Pierre, WMMR, and live "swooshing" Vinyl

[musicrrrr]

Early afternoon on Friday I was listening to Pierre on WMMR. He took an actual vinyl record album and dropped the needle on every track LIVE ON THE AIR and played a few bars from every cut on the first side of the album. Then he TURNED IT OVER LIVE ON THE AIR and did the same thing on the second side.

Then he proceeded to actually pick a song and "cued" the record up LIVE ON THE AIR AGAIN. When I say "cued" I mean he purposely had the turntable pot open on the board and the listeners heard the "swooshing" sound of the album being cued up for airplay. (This is how albums are cued for radio. DJ's "cue" the record OFF of the air and can listen to the songs through a "cue" speaker. This way when they START the turntable the needle is only a few inches away from the start of the track. It makes for TIGHT airplay.)

But Pierre was having fun "swooshing" the record live on the air in the middle of the afternoon! I could tell it was an album because the sound quality wasnt as crystal clear as a digitally re-mastered CD copy would have been. But I was digging it! It was cool to hear.

Apparently the feedback from the listeners was so good he said he may make it a regular feature on WMMR.

 

[Wil]

I was listening to Pierre at that time too, and I also enjoyed it. I got a kick out of how enthusiastic Pierre was about playing something on vinyl, it came across great on the air.

 

[JH_Radio]

Woah cool! Now I wish I was back in Philly to hear how that sounded! I'm verry curious! I'm curious exactly how that is done.... It'd be cool to try this at home with my SL-1200 MK2.
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John
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[OldNumber7]

> Woah cool! Now I wish I was back in Philly to hear how that
> sounded! I'm verry curious! I'm curious exactly how that is
> done.... It'd be cool to try this at home with my SL-1200
> MK2.
>
Nothing challenging about it. You can do it with just about any direct drive turntable (although it's easier with manual models like yours that allow a one button stop with the needle already tracking on the record). Drop the needle in the quiet band of the album while it's spinning, when you get to the first note of the desired track press stop and turn the turntable back about a third of a turn beyond the first note (so you can fire the TT at the desired time and it will be up to full speed by the time the first note hits). Tracks on live albums, with crowd noise fade-ins, have a particular whooshing sound of their own (and were tricky to cue for good-sounding radio airplay). God, I can't believe this is becoming a "lost art"!
Be advised, most home turntable styli aren't really designed for this and could break fairly easily if you do it too much. But there are more durable pro models out there.

 

[OldNumber7]

Lesson #2: Slip cueing

In addition to everything I said above, the advanced technique is called "slip cueing." Once you find the first note, spin it back just an inch or so and hold the edge of the disc with your index finger with the turntable spinning at full speed beneath it. Then release the record at the exact moment you want it to play. This technique allows tighter mixes since you don't have to allow for the time needed for the turntable to get up to speed.

 

[gethigh]

> I was listening to Pierre at that time too, and I also
> enjoyed it. I got a kick out of how enthusiastic Pierre was
> about playing something on vinyl, it came across great on
> the air.
>
I too heard Pierre as he strolled over to the air studio where old vinyl is kept. It was what prompted him to go get vinyl that I thought was funny. If you remember Guns and roses was playing and the CD began to skip. Pierre then came on and asked "What the hell was that?" and he began a long tirad about CD's which led him to hunt out Vinyl in the archives of WMMR. It was a nice segment that only WMMR can get away with because it was quite a looooooong break that Pierre did. It's special moments like that which make Pierre and WMMR special to the radio listener.

 

[Jim_Hicks]

Re: Lesson #2: Slip cueing

When I was a novice Top 40 dj back in 1968, I was glad when an older dj (he had to be at least 30!) taught me slip cueing. In a Top 40 format, that was a vital skill. Of course by then, the bigger stations had started putting the songs on cart. But that little station had just stopped playing commercials from reel-to-reel and only had enough carts for the (few) commercials we had.


> In addition to everything I said above, the advanced
> technique is called "slip cueing." Once you find the first
> note, spin it back just an inch or so and hold the edge of
> the disc with your index finger with the turntable spinning
> at full speed beneath it. Then release the record at the
> exact moment you want it to play. This technique allows
> tighter mixes since you don't have to allow for the time
> needed for the turntable to get up to speed.
>

 

[billjacobs]

Re: Lesson #2: Slip cueing

With applause at the front of a track, you have to let go of the record, and then run the pot up at moderate speed. Makes for a great segue, especially if the previous song ENDS with applause.

Beware leaving the pot open and hitting the start button (unless you have remote start). The 1200-MK2's at WRDV (which are not wired for remote start) make an audible thump on the air as the start button is pressed, no matter how gently.

A slip cueing purist would leave the pot closed on every record, and then run it up as they let go. That's a nuisance, which is one reason why CD's (which are easier to deal with) are 99% of my show. For true vinyl sound, though, transferring an LP to CD satisfies both needs.

Finally, the legendary rock segue : Starrider, by Foreigner into Roundabout, by Yes. Done properly, it's impossible to hear the transition.

Bill

 

[truthteller]

> > I was listening to Pierre at that time too, and I also
> > enjoyed it. I got a kick out of how enthusiastic Pierre
> was
> > about playing something on vinyl, it came across great on
> > the air.
> >
> I too heard Pierre as he strolled over to the air studio
> where old vinyl is kept. It was what prompted him to go get
> vinyl that I thought was funny. If you remember Guns and
> roses was playing and the CD began to skip. Pierre then came
> on and asked "What the hell was that?" and he began a long
> tirad about CD's which led him to hunt out Vinyl in the
> archives of WMMR. It was a nice segment that only WMMR can
> get away with because it was quite a looooooong break that
> Pierre did. It's special moments like that which make Pierre
> and WMMR special to the radio listener.
>
Pierre ,along with Harry Kalas, is why I got into radio. I loved the thought of having fun like this and getting paid. He comes across as such a REAL person, he is what DJ's should always try to be!