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How Much Modulation is Enough for Music on AM?

vchimpanzee said:
Again, you didn't day how.
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Ack.. I'm so sorry, I've been super unfocused lately!

If you can send me a PM, I can send you a URL to the server I've set my stream up on, and a username/password to use to log into it. From there, you can listen on your computer/phone/whatever, either through the browser or via your choice of media player, with the only requirement being that it supports password protected streams (I'm considering dropping the password protection at some point because I don't think many players support it).

c
 
cc333 said:
Nothing that much knowledge of radio beyond that of a dedicated and discerning listener. Just listen and let me know how the programming is, the sound quality, the flow from song to song, and any thoughts regarding song selection. If you can PM me, I can send you the link and set you up with a username/password.

TL, DR Version: I want something that is a tasteful blend of KABL, KFRC and KYA with a hint of various other similar stations to provide some glue and make it more interesting.

I'm striving to have a fairly wide selection of what might be considered MOR, with some easy listening, soft oldies, etc. I can't please everyone, but I want to try to have a fairly neutral sound that is relatively unoffensive and uncontroversial. Imm not trying to push any boundaries!

For now, there's no imaging, only music. I want to get the playlist settled before I worry about jingles and voice-tracking.

Am I being too ambitious?

c
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It seems more like oldies than standards so far. I'm going to go back to the online radio station that I like for now.

I listen to a similar station in the car, but that's the best I can do when I'm there.
 
I understand. I've been skewing heavily toward oldies so far, but I'm working on adding more standards.

What is that online station you listen to? Serenade Radio?

c
 
cc333 said:
I understand. I've been skewing heavily toward oldies so far, but I'm working on adding more standards.

What is that online station you listen to? Serenade Radio?

c
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That's one of them.

I know of one time I'll be able to listen. From 2 to 4 Eastern on Sundays that station has a show I don't like.
 
OK.

I don't have shows, it's just a constant stream of music, so tune in whenever.

I'll work on adding more standards. If you're into swing/Big Band, I have a big CD box set of Count Basie material I've been meaning to add, along with some others (Glen Miller, etc.)

c
 
Kelly A said:
Wait, VChimp streams?? I'd better run outside to see if Hell has frozen over.
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How did you think I listened to music at home? When America's Best Music was dropped by my local station, I found another affiliate in Portland, Oregon. By the time that station switched to Vietnamese, I had faster Internet and switched to station in Wisconsin.
 
cc333 said:
OK.

I don't have shows, it's just a constant stream of music, so tune in whenever.

I'll work on adding more standards. If you're into swing/Big Band, I have a big CD box set of Count Basie material I've been meaning to add, along with some others (Glen Miller, etc.)

c
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It's sounding much more like Serenade Radio now. That station has a show I don't like right now so I'll be listening for the next two hours.
 
Here's my impression so far. You keep jumping back and forth from one format to another every few minutes. The songs don't seem to go together as well as they do on the established stations.

All the songs are good so far (except this one guy screaming the word "cry"), but they just don't seem like they are in one format. And there are some songs that would fit because they're in between the two styles, but I haven't heard them.
 
This is precisely the kind of feedback I wanted! Thank you very much!

I had programmed the automation to intersperse oldies in with the more easy listening stuff as an experiment to increase the variety of what's being played (otherwise, there's lots of repeats, since my easy listening library isn't as large as the oldies library at this point). I stopped that just now, so now it should have a more consistent sound. I was aiming for an increase in variety because, as mentioned, repeats, but I guess it did clash rather hard, so I'll consider this experiment a failure for now.

In other words, hopefully it will sound a bit better now that I've reprogrammed the automation for straight easy listening.

c
 
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Okay, one more song I need to mention. That Lee Hazlewood duet with Nancy Sinatra was one of the few songs on WERT I didn't care for. I don't like his voice or the way the song goes back and forth between sweet and edgy.
 
vchimpanzee said:
Okay, one more song I need to mention. That Lee Hazlewood duet with Nancy Sinatra was one of the few songs on WERT I didn't care for. I don't like his voice or the way the song goes back and forth between sweet and edgy.
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Again, we are talking about a tiny station in a very small city. We don’t expect them to research music or programming and assume that the “fly by the seat of their pants”.

