September 2008 RAP
September 2008 Highlights
Production 212: Fiddle With It
by Dave Foxx
I'm not exactly sure why the timing works out this way, whether it’s an
influx of new producers or, more likely, we all develop a forgetfulness in
the late summer/early Fall, but I always seem to get a huge stack of
requests to talk about EQ and compression in this space, right about this
time of year. Considering that these two intertwined topics are so
fundamental to what we do, I figure that a quick refresher is always in
order. So buckle down troops, it’s primer time. Skip reading this month’s
column if you’re a seasoned pro, or not, if you want to really fine-tune
your skills.
Feature: Produce Dave Foxx!
by YOU!
For those of you who’ve been playing along, this month’s RAP CD features
the submissions we received this past month for our "Produce Dave Foxx!"
feature. Dave supplied a voice track for a promo, and you got to produce it,
any way you liked. This month, we get an interesting look at how different
producers tackle the same task. This offers an unusual opportunity to more
closely examine some of the various "styles" of production out there,
enabling us to more precisely focus on exactly what it is we like or dislike
about a particular approach, what we think "works" and doesn’t work, which
hopefully will benefit us when we produce our next promo.
We’ve asked Dave Foxx to give these promos a good listen and offer his
analysis of what he hears. Look forward to that next month! And the thought
occurred… wouldn’t it be interesting to hear YOUR analysis too? So, feel
free to submit your take on what you hear, or just your thoughts on the
exercise in general. Email your comments to jv@rapmag.com by September 12.
If we get enough participation and good feedback to this exercise, we may
make this a regular feature! Thanks to all who participated!
Interview: Jim Kipping, Emmis Broadcasting, Austin,
Texas
by Jerry Vigil
How many times have you said, “One of these days… I’m going to buy me a
piece of land outside of town and build my dream home, with my dream
studio”? That’s what Jim Kipping said some 9 years ago when we last
interviewed him in May of 1999. In fact, he had just purchased 11 acres near
Willie Nelson’s home outside of Austin, Texas. This month’s RAP Interview
checks in on this dream, which is in the final stages of completion – a
fabulous home he calls, Il Poggio Secco, Italian for “the dry hill.” Keeping
with the Italian theme, the house features a tile roof, picturesque views
from the windows overlooking the Texas Hill Country and the Pedernales
River, ornate décor throughout, and of course, his soon-to-be dream studio.
Did he hit the lottery? No. This is a simple story of vision and hard work,
even while maintaining a demanding full-time job, which he still holds as
Creative Services Director at Emmis Broadcasting’s Austin properties. An in
his spare time, Jim has managed to cut his niche in the national voice-over
business. Jim tells us what’s new at Emmis Austin, how he’s managed to grow
his VO business, and what it has taken to bring his dream to fruition. Check
out this month’s RAP CD for a sample of the excellent work his crew is
churning out at the stations, and check out his website at
www.jimkipping.com for more on Il Poggio Secco.
Test Drive: Flux Audio Plug-ins
by Steve Cunningham
I know I’ve mentioned this several times in previous months, but I’m
still in search of alternatives to Waves’ plug-ins and their annual upgrade
program fee (cleverly referred to as WUP, or Waves Update Program). As much
as I love the Waves plug-ins and how they sound, their habit of charging me
every year for the right to continue to use the product that I’ve already
paid for grates on me. To be fair, about a year ago they significantly
reduced the annual fee, from unbelievable to only slightly usury.
Nevertheless, I’m still on the lookout for plug-ins that sound as good as
Waves products, but don’t grab my wallet every year.
Over the past several weeks, I’ve test driven a set of plug-ins from a
French company known as Flux Sound and Picture Development, or Flux for
short. I first ran into their products while scouring the web for free
plug-ins. Turns out they make two of them, they work well, and of course the
price is right. Flux also make a commercial series of dynamics and EQ plugs
which, while a bit quirky, also work well. All of the company’s plug-ins are
available for Pro Tools as RTAS and Audio Suite plugs on both Windows and
Mac platforms, as well as VST for Windows and Audio Units for Macintosh.
