'Tight' on-air production nonexistent at some stations

[PTBoardOp94]

You all talk about the classical format like its excepted from the discussion. Its not! Classical music listeners like to have their music fade all the way out, but that doesn't mean they like gaps between the end of the music and the announcer to speak. It doesn't mean they like announcers who fumble with their words.

For a comparison, sample Minnesota Public Radio's overnight classical program. Then listen to an hour of WFMT's overnight classical program. One of them does a better job engaging the listener in the music. Which is really what "tight production" is all about.

 

[TheBigA]

Classical music listeners like to have their music fade all the way out, but that doesn't mean they like gaps between the end of the music and the announcer to speak.

It depends. NPR's Fred Calland was pretty emphatic about the gap. He felt the audience needed a moment to appreciate the music before the announcer spoke. I haven't listened to WFMT lately, but I know Steve Robinson likes tight production.

 

[Joe Jock]

You make some excellent points, TrackerTalent. I've observed the same things you mentioned, and it's bothered me, too.

 

[SirRoxalot]

Lets face it. Quality control is somewhere down the list for a PD who's overseeing multiple stations with multiple formats, sometimes in multiple markets. He's pretty busy just making sure everything gets into the scheduling software and onto the automation servers, responding to complaints about the morning show, going to meetings, and dealing with the latest edicts from corporate, HR, and Sales.

Consistent production, be it tight or loose, is key. Listeners should be able to count on a predictable sound from a radio station.

 

[GeneSavage]

I'll agree that consistency is the key, and content even more so.

However, I haven't seen anybody bring up the fact that it is not just classical and not just beautiful music that lets songs fade on purpose.

Example #1: KTSO-FM 94.1, Glenpool / Tulsa, OK is a "Classic hits" type format, focusing on 70s rock, a dash of 60s, more and more 80s, and now even an occasional 90s cut.

When I worked there you were REQUIRED to let songs fade almost all the way out. They didn't want dead air, but listeners have complained in the past about not hearing their favorite part of the song that happened somewhere 2/3rds of the way into the fade... so the promote they don't talk over intros and they don't cut off the endings. Their automation could be used to make a flame-throwing CHR presentation... but they choose to do otherwise, believing their listeners appreciate it.

Example #2: KNYD-FM 90.5, Broken Arrow / Tulsa, OK is a non-commercial gospel (lite-CCM?) format with repeaters all of the US ("The Oasis Network"). A couple of friends have worked there and said that the bosses have REQUIRED them to count "one-Mississippi, two-Mississippi" because they, like the previously mentioned classical station, want to give listeners a chance to digest the previous song.

These stations do not sound different manned or un-manned... but on first listen you certainly might think somebody's asleep at the wheel.

YMMV

 

[trackertalent]

Lets face it. Quality control is somewhere down the list for a PD who's overseeing multiple stations with multiple formats, sometimes in multiple markets.

If a PD waits until his presentation has more holes than Swiss cheese, the prospect of fixing it will seem a huge undertaking. But when putting songs and other elements into the system, it takes mere seconds to properly adjust each one.

A desired image does take a little bit of an effort.

 

[chriscollins]

As well as with modern ripping and importing software, it is easy to tweak where it places the trip tones during the import. Then you just load them up and double check them. It only adds a couple of seconds per song and is well worth the on-air result.

I rip all my own stuff and put in all the imaging. Everyone has their own idea about when things should fire off, so I limit that vision to myself. No offloading. If you want it all to sound the same, do it yourself.

 

[Tom Wells]

I like elements to fit together MOST of the time with no spaces. except when the on-air result shows that some elements need space to work out of, or "fall into". These elements I loosen and tighten by editing individual files. I keep the automation set to fade one second and overlap one second, all files have been close-clipped. Makes the station sound like LOTS and LOTS of coffee is consumed there, a relentlessly hyper presentation I like.

But then, I find dead air SO important the I have a file called "11 seconds of dead air" that runs about 3 times per 120 hours in this playlist. It sounds really good when the automation runs silence but we still have the ambient audio of the beach running.
For 11 seconds, you're at the beach.