High as a kite.
Just passed my broadcast certification test. Like it or not, I'm now officially a radio broadcaster. Had some interesting moments tonight in the Control Room, while writing out scripts to go on air five minutes away and timing them for the breaks literally thinking "jeezus -- Edward R. Murrow did this. Daniel Schorr did this. Back in the thirties. Some things just never change." (I never said I don't suffer delusions of grandeur -- now only if we could get the Germans to start bombing London again, I'd find myself a nice rooftop!)
To quote Steve Shadley -- "not only do they let me drive, they let me talk on the radio. What a country!"
Hosted "This American Life", "All Things Considered" and "Radio Theatre" tonight. The more I'm in the control room the greater my confidence becomes, and it comes through loud and clear on air. No trouble hitting the right buttons and sliders tonight -- biggest "goof" was starting the 5:38:30 weather forecast at 5:38:27, since that's when the funding credit clearly ended. I got itchy and sorta jumped the gun. Result? The music bed on the satellite feed from NPR changed three seconds into my weather. Not terribly smooth, but no biggie -- that's how you learn.
Next biggest mistake, which I discovered on hearing my aircheck, was basically having one of my music beds too low, since I was watching the meters more than listening to myself at the time. Third biggest was not having enough stuff scripted for one of my 30 second breaks, and saying the call letters *twice* in the same break, once at the beginning, once at the end -- better too often than not enough, but it would be obvious to critical listeners that I just ran out of things to say and fell back on "legal ID". There's always room for improvement and fine tuning, and I think at least my intent was correct: no one wants to hear music blaring *over* a soft-spoken announcer, and struggle to hear the weather, which is way more important than the underlying music which just serves to relax listeners (and me).
Otherwise, things went pretty smoothly -- even managed having my own music beds beneath my voice. The last break, I swear, sounded like I was having a party in the control room, what with the funky Hammond B3 as I forward-announced the next couple of programs, just slopping over with near-lunatic enthusiasm encouraging our listeners to stay tuned for a great evening of interesting, engaging programs. (If the announcer sounds interested, he may interest the listeners in staying tuned. If the announcer's just "holding down the fort" for his shift, listeners will probably tune out when the program they're listening to ends. At least that is my theory and I'm sticking with it -- part of my job is to keep them glued to their receivers long after I've signed off the log.)
Took my first call from a listener, too; a guy who *really* disliked one of NPR's promos. Recommended he get in touch with the program director, which I understand is the proper thing to do, and logged his comment in the non-equipment log. He *really* wanted to talk about how this promo for tomorrow's Morning Edition story was "militaristic". Uhm -- maybe it was, maybe it wasn't; I honestly don't know! I was in no position to agree or disagree with him, since at the time it was airing I was busy yelling "STANDBY" down the hall to the youngsters who seemed to be throwing a party in the music library and preparing to go on air, memorizing the order in which I had to manipulate various buttons and sliders on board, and breathing deeply so I wouldn't sound like Walter Winchell ("FLASH!!!JoanMansfieldDiesInHorrificCarCrash!!!"). All I know about the promo is that I heard the word "Iran". The exchange was surprisingly pleasant -- I just kept in mind that a few years ago it might have been *me* calling up the control room to complain about NPR, so I took him seriously, told him who to get in touch with, explained that I hadn't really heard it since I was running the board, and logged his comment. Listener feedback *does* count. (In retrospect, I should have given him Jeffrey Dvorkin's number, probably.)
Here's the link to my half-hour Uranium special, which aired Thursday:
We have *way* complicated weather reports on KUNM. It's not just current conditions and forecasts for Albuquerque, because our listening area's huge, as this state goes. The main transmitter's well placed high atop Sandia Crest, where the signal goes out to most of the flat lands surrounding the mountain ridge. Then the signal gets rebroadcast at different frequencies through several different translators, providing coverage for outlying areas in different terrains. So weather's never just about *one* place -- it's about five or six different places with sometimes wildly different conditions. Five places will be fine (e.g., "continued partly cloudy with chances of precipitation tapering off near the end of the week") but that sixth will be expecting catastrophic hailstorms and we *have to* get that information out to listeners affected. Lucky for me it was nothing so dramatic today, but hearing the weather's a basic public service our listeners in *all* areas have a right to *expect*.
Finally -- I posted some cameraphone pictures that have been cluttering my cellphone on the RMC Supplement. Enjoy.
To quote Steve Shadley -- "not only do they let me drive, they let me talk on the radio. What a country!"
