The terminology test is on Monday, August 3. If you are unable to attend you need to let me know beforehand.
The Terminology Test
July 13, 2009Define the following terms and expressions:
Recording:
1. Shotgun 2. Actuality 3. Ambience 4.Atmos 5. Level 6. Line In 7. Bed 8. Condenser 9. Sibilance 10. Cardoid Mic 11.Dynamic Mic
Editing:
12. Amplitude 13. USB 14. Reverb 15. Normalise 16. Zoom 17. Hard 18. Limiter 19. Crossfade 20. mp3 21. Log
Announcing:
22. Enunciation 23. Modulation 24. Pitch 25. Segue 26. Projection 27. Back Announcement 28. 180-200WPM 29. Adlib 30. Liner 31. Promo 32. Sting 33. ID
Studio:
31. Console 32. VU 33. db 34. Fader 35. Cueing
Radio
36. AM 37. FM 38. Hertz
General
39. AC 40. DC 41. A/V 42. Analogue 43. Bit
44. CD-R 45. CD-ROM 46. CD-RW 47. Compression 48. EQ
49. Feedback 50. Gain 51. Headroom 42. Omnidirectional
53. Peak 54. Wavelength 55. XLR 56. Simulcast 56. APRA
57. AMCOS 58. CBAA 59. ACMA 60. FARB
Semester 2 – What Do We Do?
July 13, 2009Here are the activities we will complete in this semester:
1. A terminology test (see post on this site).
2. Ad / Sponsorship announcement reads
3. An editorial
4. A hard/issue-based interview
5. News stories – soft and hard
6. News Bulletin
7. A news/talk program
8. The documentary
You will have the whole of Term 4 to complete the documentary.
You should start thinking about topics now and in a few weeks time we wil start discussing and planning.
Semester 1 – Tidying Up
July 13, 2009You need to have finished the following activities:
1. Your radio reviews – all 10 of them.
2. Your plan for the radio program and the pre-production.
We will be recording the programs this week and next week.
Radio Shows – Wednesday June 3, 2009
June 3, 2009Wednesday June 3
Banana Time
Introduction: Good, you have a good rapport and are well organised.
Back announce by Naomi is excellent but try not to ‘put on’ the voice, talk naturally.
So far I like the choice of music – it is contemporary but accessible. Arrested Development was a good choice.
Back announce. Jacob, the term ‘faggoty pop’ might be offensive. Why ask people to ‘come down’ – do you really want them to come to the studio?
This link between songs is a little long, should be abbreviated. Naomi’s intro to Hilltop Hoods is good and relevant.
Back announce: Naomi’s back announcement is very good, confident. Jeremy’s level is too low at first.
Back announcement and intro to Jacob was good. Naomi, you try to put some character into your voice. Jacob speaks fluently and voice is good.
Good choice of ‘heavy metal’ music – still accessible.
Back announce: Naomi don’t whoop! Good brief discussion before next track by Nightwish.
Back announce: this is a bit messy until Jacob takes over. Naomi, don’t ‘Whooo!’
Song: Avenge – a little too heavy. Four heavy songs in a row is too much!
Back announce: What’s with the reference to ‘gay’ – you have to be careful here. Enthusiastic presentation which is good.
Back announce: Lively discussion which is good but the level needs to be up for the song. Note: level of songs played on computer is often low! Turn up gain. Jeremy, your voice is good (you sound a little like Hamish or Andy).
Jeremy’s song choice is good – quite catchy and accessible. Actually, the music programming has been very good.
Jeremy’s story – re. Celine Dion – is okay but not compelling. This bit rambles on too much. You need to be focussed at all times and this is not.
Overall, an excellent, upbeat, music program. You all relate well together and sound as though you have planned the program. Plus you must enjoy it because you have gone 10 minutes over-time!
Nathan, Mitchell, Sarah
Back announce: Nathan, you um and hesiitate a little, Mitch sounds confidemt. This segment was short and to the point.
Song ‘How Far We’ve Come”: Back announce. Mitch’s ‘Lights, Camera, Action’ is good, well-delivered, confident. You say, ‘Gordon Ramsey is coming home to Melbourne? However, overall, an excellent segment.
