The Change in Our Voice

On Gearfuse, I wrote about the differences our vocal inflections have gone through from the early 20th century. Listening to old-time radio and watching vintage movies, you can hear for yourself the difference  that a century can have on our national, even universal voice.

Old-time radio DJs had a certain vocal bravado which was exclusive to the news and media men of the day. Radio men had a distinctive vocal accent which disappeared as the century progressed into the 50s and even more so, the 60s.

What happened in this time frame to change the voice of a nation? I think it has something to do with an evolution of standards. When radio and TV were a relatively new medium, there was a consensus about the standard radio and TV / movie voices. As time progressed, so did the evolution of the audio and visual medium. Boundaries were pushed, even if the boundaries began as being a slightly different voice among the crowd of carbon copy media men.

Media voices became more natural, as did the voices of actors and actresses. The decrease of formality in the media voice can almost literally follow the timeline of the regression of American formality. No more constant suit and dress wardrobes. No more formal greetings among those not involved in business. The voice of the media is the voice of our culture. Or at least it has been since the dawn of radio. And I think that's pretty significant.

Posted via email from Anjrued