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Why did old timey radio announcers sound so nasal?

Posted by / September 30, 2014

Have you ever wondered why 1950s radio announcers talked in such a high, nasally voice? Did people at the time actually talk like that? Well, of course they didn’t––we’ve seen movies and interviews with the “man on the street,” and people sound pretty normal.

There were two reasons that radio announcers talked in that “tinny” way, called Transatlantic speech. First, to eliminate regional accents. Second, because radios couldn’t pick up bass tones so announcers had to focus on the higher ranges.

Full story at Discovery News.

More amazing history.

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