"John Higdon" wrote in message
...

In article ,
dave wrote:

But for all of its traditional-trapping shortcomings, the talent can
simultaneously do production and do a live radio show. It isn't the
voice tracking that is evil (virtually all stations have it, even those
that are "live"); it is simply a tool to increase productivity.

I know of one who does a request show from his home studio via
voice-tracking. The station's request line is forwarded to his house, he
takes and records the calls, cuts and edits the voice tracks, and sends them
via high-speed internet to the station's automation system, which he also
can control remotely, and changes the playlist and inserts the tracks as
needed. The calls and requests are delayed by mere minutes.

In my little part-time-just-for-fun gig, which is always "live," I will
sometimes use voice-tracking to do a complicated bit in a break. That way
there's no danger of "blowing it" live. If I screw up, I just re-do it. I
usually don't work more than about ten minutes ahead. I can also give
myself a lunch break mid-shift, by recording a few tracks.

Today's computerized automation systems not only increase productivity, they
can be used (in the right hands) to increase creativity.

Mark Howell

"Mark Howell" wrote:

I know of one who does a request show from his home studio via
voice-tracking. The station's request line is forwarded to his house, he
takes and records the calls, cuts and edits the voice tracks, and sends them
via high-speed internet to the station's automation system, which he also
can control remotely, and changes the playlist and inserts the tracks as
needed. The calls and requests are delayed by mere minutes.

Gosh, this beats Wolfman Jack's days when you didn't hear your request to the
next night at the very same time...

You bring up a fascinating point: Will radio stations become the server farms
of broadcasting? On the weekends, it's not unusual for KGO's "live 'n' local"
talkshows to come from a station with empty studios.

I remember one day when KGO aired Leo Laporte from 11 to 1, Bob Brinker from 1
to 4, Len Tillem from 4 to 7, Karel from 7 to 10, Bill Wattenburg from 10 to
1, and Christine Craft from 1 to 5am -- none in the KGO studios.

In article ,
(David Kaye) wrote:

I remember one day when KGO aired Leo Laporte from 11 to 1, Bob Brinker from
1
to 4, Len Tillem from 4 to 7, Karel from 7 to 10, Bill Wattenburg from 10 to
1, and Christine Craft from 1 to 5am -- none in the KGO studios.

This is nothing new. For years, Sunday has been the day when engineers
could get into the studios to work on them. Indeed, back they only had
one studio, Sunday was a lifesaver. Having two studios has taken the
heat off considerably.

--
John Higdon
+1 408 ANdrews 6-4400
AT&T-Free At Last

John Higdon wrote:

This is nothing new. For years, Sunday has been the day when engineers
could get into the studios to work on them.

A *real* engineer works nights and weekends, in the rain and sleet and snow
and gloom of night. This daytime work is for sissies.

Indeed, back they only had
one studio, Sunday was a lifesaver. Having two studios has taken the
heat off considerably.

At least KGO works on their equipment. I find it hard to fathom that KNBR,
former NBC West Coast flagship, has audio so bad you have to turn up the
volume to understand what they're saying. Sounds like their high end rolls
off at 1khz.

In article ,
David Kaye wrote:
John Higdon wrote:

This is nothing new. For years, Sunday has been the day when engineers
could get into the studios to work on them.

A *real* engineer works nights and weekends, in the rain and sleet and snow
and gloom of night. This daytime work is for sissies.

What makes you think that the Sunday work is *instead* of the other
six days and nights?


Patty

Patty Winter wrote:

What makes you think that the Sunday work is *instead* of the other
six days and nights?

(1) The equipment is too dependable these days to require all that much work.
You have engineers today who service 3 to 5 or more stations whereas there
used to be one engineer per station, who maybe moonlighted at a non-comm.

(2) Stations used to care about making a good presentation, so they wouldn't
allow the station to go off the air between 6am and midnight. Now, they don't
really care, as long as they can get their spotbreaks in when they come back
on.

In article ,
(David Kaye) wrote:

A *real* engineer works nights and weekends, in the rain and sleet and snow
and gloom of night. This daytime work is for sissies.

With all due respect, that is very easy to say for someone who has not
spent decades walking the walk. Today, there is increasingly more
daytime administration required and it is very difficult to put in a
full-day's work and then stay up all night. I've reached a point that I
cannot do that anymore, and I have so advised my charges that if I have
to work overnight, they will not see me in the studio during the day for
two or three days thereafter.

The pay does not support martyrdom.

At least KGO works on their equipment. I find it hard to fathom that KNBR,
former NBC West Coast flagship, has audio so bad you have to turn up the
volume to understand what they're saying. Sounds like their high end rolls
off at 1khz.

KGO takes its audio very seriously. Unfortunately, there are stations
that don't. Some stations don't even know they sound bad, so it is
unknown whether they would fix the problems or not if they were aware of
them.

--
John Higdon
+1 408 ANdrews 6-4400
AT&T-Free At Last

On Wed, 13 Apr 2011 22:25:05 EDT, (David Kaye)
wrote:

I find it hard to fathom that KNBR,
former NBC West Coast flagship, has audio so bad you have to turn up the
volume to understand what they're saying. Sounds like their high end rolls
off at 1khz.

Of course, to paraphrase Prof. Dr. C.T. Yang, he of MIT fame in the
early 1950s - "_THIS_ KNBR not same as _THAT_ KNBR - it only con-fuze
you". Its technical quality really went downhill after Susquehanna
sold it.
--
Phil Kane
Beaverton, OR

On 4/17/2011 8:17 PM, Phil Kane wrote:

Of course, to paraphrase Prof. Dr. C.T. Yang, he of MIT fame in the
early 1950s - "_THIS_ KNBR not same as _THAT_ KNBR - it only con-fuze
you". Its technical quality really went downhill after Susquehanna
sold it.

There was a point - maybe about a year ago or so - where the transition
was dramatic. I remember there was speculation that they were getting
ready to turn on HD, and narrowed the bandwidth in preparation. But
that never happened.

Dave B.