April 2002 RAP
April 2002 Highlights
Feature: To Thine Own Self...
By Michael R. Lee, Ph.D.
We live in strange, uncertain, scary times. It seems like it began some
18 months ago when we elected a new President with less than half of the
popular vote. We were subjected to chad and re-counts and the realization
that good politicians were as hard or harder to find than ever.
The stock market had been soaring. A lot of people made a lot of money
without ever engaging in anything resembling work. Prosperity meant
miniscule unemployment, record levels of conspicuous consumption and wealth
suddenly widespread in a younger generation than ever before. Dotcoms ruled,
profits were irrelevant, hey mom look-at-my-Porsche.
Interview: Jeff Schmidt, KFOG, San Francisco, CA
By Jerry Vigil
What happens when you take a hard-hitting Alternative imaging producer
and stick him in an adult format? If the creative chef is Jeff Schmidt, you
get a very cool sounding adult station. For the past five years, Jeff has
been molding a fresh approach to AAA imaging at Susquehanna's KFOG in San
Francisco. This months RAP Interview gets a close look at the imaging
evolution that took place at KFOG, and we get some nice tips from an imaging
producer who has a tight grip on imaging from both the conceptual and the
technical side of the art. Be sure to check out Jeff's amazing demo on this
months RAP CD!
Test Drive: Marantz PMD690 Portable PC Card Recorder
By Steve Cunningham
Throughout the many years Ive recorded audio in the field, I have to say
that I've never been completely happy with portable recorders. Ive still got
an expensive portable cassette recorder that I use for interviews its
reliable enough but its noisy. The early portable DAT recorders were
promising, as well as amazingly expensive and often fragile. The current
crop is now reasonably rugged and the price has come down, but its still
DAT, and I see less of that as time goes on. The portable MiniDisc recorders
are pretty good, but I just don't like MiniDisc... call it an eccentricity.
And lately Ive been drooling over a laptop solution with a Titanium
Powerbook and a Firewire-based in/out box, but thats expensive too. While it
certainly would be portable, you couldn't exactly walk around with it
collecting sound effects. So when our esteemed editor asked me to review
Marantz's PMD690 Portable PC Card Recorder, I was all over it.
Production 212: A Fresh New Z100
By Dave Foxx
A few people noticed that I missed writing this column in last months
issue of Radio And Production. (OK, my mom noticed.) Those who've been
listening to Z100 over the last several weeks know why. A few weeks ago,
Z100 introduced a re-invented version of itself, a new style across the
board from bumpers to tweeners, and every sweeper, stager and promo in
between. Every producer has been through this process at least once in
his/her career. Its a grueling schedule for several weeks leading up to the
event, taxing both the body and mind. Every sweeper has to be developed from
the ground up, every stager carefully pieced together. Most importantly, it
all has to have some sort of cohesive sound that can become the signature of
the radio station -- a sort of
"hello-this-is-THIS-station-and-not-any-other" sound that modern marketing
gurus like to call a brand. Regardless of how much filigree surrounds the
sound, any listener has to be able to recognize the stations stamp
immediately.
Q It Up: The RAP Network Speaks - Your Multi-track
DAW--Likes, Dislikes, Wishlist - Part 2
By Jerry Vigil
Q It Up: What software or hardware do you do your
multi-track production on? Audicy? Cool Edit Pro? Vegas? Something else?
What are your likes and dislikes about the multi-track system you use? If
you could have any system available, regardless of cost, would you keep the
same one you have now, or would you get something else? What would you get
and why?
Radio Hed: Tags, Inserts, Donuts, Pretzels
By Jeffrey Hedquist
Certain kinds of structures for radio spots can provide inexpensive ways
of getting more mileage out of a campaign - making them more immediate. They
allow an advertiser such as a retailer to update spots almost on the spur of
the moment, breathing fresh life into a campaign and yet keeping it
consistent. But there may be more creative ways to this than were used to.
Library Review: Noise 3 from Omega Productions
By John Pellegrini
The gang at Omega is up to it again with the introduction of Noise 3.
Picking up where they left off on Noise 1 and 2, Noise 3 contains 110 tracks
of insane sounds, stingers, zaps, and other wild effects to blow your
imaging out of the water. As I mentioned in my previous review of their
products, Omega has only been around for about 10 years, so you don't have
to worry about it being over-used in too many markets already. Besides,
Noise 3 is brand new as of January this year.
...And Make It Real Creative:
By Trent Rentsch
When was the last time you exercised your vocal cords? Of course, you use
them every day; you voice 20-30 ads, possibly pull an air shift too. What Im
talking about is really putting them through their paces, running through
all the characters you know how to do, practicing the words you usually have
to stumble over when they come up in a script, or just plain warming up your
voice with more than hot coffee in the morning.
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