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(From the January 1989 issue of Radio And
Production)
Tips & Techniques
Production Basics
Tape Storage
by Jerry Vigil
"Tails Out". If you dub a lot of agency spots, "tails out" usually means
nothing more to you than an inconvenience. Your carts are ready for the dub,
the tape is threaded, and then you discover that someone has put the tape on
the reel backwards. Now you have to remove both reels, switch them, and
rewind the tape to get to the beginning. Believe it or not, there are two
good reasons why tape is loaded onto a reel "tails out".
The first, and most obvious reason, is to speed up the process of making
several dubs of a spot to reel. Say you're making 10 dubs to reel. To end up
with 10 reels with the spot "heads out", you would record the spot onto a
reel of tape 10 times. After the 10th dub you would cut the tape and begin
rewinding each dub onto a 5" reel one at a time, cutting the tape between
each dub, and putting another reel on the machine each time. The faster way
to make these dubs is to use the empty 5" reel as the take-up reel. You
simply thread up the machine, make the dub, and cut the tape. The dub is on
the 5" reel "tails out" and you're ready for the next dub. You remove the
steps of rewinding the dubs onto the reels. When making a large number of
dubs, this is a time saver.
The other reason tape is loaded onto reels "tails out", is to avoid print
through. Print through is the transfer of the audio from one layer of the
tape to the next. This results in an echo when the tape is played back. The
print through isn't actually avoided by storing the tape tails out, but the
resulting echo is post-echo instead of pre-echo. Post-echo is less
noticeable than pre-echo because it is heard after the audio begins. Print
through is most noticeable on dry voice recordings. If you have some voice
tracks from, let's say, a famous studio guest, this would be a good occasion
to store them tails out.
Another way to avoid print through, or at least decrease it, is to use
thick tape.
You probably use 1.5 mil tape anyway. This is ideal for reducing print
through. Try to avoid using thinner tape. If you normally use thinner tape,
say 1 mil, you might consider purchasing 1.5 mil tape from now on. It's also
easier to work with, especially when editing.
Heat increases print through. Store tapes in a cool place and don't leave
tape on a hot machine for a great length of time. If you're storing
something for several years, it doesn't hurt to take the reel out every 6
months or so and fast forward then rewind it. This helps to decrease the
amount of print through that increases as the storage time increases.
AM/FM Dubs
by Jerry Vigil
If you make dubs for both your AM and FM stations, here is a tip to help
save time and insure good dubs. Assuming you have two record decks, you
would make your AM and FM dubs at the same time. Rather than play them back
after the dub is made, to check them out, listen to them in cue as you
record. If you only make one dub at a time you probably do this already. If
you make 2 dubs at a time and put both machines in cue, you'll notice a
phasing effect coming from the cue speaker. This is the effect you get when
the playback signals are identical. When you begin the dub, put both
machines in cue. If you get the phasing effect throughout the dub you can
rest assured the signals on both carts are identical. You have 2 good dubs.
If your machines can meter both record and playback levels, put them in
playback and watch the levels. If they look good and you have the phasing
effect in cue, there is a 99.9% chance you have perfect dubs. There's no
need to listen back to see if they were dubbed properly.
Advanced Production
Music Beds: Using Them as a "Signature"
by Jerry Vigil
Promo production is often the most important part of the Production
Director's position. Promo production is also one of the most time consuming
aspects of the job. A great deal of time is spent finding just the right
music for a promo, whether it be from a production library or the intro to a
cut on an album. Many programmers prefer a different piece of music for each
promo that airs. This supposedly gives the promo a fresh, new sound. It
keeps it from sounding like the last promo you produced, and it keeps you
busy looking for new music to work with.
Other programmers have another point of view regarding the music used
under promos. Some prefer to use the same music under a series of promos for
one particular promotion. There is much to be said for this way of thinking.
Let's begin by stating up front that using the same music for a series of
promos reduces the time spent putting the promos together, however, there
may be more to gain by doing this than just time. Take one of your station's
continuous promotions for example. Let's say you do the "XYZ Cash Giveaway"
every fall. Using the same music for all the promos every fall may sound
redundant to some, but if you analyze the marketing principles in use,
maintaining a familiar piece of music for all related promos can be a huge
positive.
A promo is simply a commercial for your radio station. Like any
commercial, the more you hear it, or hear the jingle or music, the greater
the retention. Major advertisers find a great piece of music and stick to it
for years before considering a new sound. Why can't this same approach be
used for promos?
If you have special weekend promotions every weekend, find a music bed or
just a sounder of some kind to use with every weekend promo you cut. After a
while, whenever the listener hears this music or the sounder, the listener
will know that this must be an announcement for XYZ's weekend contest or
promotion.
If you're giving away a car, find a piece of music to use for all the
promos cut during the promotion. If you give another car away next year, use
the same music. It doesn't have to be a full piece of music. Maybe the
"logo" is the sound of a car starting, honking the horn, and speeding away,
and underneath the sound effects is a 10 second synthesizer effect from one
of your production libraries. Use this little piece of production in all
your promos for car giveaways. If you use it to open all your car giveaway
promos, you can follow it with any piece of music and still give the
listener that identifying signature that says, "XYZ is giving away another
car".
The same approach can be used for commercial production as well. Assign
certain cuts from your production library to certain clients. Whenever they
come back for another schedule, use the same music. For the same reasons as
given above, the client, in most cases, will prefer to have "his own music"
for the commercials that run on your station. After all, the larger clients
who can afford to have their own jingles and music produced elsewhere, give
you those jingles and music beds to use on all their spots. What you offer
that smaller client is his own piece of music for his spots without the cost
of getting it written and produced at a recording studio.
Of course, many spots and promos will call for a particular type of music
that won't be useable again. Consider using the same music for those regular
clients and ongoing promotions. After all, consistency is part of the
programming game. If you're not already producing spots and promos this way,
give it some thought and discuss it with your Program Director and anyone
else involved. It could make for a better way of promoting your station and,
at the same time, save you some precious time.
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