September 2006 RAP
September 2006 Highlights
Feature: Production People are from Mars! Sales People
are from Uranus!
by Yaman Coskun
This could be a typical television talk show with untypical guests. On
stage is a couple with marital problems. Both committed to the marriage but
not to each other. But, this is no ordinary marriage. This is the War of The
Radio Roses. She is in radio sales. He is in radio creative. Their symbolic
marriage is bound by the radio station they work for. Their children are the
commercials (most of whom are hideous). It is, inevitably, a dysfunctional
family. Their ongoing friction is about to cost them their marriage. They
both blame each other for the problem. He says she doesn’t get it. She says
he doesn’t. Can this relationship be salvaged? Can this radio sales rep and
this radio producer find a common ground? Can they embrace each other’s
differences and make nicer children? Can they both finally "get it?"
Interview: Robert F. Potter, Institute for
Communications Research, Indiana University
By Jerry Vigil
Google “Radio And Production” (in quotes) and you’ll get about 1000 hits.
Deep in that collection you’ll find a page that details a serious research
experiment using RAP Award winning promos over the course of several years
to study the effect on the listener of the “complexity” of the promo. Are
those zips and zaps and special effects just candy for “our” ears, or do
they really do the job of getting the listener’s attention and assisting in
driving home that message? That’s the kind of questions Robert F. Potter has
fun answering as the Director of the Institute for Communication Research at
Indiana University. Join us as we visit with Robert and take a look at the
fascinating work he has been doing, taking a scientific look at the little
things we do in our studios, most often intuitively, to make our spots and
promos jump out of the radio.
Test Drive: Power Suite 5 from WaveArts
By Steve Cunningham
This month’s review tackles Wave Arts’ Power Suite 5 bundle, which
arrived on my doorstep at half-price courtesy of a group buy on the
logic-users.org website. You see, in an effort to find the best plugs at the
lowest prices, I keep a sharp eye out for group-buy deals (see the February
2005 issue of RAP for the 411 on group buys). Okay, okay, I’m also an audio
software addict, and I needed a fix. Fine. Whatever. In any event, this
bundle presents a whole mess of useful choices. A collection of five audio
processing plugins for Mac and PC, the Power Suite includes reverb, EQ,
compression, limiting, and spatial enhancement. Each of the plugins has deep
levels of control, and Wave Arts has engineered them to be CPU-efficient,
which means you can run many instances simultaneously.
Production 212: When Counting Counts
By Dave Foxx
I know, I’ve promised that following my advice in this column would
result in huge raises from the boss, job offers pouring in and even
ecclesiastic shouting from the rooftop. To those who have not yet
experienced these things by following my advice, here’s a quarter… buy a
clue. I have passed along some excellent advice though on how to improve
your production, and I’ve noticed the difference in the production people
send to me for critiques. This month’s column won’t result in any of the
above at all, mainly because it’s very subtle. In fact, most of your
listeners will never know the difference… at first. Once they DO notice,
they won’t be able to put their finger on what it is – they’ll just like it
more. From a producer’s point of view, this is what sets great production
apart from truly spectacular production.
Q It Up: The RAP Network Speaks! - Do You Have a
Nightmare Client?
Q It Up: Nightmare Clients. Do you have one? More than
likely, you have at least one client that you dread dealing with. Perhaps
they come into the studio and spend three hours on one spot. Or they insist
on bringing their entire staff along to impress them and waste your day. Or
maybe they’re revision addicts. Maybe they’re just obnoxious people. Do you
have a nightmare client? Tell us about him/her, what they do to destroy your
day, and what you do to deal with it. For the sake of saving your job,
you’re more than welcome to change the identity of your nightmare client,
but let’s keep the story real. Purpose of this Q It Up question? To vent, to
remind us all we’re not alone with our nightmare clients, and hopefully, to
share some ways of dealing with these people that will help us the next time
the client from hell calls.
Feature: Seven Dirty Words
by Ed Thompson
There are 7 dirty words that should never, ever be used in a radio
commercial. Not the 7 words that got George Carlin in trouble with the FCC
back in the ‘70s. Nope. I’m referring to those seven words that make up a
phone number. Why? It’s because the human brain is not designed to remember
a series of numbers. It’s designed for language. In other words, words.
Descriptive and evocative words which the brain translates into pictures to
understand and communicate ideas. It’s genetic. A million years of evolution
have deemed it so and no amount of repeated readings of a phone number in a
radio commercial will change that. That’s like hoping a pig will fly if you
just keep asking it to do so.
Feature: Joe College
by Craig Jackman
This year, as I have for the past couple, I had the chance to judge the
audio portion of production demos of the graduating class of the Radio
Broadcasting program at the local community college, for their annual awards
ceremonies. I am also a proud graduate of the predecessor to this program,
so it’s something I’m pleased to do. If the trend I’m hearing over the past
couple of years holds up, "Joe College" is not going to be a derogatory term
for very much longer.
Radio Hed: Show, Don't Tell
By Jeffrey Hedquist
Don’t just tell listeners about your advertiser’s product or service,
engage their imaginations and show them. Radio’s a great medium for product
or service demonstrations. In Chuck Blore’s classic commercial for Zee paper
towels, he used the repeating sound of paper towels being torn from a roll
throughout the spot to make the point that Zee had more sheets than the
competition. It worked better than just describing that feature.
...And Make It Real Creative:
By Trent Rentsch
There are certain facts you need to know: 1. South Dakota State
University is in Brookings, SD. 2. The University of South Dakota is in
Vermillion, SD, some 115 miles South of SDSU/Brookings. 3. My daughter had a
boyfriend in Vermillion, but that ended a year ago. Recently she moved to
Brookings with another young man to attend South Dakota State. 4. Visits
back to South Dakota usually mean at least one surprise, generally supplied
by my daughter. Now that we’re all on the same page, let me tell you how I
spent part of my summer vacation.
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