February 2001 RAP
February 2001 Highlights
Feature: Creating Production Music
By Marshall Such
Its something you use every day. You may be in Creative Heaven or
Production Hell because of this product. It is something that's absolutely
essential for radio commercials and promos. Yep, its your friend and mine:
production music.
As a guy who's written hundreds of production music tracks over the years
for a number of libraries, I feel I can speak with some authority on the
subject. And maybe you production people (I'm glad to see women are also
picking up the ball and chain in the production room) would enjoy a little
insight into how production music is created. (Ill also give you some tips
for Doin-It-Yourself in your production room.)
Interview: Ann DeWig - DC101, Washington, DC
By Jerry Vigil
Count on your fingers the number of really talented women in radio
production, and youll probably have enough fingers left over to finish off a
plate of hot wings. And the most talented women in radio production are
usually found on the commercial side of things. So, its even more rare to
find a female producer handling the imaging for a station. Lets make that
station a rocker, one whose target audience is young males, and now you have
enough fingers left to pop a beer to go with those hot wings. Ann DeWig is
the Creative Services Director for Clear Channels DC101 in the nations
capital. Plug in this months RAP CD, give her demo a listen, pick your jaw
up off the floor, then sit back and read all about this fast rising
prod-goddess.
Radio Hed: Write for the Ear
By Jeffrey Hedquist
This technique is so simple, so seemingly self-evident that I'm almost
embarrassed to tell you about it. Almost.
We've all been told over and over to "write for the ear" when doing radio,
yet we constantly hear commercials that assume every listener has been
issued a script and is reading along. This frightening belief lurks in the
minds of many advertisers.
Test Drive: HHB BurnIT - CDR830 CD Recorder
By Steve Cunningham
Since the price of my electric service here in California is definitely
going up, its some consolation that the price of digital production gear is
still going down. About a year ago I reviewed the HHB CDR850, a professional
stand alone CDR and CDRW burner with a retail price of $1195. Then last
summer I checked out the Tascam CD-RW700 stand alone CD burner at $749 list.
Not a company to rest on its laurels, HHB Communications has now fired back
in the marketplace by introducing their new BurnIT CDR830 CD Recorder, which
carries a price tag of $799. Lets take a look at this one.
Production Libraries: Distortion - from Rich VanSlyke
Productions
By John Pellegrini
Its the age-old dilemma of anyone associated with radio creative: trying
to find that just exactly right music bed, or stinger, or sound. Many of us
have been driven up the wall by this problem, endlessly searching through
dozens of CDs, infinite numbers of tracks, often just for a 3 or 4 second
sound. Some of us in this insane business are lucky and have some musical
ability. This advantage allows those folks to grab an instrument of choice
usually keyboards and they create the sound themselves. Some of those people
have even gone so far as to put some of their creations on CD and sell them
to the rest of us without the musical ability. The best of these are great
additions to anyone's music libraries, and here's one of the best:
Distortion.
Q It Up: The RAP Network Speaks - Balancing the Home
Life with the Work Life
By Jerry Vigil
Q It Up: This Q It Up question is in the spirit of
Valentines Day. Production people tend to put in a LOT of hours at work, and
in many cases, these long hours continue at home in the home studio. How
does your significant other handle this? How do you balance the home life
with work?
...And Make It Real Creative: Brainstorming
By Trent Rentsch
Because there is no magic formula, no Holy Grail of emotional
inspiration, the job of moving people, motivating them, is difficult, yet so
rewarding to a Creative when it works. For me, its what has always made the
Theatre of the Mind a true art form worth doing well, coming from the heart,
the soul.
Technology: What is this 24/96 Business Anyway?
By Steve Cunningham
With the introduction of DVDs, 96 kHz sampling is now a standard rate as
well as 44.1 kHz. 96 kHz sampling takes over twice as many snapshots as does
44.1 kHz, and further reduces aliasing by shifting potential sidebands well
beyond the range of hearing. However, 96 kHz sampling eats up over twice the
disk space to store the sound as does 44.1 kHz sampling.
Monday Morning Memo: Verbal Frameline Magnetism
By Roy H. Williams
The edge of a picture is called the frameline, and what is outside it is
often as important as what is inside.
When part of an image falls "outside the frame," the viewers imagination* is
magnetically drawn to the part that was left out. This phenomenon is called
Frameline Magnetism, and its a powerful tool long used by great
photographers, videographers, cinematographers, illustrators** and writers.
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