Radio And Production
September 2009

by Dave Foxx

Y’know, sometimes an idea has to conk me on the noggin a few times before I realize what it is. Case in point: On three different occasions over the last few weeks, as I traveled to show people how to do this voodoo, I’ve been a bit stunned to see people not conditioning their audio before they start producing. They just start throwing stuff up on the edit window and moving it around, and then spend a lot of wasted time (in my opinion) trying to make the mix work. After I carefully explained the concept of conditioning the first time in Toronto, I went on my merry way, not thinking about it again… until I saw the same thing pop up in another session in Los Angeles. Finally, after a lengthy discussion about it (my third in three weeks) with one of our web audio producers here in New York, it occurred to me that not everybody has figured this out yet. In the off chance some of you haven’t figured it out, I decided that this column was the perfect forum for this bit of sage advice.

Test Drive: Genelec 6010A / 5040A Powered Monitors and Subwoofer

by Steve Cunningham

I won these little speakers in a poker game. Right, I knew you wouldn’t believe me but it’s true, and I’ve decided to review ‘em this month. See, ninety-nine percent of the time getting a product for a RAP review is a process of research, consultation, telephone calls, a little begging, faxed memo loan forms, and waiting for UPS. This time I just had to come in 15th out of about 70 Texas Hold ‘Em players at a charity tournament held at the Village Recorder. And my wife said I could go... honest, she really did, and I played well enough to walk out with a pair of company-donated Genelec 6010a speakers. Heck, if I hadn’t gone tilt at the featured table I might have won the Telefunken mic, but my emotions got to me, what can I tell ya? I took them home, and during the following week I went through the normal process of telephone calls, a little begging, memo loans and waiting to get the matching 5040a Subwoofer so I could check out the whole system. Meanwhile I went to work on my stereo prize.

Q It Up: The RAP Network Speaks - What's In Your Home Studio? Part 2  

Feature: On the Whole, It Beats Bailing Hay

by Ed Thompson

Many times I’ve written about the things that inspire my writing. Rarely have I ever written about the actual work of writing. One thing is certain: writing is not particularly hard work. Not when it’s compared to the kind of work my father did over the course of 35 years as an electrician. I remember when my dad came home absolutely exhausted after working on an electrical arc furnace used in the smelting of aluminum. He was covered head to toe in a smelly, black ash. He looked like a reverse raccoon from the negative silhouette on his face made by the goggles and respirator he wore. I think my mom still has a photo she took of him before he showered. Somehow, he found enough strength to smile for the camera.

Radio Hed: Monetizing Your Client’s Intellectual Capital (Turning what they know into profit)

by Jeffrey Hedquist

Here’s a marketing idea that will help your clients prosper any time, but might be especially welcome during this challenging time. In past articles I’ve recommended positioning the advertiser as the expert, and the power of providing free seminars, consultations, etc. to get prospects into the marketing funnel. The expertise and experience every advertiser has in their niche is a valuable resource that they can share with the public as a free lead-in to make money on customer purchases or as a whole new profit center.

Feature: A Quick Guide to Radio Creativity - #3

by Dan McCurdy

‘Know what entertains your audience.’ All the great music hall legends knew it. Most good stand-up comics know it. Anyone who’s stood in front of, played to, talked to, or danced in front of an audience, for any length of time knows it. The crowd at Greens Playhouse in Glasgow, Scotland, more than anywhere in the UK I’m told, knew it, and if you survived their attentions – you knew it too. They knew how to entertain their audience. That’s entertainment. The unfortunate thing now is, you can make a radio commercial, think it’s great, and if the client agrees with you, put it on air and go home for the night and the audience can’t get their own back; not quickly anyway. Conversely I suppose you can make the world’s greatest radio commercial and you’ll hear no applause. Freddie Mercury knew it, J K Rowling knows it, and all the great entertainers know exactly what entertains their audience.

...And Make It Real Creative

by Trent Rentsch

Since we’ve known each other for quite awhile now, I think it’s safe to confess one of my weaknesses to you. No, it’s not my obsessive collecting of audio software, nor my total and complete lack of discipline when it comes to over-eating and/or exercise; it’s not even my soft spot for cats, magicians, and Bugs Bunny cartoons… old territory, water under the bridge, been there/wrote about that. This lack of strength is less superficial, at least to me. It starts with a blank screen, save for a blinking cursor. Where it ends? That’s the by-product of the weakness.

Monday Morning Memo: Shorter is Better The Wizard’s Laws of the Universe - Lesson One