Evening star., 1928-12-02

r. Asst week, missed my first
H. rlicrophone appointment in six
years of radio announcing. l
H. had appeared at a song recital
at Columbus, Ohio, and was to
fly to Iowa City the next day from
Chicago, to broadcast the Iowa-Wis-
consin foot ball game. Reaching
Chicago by train, and driving out to the
flying field, learned that it was ex-
Snlothering fog closing in, the plane
would be able to make the flight to
Iowa City. 1t was, in one sense. a
fortunate event, as l had the rare
pleasure Of listening to other announc-
erS and. sitting on the edge of the
dreary field, waiting, hopelessly, as it
turned out, for a chance to fly. / had
an opportunity to piece together a few
Of Fhe isolated facts and events which
sep lost in, the rush of personal expe-
rie1nce-I am speaking now, of course, of
happenings in the radio world.
As dusk came on, with the ceiling at
no time more than 100 feet above the
ground, I saw what at first appeared to
be soft, pinkish glow suffused through
the fog, which 1 later identified as
Neon Searchlight, serving as a beacon
for belatcd flyers. Rambling and
vagrant associations are inevitable when
you are waiting for train, or an aero
plane, especially in the fog and 1 was
suddenly reminded that the pinkish
hue was reminiscent of a wave of soft
light which 1 had seen released in our
broadcaSting studio, in experimental re-
search in environmental lighting. One
could not escape the reminder that
there are no walled boundaries in mod
ern scientific research. The scientist
turns from guiding an aviator over
Jagged mountain range, through night
and fog, to serving the delicately pitch
ed emotions of an artist by providing
the proper light stimulus.
Old-Time Problems Revived.
had previously noted some details
of the studies of the latter problem
which have been made at our studios
for several years, which I have later
supplemented with some additional OBJ
servationS. Going back a long way, 1t
had been my experience, even before
taking up radio announcing, that
glaring white light, or some inept COM
bination of light and interior colorS.
could all out paralyze singer. I re-
member, at one of my first concert eX-
perienceS, a big chandelier, hung with
unprotected white lights, was suddenly
flashed on during my number. I had
an astonishing feeling that my voice
suddenly had lost timbre and resonance,
and wretched feeling afterWard that
had failed
In my earlier announcing experiences
I began to see that artists frequently
were profoundly sensitive to their light
environment, without always being eX-
actly aware of what disturbing or Sooth-
ing influences were involved. Of course
I was but one observer among many,
and a subtle technique of lighting to
supplement, heighten or sustain vary
ing artistic moods and temperament has
been evolved along with the mechanical
intricacieS which have made radio pos
sible. A radio listener, responding to
some fine and genuine artistry in a
symphony of solo rendition, probably
does not know that lighting engineers
are reinforcing these subtle effects by
an elaborately devised system of in
direct lighting.
COIOrs Change to Fit Moods.
I do not mean to suggest that there
is a light complement to every emotion
or that there is a continuous play of
changing colors to fit varying moods. A
great deal of nonsense has been written
about this, and there have been several
elaborate attempts in "the synthesis of
bI1e arUS 10 OleIlu music Wltu COl-
trolled effects of light and fragrance. 1t
was tried, believe, at the San Fran
cisco exposition, without any very not
able results. But within obvious and
sensible limitations, the lighting of
broadcasting studio is almost as i'm
portant as its acoustics and its insula-
ton from noise.
Studio Planned to Meet Conditions.
When our new headquarters and
studios were planned, the president of