled by the film.
 Coordinate Camera Recorder
 This instrument is a recording de- vice. similar in some respects to the photograph recorder, which is run at the same speed as the camera while the picture is being photo graphed. Production so far has consisted only of pictures of grand opera stars and concert artists, both the action and sound being photo- graphed for presentation in man. nerl which is claimed to equal in every respect the original.
 The actual working of the vita phone was demonstrated when Marion Talley, one of the artists, sang an aria from Rigoletto.
 Talley First Artist
 She sang in motion picture set ting built on the stage of the Man. hattan Opera House, while cameras were perched on stands built above the seats. While the master camera, controlling the recording disc in a laboratory in another part of the building. continuously ground through the scene, other cameras took required close-ups.
 Miss Talley sang, the chorus join ed at proper intervals, while the orchestra accompanied her as if an audience had filled the house. .o.
 Intricate sounding horns at strategic points picked up each note of voice and instrument, and these were transmitted to the laboratory for recording, through a switch board more intricate than that of the largest radio broadcasting sta ton.
 Operation Is Sound Proof
 The recording device was so sen- sitive that the camera had to be enclosed in a sound proof box to prevent its "clickety-click" from go- ing on the record. Production had to be stopped each ten minutes to ~, tho oo marc rfao air
 More than mere sound was re- corded. however, as musician electrical engineer sat at the board, reading a marked score of the music, and controlling the volume according to predetermined plan.
 With the completion of the pro- duction. there was a print of the picture and a box of steel records, ready for any theater equipped with the projecting devices.
 Voice and Picture Jibe
 The presentation involved another vitaphone, less complicated than the recording one. which transmitted the sound waves qyer electric wires to sounding boards above and below the screens. The net effect was of the voice coming from the singer and the instruments being heard in their proper places in the mythical orchestra pit.
 This invention is the continuation Of months of experiments cooperat- l ed in by the Warner Brothers mo- ton picture company, the Bell | Laboratories and the Western Elec- tric company.
 The Manhattan Opera House is the production plant, under the di- 1 rection of Sam Warner. and Her | man Heller, the motion picture di- rector. There also is a complete | picture unit of electricians for light ing effects, cameramen, and stage | men from the Warner studios on the west coast.
 The vitaphone will have its | premiere here, August ,, simultane- ous with the opening of John Bar rvnore's Don Juan"