Hosted "This American Life", "All Things Considered" and "Radio Theatre" tonight. The more I'm in the control room the greater my confidence becomes, and it comes through loud and clear on air. No trouble hitting the right buttons and sliders tonight -- biggest "goof" was starting the 5:38:30 weather forecast at 5:38:27, since that's when the funding credit clearly ended. I got itchy and sorta jumped the gun. Result? The music bed on the satellite feed from NPR changed three seconds into my weather. Not terribly smooth, but no biggie -- that's how you learn.
Next biggest mistake, which I discovered on hearing my aircheck, was basically having one of my music beds too low, since I was watching the meters more than listening to myself at the time. Third biggest was not having enough stuff scripted for one of my 30 second breaks, and saying the call letters *twice* in the same break, once at the beginning, once at the end -- better too often than not enough, but it would be obvious to critical listeners that I just ran out of things to say and fell back on "legal ID". There's always room for improvement and fine tuning, and I think at least my intent was correct: no one wants to hear music blaring *over* a soft-spoken announcer, and struggle to hear the weather, which is way more important than the underlying music which just serves to relax listeners (and me).
Otherwise, things went pretty smoothly -- even managed having my own music beds beneath my voice. The last break, I swear, sounded like I was having a party in the control room, what with the funky Hammond B3 as I forward-announced the next couple of programs, just slopping over with near-lunatic enthusiasm encouraging our listeners to stay tuned for a great evening of interesting, engaging programs. (If the announcer sounds interested, he may interest the listeners in staying tuned. If the announcer's just "holding down the fort" for his shift, listeners will probably tune out when the program they're listening to ends. At least that is my theory and I'm sticking with it -- part of my job is to keep them glued to their receivers long after I've signed off the log.)
Took my first call from a listener, too; a guy who *really* disliked one of NPR's promos. Recommended he get in touch with the program director, which I understand is the proper thing to do, and logged his comment in the non-equipment log. He *really* wanted to talk about how this promo for tomorrow's Morning Edition story was "militaristic". Uhm -- maybe it was, maybe it wasn't; I honestly don't know! I was in no position to agree or disagree with him, since at the time it was airing I was busy yelling "STANDBY" down the hall to the youngsters who seemed to be throwing a party in the music library and preparing to go on air, memorizing the order in which I had to manipulate various buttons and sliders on board, and breathing deeply so I wouldn't sound like Walter Winchell ("FLASH!!!JoanMansfieldDiesInHorrificCarCrash!!!"). All I know about the promo is that I heard the word "Iran". The exchange was surprisingly pleasant -- I just kept in mind that a few years ago it might have been *me* calling up the control room to complain about NPR, so I took him seriously, told him who to get in touch with, explained that I hadn't really heard it since I was running the board, and logged his comment. Listener feedback *does* count. (In retrospect, I should have given him Jeffrey Dvorkin's number, probably.)
Here's the link to my half-hour Uranium special, which aired Thursday:
NRC May Be Changing its Uranium Mining Regulationsnow available, thanks to Sam and Craig, as an mp3 file. (Way better than the RealAudio streaming thing they used to use, IMO.)
We have *way* complicated weather reports on KUNM. It's not just current conditions and forecasts for Albuquerque, because our listening area's huge, as this state goes. The main transmitter's well placed high atop Sandia Crest, where the signal goes out to most of the flat lands surrounding the mountain ridge. Then the signal gets rebroadcast at different frequencies through several different translators, providing coverage for outlying areas in different terrains. So weather's never just about *one* place -- it's about five or six different places with sometimes wildly different conditions. Five places will be fine (e.g., "continued partly cloudy with chances of precipitation tapering off near the end of the week") but that sixth will be expecting catastrophic hailstorms and we *have to* get that information out to listeners affected. Lucky for me it was nothing so dramatic today, but hearing the weather's a basic public service our listeners in *all* areas have a right to *expect*.
Finally -- I posted some cameraphone pictures that have been cluttering my cellphone on the RMC Supplement. Enjoy.
posted by xeltifon at 8:51 PM
1 Comments:
Fantastic work dude. I'm really happy for you. I'm listening to the report right now and it sounds incredibly well done. The sound clips are especially well done, as I imagine its quite difficult to capture audio like this clearly. Your voice sounds different on the radio too, heh.
The way you describe the weather reports sounds like what it is in Northern California. The weather at the coast is drastically different compared to the bayside, in the inland valleys, and in the mountains. Forecasters have to give predictions for 4-5 different climates.
So who do I call to request a song?;)
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