November 2000 RAP
November 2000 Highlights
Feature: The Warner Bros. Sound
By John Pellegrini
Ever notice how certain things can grab your attention by sound alone?
Even when visuals are attached, its the sound that sets them apart from
identical subjects? Ever notice that this is a subject I write about a bit
frequently? Not just sounds alone, but the very nature of the sound quality
itself can make a difference. Did you know that back when Norman Lear was
producing All In The Family he instructed the sound engineers on the show to
mix the audio track with the highest rate of compression possible. This made
All In The Family the loudest show on television at that time. He wanted to
capture the excitement of the performances. Sound quality makes a difference
everywhere.
Feature: The Compensation Crisis
By Michael R. Lee, Ph.D.
Another year has passed. The Radio & Records 2000 Radio Industry Salary
Survey has arrived, and radio Production Directors have cause for outright
alarm.
These compensation figures "are for the calendar year 1999 and include
salary plus bonuses and incentives." Where to start? The overall average
compensation of Production Directors was $40,416.00. While that is a livable
wage, depending on what market you live in, it was a whopping increase of 1%
over 1998. Yes, its hard to believe that Production Director salaries would
decrease in relation to the cost of living, but there you have it.
Interview: Jeff Freeman - KUFO-FM, Portland, Oregon
By Jerry Vigil
This months RAP Interview stops into the country's 25th market for a
visit with Jeff Freeman, Creative Services Director at KUFO, Infinity's
Active Rock outlet in Portland, Oregon. Jeff is one of those people who
pursued radio for an air-shift more than anything else, but as he spent more
time in the production room, his hidden talents as a producer became
apparent. Though most of his 12+ years in radio have been spent on the air,
the last three have found Jeff off the air and in the production room where
he has rapidly developed his production skills. Check out Jeff's demo on
this months RAP Cassette for a dose of clean, top-notch Active Rock imaging.
Technology: AES Wrap-Up
By Steve Cunningham
The glitterati of the audio biz gathered at the LA Convention Center for
the 109th edition of the Audio Engineering Society Convention last month.
The show was definitely smaller than past conventions and not well-attended,
but there were certainly roses to be found among the thorns.
The AES show is traditionally devoted to high-end music recording, and this
convention was no exception with its surround-sound theme, "Surrounded by
Sound." Undaunted by all the over-$2000 tube microphone preamps and
multi-hundred-thousand-dollar recording consoles, I decided to sleuth for
cool goodies that radio-heads could afford...or at least some stuff that we
could get our GM to spring for. A diligent day-long search turned up several
nifty nuggets.
Production Libraries: MJI's Image Kits
By John Pellegrini
Imaging a station is possibly one of the most difficult jobs in radio.
Ive always felt that a stations on-air imaging is as vital as any air
personality. It is also one of the quickest sources of creative burnout in
the business. To help prevent burnout factor, MJI Broadcasting presents
their new Image Kits specifically targeting six different music formats,
Oldies, Classic Rock, Hit Rock, Rock, Country, and Urban.
Q It Up: The RAP Network Speaks - Room Noise: How Do You
Deal With It?
By Jerry Vigil
Q It Up: Not every studio has the luxury of an isolated
sound booth for recording voice tracks. If you're one of the unfortunate who
has the talents microphone in the same room with the recording equipment,
what do you do to reduce the room noise? Do you use a noise gate? What are
the settings? Do you use acoustic material around the microphone, perhaps
some portable acoustic walls? Describe your setup. Please include any other
tips you might have for recording the cleanest, most noise-free voice tracks
in your studio.
Radio Hed: Foreign Lecturer
By Jeffrey Hedquist
Here's another flavor from the world of improv to spice up your radio
writing.
One voice speaks a foreign language. This can be gibberish, actual foreign
language copy, or, what may be the best, is a combination of foreign
language with enough "Americanized" expressions interspersed to emphasize
the copy points in a humorous way. A second voice "translates" what the
foreign voice is saying
...And Make It Real Creative
By Trent Rentsch
I am not going on record with my obvious bias and say that the Production
Director is the most important position at a radio station, but it is most
certainly a vital and essential part of an effective radio team. Considering
the endless fronts radio faces today in the battle for advertising dollars,
the station without a strong, creative producer is going to war as unarmed
as it would be without a great morning show, or a well-trained sales staff.
None of these things are quite like the others, but it takes a bunch of
dissimilar pieces to successfully put a puzzle together.
RAP Forum: Always Be Like Hank
By Shawn Kelly
My mom used to tell me that when she was a kid, every other day bright
and early, a man in a spring white uniform would show up at their door. The
smile he wore above his black bow tie was as bright as the morning sun and a
small ribbon of jet-black hair shadowed his white cap. He was always
whistling a happy tune and he would leave 4 bottles of cold refreshing milk
on the doorstep. Back in the 50s, the milk cap bottles were used as spinning
tops, so my mom and her 13 brothers and sisters used to collect and trade
them. So, they were very happy when the milk man would come. Just as the
post office delivered mail, the milkman would be at their doorstep every
other day, rain, heat, sleet or snow, delivering happiness for a family of
16. My mother always said that she misses those days, not only because of
the joy they had from the product, but from the great customer service. The
milkman, well call him Hank, new that his customers needed the milk and they
needed it on a regular basis. And when the holidays came around, my mother
and her siblings never forgot about Hank.
Where did that service go?
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