They can all handle up to eight channels of audio simultaneously, at sample
rates up to 384 kHz.
Feature: I Zune, You Zune, Everybody Zune Zune
by Ed Thompson
I have joined the enemy. I own an MP3 player. I bought an 8G Microsoft®
Zune™ in July and I love it. Mike and Mike in the Morning don’t love me so
much anymore. Why, because I’m listening to the MLB Gameday Replay podcast
on my way into work instead of the ESPN Radio morning show on our Sports
Talk station. It’s not because Mike and Mike aren’t putting on a good show,
just the opposite. They’re very entertaining. They have interesting guests.
It’s a tightly produced show. It’s just, they also talk about… football!
Yeah. They talk about football, and basketball, and tennis and other sports
when it’s baseball season. Between the beginning of April and the end of
October, I couldn’t care less about any sport other than baseball. I don’t
want to have to wait for an interview with Peter Gammons or Buster Olney
because Greenie and Golic are talking about the NFL draft or the latest in
the Brett Favre soap opera. I wanna know how the Tampa Bay Rays are on their
way to the best season in the team’s history. I wanna hear about the
National League Central race between my Cubs and those damned Brewers. Well,
with my Zune, I can.
Stewart Byers: 1960-2008
Fellow RAPster, Stewart Byars, lost his battle with cancer this past
July. Stewart was featured in the RAP Interview, May 2005. Stewart became
the first RAP Awards contestant to tie himself for first place in a
category, taking home two trophies for Small Market Promo in the 2004 RAP
Awards.
Longtime friend and co-worker, Misty Menees adds: “I would like for you to
know that being featured in your magazine was one of the highlights of his
career. His RAP Awards and article were even on display at his memorial
yesterday. That article on him in 2004 led him to get many calls from larger
markets. Eventually he left small town radio for a time and he worked for
Clear Channel in Memphis for a year before returning back to NW Tennessee in
2006. He had battled cancer this past year. Thank you for recognizing
someone with amazing talent in radio production. I worked with him for 12
years at WCMT/WCDZ/Thunderbolt Broadcasting in Martin, Tennessee and
encouraged him to enter your awards back in 2004. He always thought it was
great that he tied himself for first place in the Promo category that year.
You can read the story about his passing at
www.nwtntoday.com/news.php?viewStory=14186.”
Radio Hed: Customers Say the Darndest Things
by Jeffrey Hedquist
I’m rediscovering the joys of collecting customer stories. It’s one of
the easiest ways to break writers block. We know that some of the best
commercials are stories – about listeners. If a listener can visualize him
or herself in a commercial story, then we’re on our way to success. We can
develop stories from lifestyle research on the demographic and psychographic
groups we want to reach; we can pull stories from our clients or from our
own lives, but there’s something fresh and unexpected about the stories that
customers tell.
...And Make It Real Creative - “No Man is an Island”
by Trent Rentsch
Life, they outta sell tickets. Just when I think I’ve seen it all in this
business of Creative, a new curve ball spins in. The latest came from a
video-production friend I was producing music for. Now, I’ve dangled my big
toe in music waters for years, but I’m far from an expert, so to say I
stressed out a lot about getting it right is an understatement. My hand was
actually shaking when I finally clicked the mouse and sent the first draft
to his inbox. All that was left to do was hold my breath and wait for
changes. That’s when it happened. Not more than 10 minutes after I sent it
to him, an email came back. “Uh Oh,” I thought. That quick, he must… like
it? Yep, he did, a lot. In fact, he seemed beyond pleased… with my first
stab! Wow. As the weight of the world slipped off my shoulders, I began to
wonder why I expected the worst. It didn’t take long to come up with the
answer.
The Monday Morning Memo: What’s Holding Your Business
Back?
by Roy H. Williams
If I were to ask you what’s limiting your growth, you’d likely tell me,
“Traffic. If we had more traffic, we’d make more sales. What we need is more
traffic.” But traffic is rarely the problem. It’s simply the byproduct of a
problem you haven’t been able to see. These are the Four Most Common
invisible problems that limit your selling opportunities:
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