September 2001 RAP
September 2001 Highlights
Feature: Doing the DA - The Digital Conversion Dance
By Andrew Frame
How many D/As do you do in a day? No, I'm not referring to the cutie
assistant District Attorney on Law & Order. I mean digital to analog
conversions. Pre-computer radio folks remember when "DA" meant "distribution
amplifier." But in this day of multiple use acronyms, it also means the
devices that slice your soft, fuzzy, warm analog audio into little digital
nibbles and bits.
Radio Hed: Point of View
By Jeffrey Hedquist
When you write your radio commercial from a specific point of view you
give it focus. The more specific it is, the more believable the spot can be.
That perspective might be of someone who lives right smack in the middle of
your demographic/psychographic bell curve. It might be a real or fictional
character related in some way to your intended audience a spouse, distant
relative, paper boy, driving instructor, English teacher, parent, boss,
future offspring, or doctor.
Interview: Dave Foxx - Z100, New York
By Jerry Vigil
Imagine having to image only one station, being paid very well to do it,
and not having to deal with commercials. A rare job description these days
for sure, but dream jobs like this still exist. One of them is at Z100 in
New York. But perhaps we should ask ourselves whether this dream job, or any
other, would exist without the individual who has it. And in that case,
perhaps it is the individual who creates the dream job. And if that's true,
then we know why there are very few dream jobs because there are very few
finely polished pros like Dave Foxx. This months RAP Interview catches up
with Dave ten years after our first visit with him. We find him into his
fourteenth year with Z100 and having more fun than ever.
Test Drive: Yamaha AW4416 Digital Workstation
By Steve Cunningham
All-in-one hardware audio workstations are popular among small recording
studios, production companies, and bedroom musicians. They're also used by
some radio production types who like to work at home, after hours. Welcome
to the club, all ye who have no life. Yamaha has presented us with yet
another tool to ensure we continue to have no life, in their AW4416 Audio
Workstation. The AW4416 combines a 44-channel digital mixer with EQ and
dynamics on every channel, and a 16-track digital recorder with editing and
the ability to record on all sixteen tracks simultaneously.
Q It Up: The RAP Network Speaks - Dealing with Job
Changes - Part 1
By Jerry Vigil
Q It Up: No doubt, the last ten years have been full of
changes, particularly when it comes to job security. Did you quit or get
fired at some point in the past ten years? How did you deal with losing your
job or the fear of losing your job? Perhaps you quit without a new job to go
to. How did you handle the stress and fear of wondering where your next
paycheck was going to come from? What advice would you give to someone
concerned about their job security or someone desperately wanting to leave a
bad situation but afraid to?
...And Make It Real Creative:
By Trent Rentsch
When faced with fear, some Creatives like to invent little make-believe
worlds and hide in them, believing that if they ignore whatever they fear,
it isn't real. Its a dream world, where they cant face their fears and wont
make their dreams reality. My own dream is a basic yet important one growing
old with the woman I love, watching our children grow and have families of
their own. Its time for this Creative to make it real.
RAP Forum: Radio Rewind - A look back through the lava
lamp
By Mike Harrison
...for those who don't know what its like to warm-up a tape machine,
slip-cue a record, or make a "network join" by back-timing an instrumental
into a PSA and then reading a live promo before hitting the ID in time to
make the join this is for you. Just imagining the terror of your alarm clock
not going off on time was enough to keep you awake nights during your first
weeks as Morning Show host on your local radio station. Getting up at 4:30am
meant going to sleep at 8:30pm, so who knew what a social life was? But you
did it for your new love. Radio.
Monday Morning Memo: Branding, Branding, Branding
By Roy H. Williams
People say the word "branding" as though its a mysterious and complex
proposition. But when you peel off all the layers of hype, it comes down to
this - if Advertising is "getting your name out," then Branding is simply
"attaching something to your name." A brand is simply the sum total of all
the mental associations, good and bad, that are triggered by a name. What
does your name stand for in the mind of the public? What are the
associations triggered by "(fill in your name here)?"
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