Song: Pink/303
Back announce: Mitchell – good. Introduces discussion. Mitch – you repeat yourself. Then dead air before Bon Jovi!
Sarah does not get much of a chance to say anything. Did you discuss the roles before the show? You got to intro Beyonce and do well.
Music Presentation 101
June 2, 2009MUSIC RADIO PRESENTATION 101
From An Article By Michael Tunn (an Australian radio announcer and television presenter. He was hired by Australia’s national youth station Triple J in 1990 at the age of 17, making him Australia’s youngest professional radio presenter at the time).
EVERY RADIO RULE IS THERE TO BE BROKEN
- If you can improve your break by breaking one of these rules, then do it.
- Only break 1 rule per break and always have a reason why you broke it.
THE PROGRAM DIRECTOR IS ALWAYS RIGHT – EVEN WHEN HE’S WRONG
- It’s like the customer is always right. These rules are universal even if your PD doesn’t agree.
- So do it their way or it could be the highway for you, and after all it is their station if they prefer it to sound less than 100% it’s their choice.
BE YOURSELF
I love it when someone says to me, ‘You sound the same on the radio as you do in real life.’
- Don’t change your tone or sound on the radio because you think you don’t have the right voice or personality to be a radio presenter. Sure turn up the excitement factor a bit but then if you’re not excited about being on-air you probably should start talking to the sales manager. Notice the difference in the car park between the sales guys and the on-air team cars. If money is what makes you happy, being a jock won’t.
- Actually the idea of being happy regardless of what’s going on is something you should carry into the rest of you’re life as well.
- I have suggested reading material at the end of this document, one is the Way of the Peaceful Warrior, its got nothing to do with Radio, but it does put life into perspective and in this industry you need perspective as much as possible.
- The Number 1 thing that PD’s in major markets are looking for are ‘natural’ sounding jocks. The days of ‘Big Balls’ on the radio are over. Have a listen to MMM or Nova and see how natural the jocks sound.
- Try this trick. Before the next big contest your radio station does, go to your best friend (hopefully they don’t work in radio, if that’s the case find you’re second best friend) and explain how the mechanics of that contest works……now do it the same way on the air.
ONE THOUGHT PER BREAK
- Putting our Ego’s away for a second, people are listening to music radio for one thing, THE MUSIC.
You as the jock are the glue that holds the station together and that’s why you get a paycheck but you aren’t (sorry to say it) the reason the radio is on in a car, at home or in a workplace. (Unless you’re in breakfast and breakfast hosts this 101 isn’t for you).
- Radio listeners just don’t have attention spans; um I wonder who’s responsible for that? So the best chance of getting a message across is if you deliver only ONE.
- So what is a THOUGHT – well it’ s a piece of information, could be a liner*, could be music trivia, could be a caller.
If you do a liner, then talk to a listener in the same break about the breakfast show, you are doing 2 THOUGHTS, however if the listener is talking with you about the same liner then it’s still one thought.
- Before you launch into any break, you should know what your ONE THOUGHT is. If you don’t you haven’t prepared you’re show.
*Radio Liner has at least 2 meanings. It may refer to a short piece of copy read live on the air by a jock to promote a product. These Liners are normally used in conjunction with pieces of programming a listener will tune into specifically such as News, Weather or Traffic. These may also be known as Sponsor Tags or Ad-Libs. Radio Liners may also be defined as the copy an Image Voice will receive that promotes the radio station and it’s contest or promotions.
ONE COMPELLING HOOK EVERY BREAK
- Every time you stop down, you must give the listener a compelling reason to keep listening to you rather than your competitor.
- Anything more than 20 minutes away is not HOOKABLE, it’s a liner. Radio is not a powerful enough medium to get people to change habits that much, so keep your hooks to a reasonable time frame.
- OK. Here is a boring hook: ‘Stick ahead in the next 10 mins U2 on Crap FM.[‘
- Here is a compelling hook: ‘Ahead in the next 10 minutes, I’ll play U2 and tell you why Bono has just totally lost the plot on Good FM.’ Of course, you better give them the answer as to why he’s made a fool of himself in the next break.
If I hear one more jock do this I will scream, ‘Next we have U2, Madonna and JET.’ It’s boring, it doesn’t cut, you may as well not have wasted your time saying it. Shopping list hooks are dead giveaways that you did not prepare your show.
