Comments on: Was that H.G. or He?

By: Mike

Mike — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 16:42:34 +0000

Well, big correction, but anyway. "H2" came to mind for the headline so I went to check the reference. I mused about the Wikipedia's article on helium just long enough to be concerned that people would think I was referencing Harlan Ellison instead of the element and forget why I was researching in the first place....

By: Christopher J Garcia

Christopher J Garcia — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 16:39:47 +0000

There’s a recording of HG Wells and Orson Welles at http://www.mercurytheatre.info/. It’s towards the bottom. His voice doesn’t sound nearly as high, though the dulcet tones of Mr. Welles may be adding to that!

I transcribed part of it for the latest Exhibition Hall.
Chris

By: Rich Lynch

Rich Lynch — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 15:50:20 +0000

Small correction in title: H2 = hydrogen; He = helium

By: Mike

Mike — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 16:06:50 +0000

Bill’s interest in the newsreels comes from Forry’s remarking how high Wells’ voice was after hearing him speak in person in LA. So I think that it was high is not in doubt, though it’s fair to ask whether the sound system is contributing to the cartoonish tone (be it the original newsreel recording, or the conversion to something we can listen to via the internet).

I suppose one could figure out a way of comparing the sound fidelity of the British Pathe online newsreels with ordinary film soundtracks from the 1930s to get a sense whether the effect is due to distortion, if we were already familiar from film with some voices of that era. Whose would I recognize… Hitler? (“Ein volk…!”) Lou Gehrig? (“Today I am the luckiest man on the face of the earth…”) FDR? (“December 7….”) Of those, Hitler’s voice was highest I think.

By: David D. Levine

David D. Levine — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 03:59:41 +0000

Doubleday’s voice also sounds rather helium-ish, though not as Munchkin-like as Wells’s. I suspect the ridiculousness of Wells’s voice in this clip is an artifact of the technologies involved.