And isn’t a WERT something you go to a dermatologist to have removed?
 
OK!

I'll note that song. I happen to like it, but I think you're right. It would probably fit better in the oldies library than the easy listening one, as it didn't flow quite right for a pure easy listening format. I'm aiming to more or less emulate the sound of America's Best Music as it aired on KABL toward the end of it's run in 2004, so maybe the occasional aberration like that is acceptable, but I don't know. I'm a complete beginner when it comes to programming, so I'm learning.

That said, the way I'm thinking right now, is that I'll do regular oldies and more upbeat stuff during the week, and then do the easy listening and softer oldies more predominantly during the weekends. I'd like to also do EL overnights during the week, if I could figure out a cheap/free automation software that has dayparting functionality that isn't behind a paywall (I'm currently using PlayIt Live, which has dayparting functionality, but I must pay several hundred dollars per month (!) to subscribe, which I'm not going to do. The FOSS software Liquidsoap might be an alternative, but it's rather complicated looking).

In the meantime, I'm stuck with rather crude scheduling that I have to manually adjust most of the time unless I want to build 24-48 hours worth of playlist by hand....

DavidEduardo said:
Again, we are talking about a tiny station in a very small city. We don’t expect them to research music or programming and assume that the “fly by the seat of their pants”.
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Well, at a population of roughly 60,000 split across three cities, I wouldn't consider it "very small." Perhaps it is relative to some place like New York City, but it seems fairly large to me!

The "fly by the seat of their pants" part is totally right, however!

I am, however, trying to make an effort to research programming so I can sound at least like I'm trying to have a proper format. Hence this thread, which probably would make more sense in one of the programming oriented subforums at this point, since it has strayed away from the technicalities of modulation at this point, but whatever.

c
 
Are you a member of my Facebook group? I mentioned this thread over there, and if what I have heard the past hour and a half is what it's going to sound like, they might want to list it with the other stations.
 
DavidEduardo said:
Again, we are talking about a tiny station in a very small city. We don’t expect them to research music or programming and assume that the “fly by the seat of their pants”.
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Regardless, they seemed to know what I like. According to Wikipedia they got their music from Satellite Music Networks/ABC/Citadel when it was satellite-based, and then I guess added what the people in charge liked to what they had heard on the satellite.
 
vchimpanzee said:
Are you a member of my Facebook group? I mentioned this thread over there, and if what I have heard the past hour and a half is what it's going to sound like, they might want to list it with the other stations.
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That's an intriguing thought, but I'd have to get licensed first, and to do that, I need money.

I avoid FB like the plague, so I'm not a member of your group, nor am I ever likely to be. I hope that's OK?

c
 
cc333 said:
That's an intriguing thought, but I'd have to get licensed first, and to do that, I need money.

I avoid FB like the plague, so I'm not a member of your group, nor am I ever likely to be. I hope that's OK?

c
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Okay. But I'm sure they'd like to know about your station.
 
cc333 said:
OK!

I'll note that song. I happen to like it, but I think you're right. It would probably fit better in the oldies library than the easy listening one, as it didn't flow quite right for a pure easy listening format. I'm aiming to more or less emulate the sound of America's Best Music as it aired on KABL toward the end of it's run in 2004, so maybe the occasional aberration like that is acceptable, but I don't know. I'm a complete beginner when it comes to programming, so I'm learning.

That said, the way I'm thinking right now, is that I'll do regular oldies and more upbeat stuff during the week, and then do the easy listening and softer oldies more predominantly during the weekends. I'd like to also do EL overnights during the week, if I could figure out a cheap/free automation software that has dayparting functionality that isn't behind a paywall (I'm currently using PlayIt Live, which has dayparting functionality, but I must pay several hundred dollars per month (!) to subscribe, which I'm not going to do. The FOSS software Liquidsoap might be an alternative, but it's rather complicated looking).
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So here's a question for you: Since VChimp is able to listen to your play-station, that means technically you're streaming music. Have you signed up for Sound Exchange, ASCAP, and BMI?
 
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