- On music stations you can hook Music but you can also hook your current competition, the breakfast show replay piece or the even the news. Unless directed to do so, I would always choose music. It is the number 1 reason they are listening to you. Did you know only 5% of your audience plays along with contests, which makes you wonder why radio bothers so much with them. But 99% listen to the music.
GIVE ME A REASON TO KEEP LISTENING TO YOU, MAKE IT IMPOSSIBLE FOR ME TO TURN YOU OFF.
- If you can master compelling hooking, and vary it, radio stations will employ you – because after the music being programmed right it is the only other thing that really makes any difference to the time spent listening on music radio stations.
WORD ECONOMY
- Write down your break, then cut it in half, take out everything that’s not needed. Don’t repeat yourself; structure your break to use the least number of words necessary. It goes back to what we mentioned before: no one is actually listening to the radio for you, which flows on nicely to the next rule ….
FORWARD MOMENTUM
- Don’t back announce, unless directed to do so. Always look forward. What’s been has been and there is no point even recognising it. Visualize it as if you’re pushing the station along, keeping it moving, with pace if you’re on a CHR (contemporary hit radio). In fact, if you are on a station targeted younger than 40, you really shouldn’t be stopping the music at all, except at Ad or News Breaks.
That may be impossible if your station hasn’t built extended intros songs into your logs, or your PD is asking you to do too much in a break, but as much as possible you should keep the music moving. Even on stations targeted over 40 at least half of the intro talk time should be used (unless its an absolute classic – no talking over ‘Stairway to Heaven EVER!
BREAK STRUCTURE
This is a whole article on its own, but here are the Basics to Break Structure
1. Linear thought.
Your words should follow in the time order of what you are talking about. Lets say you’re Break has a hook for a song in 10 minutes, a breakfast liner for tomorrow’s show and an intro for a brand new song, plus a positioning statement, here is the order you should do the break
• Station Positioner
• New song about to play
• Hook
• Breakfast Show Liner
• I just saw the faces of at least 3 PD’s I know go ‘What the hell is he on about?’ But stick with me here.
• Now for some it would seem illogical to introduce the new song first, shouldn’t that be the last thing I do? Well, no - and the reason why is that you are telling the story of the station. ‘Here is the new song, I am about to play this one and don’t forget tomorrow morning this is happing with the breakfast show.’ People think in terms of linear time. Hopefully, you have enough talk time on the new song to actually fire it of as you introduce it, see word economy above.
2. Station ID
You only need to say it once per break, except when Branding a station contest or show or event. In the Case above you may have said the stations ID twice – once at the start with the station’s positioning statement, and once at the end when you mentioned the breakfast show (especially if it’s branded with the stations name).
3. Weather/Time
Don’t do it unless directed or its the major thing happening in your market right there and then i,e. A huge storm is rolling into town and everyone is talking about it. This is seizing the moment, rather than doing the weather and we will cover that off later in this article
4. Self ID
This is a tricky one. I never self ID myself. ‘Hi its Tunney here’ sounded like a bit of self indulgence on my part. I’d let others say it – callers, the news and traffic guys that sounded a whole lot more natural. The only time I would self ID, is if I had to get from Point A in a break to Point B and there was no natural way to segue between the two points in a break. This was very rare, as I always followed the linear rules above. I was always telling a story.
But shouldn’t I be selling myself? No not to the audience, they won’t give you you’re next job, unless you do nightclub gigs or are a local personality around town. In these cases slipping in the odd one every now and again for you’re own purposes is up to you.
Note: In community radio it is important that you let people know who you are! Make sure you mention your full name at least once every half hour.
PREPARATION
Show prep is absolutely essential for a smooth sailing shift. Most radio people are working 2 jobs in a station and I know it’s hard to find the 30 minutes to sit down a do this but it’s vital. So regardless of your other duties find the time to grab the log and do the following with it.
1. Highlight each Talk break with a Highlighter Pen.
2. Then sit and work out what is today’s water cooler ‘Seize the moment’ topic for your target audience. At least allocate 1 break in every shift to seize today, otherwise you may as well record your entire week on Monday and go home and put your feet up.
Radio is about now. It’s the strength it has over all other mediums. Even television finds it hard to do this with their locked in schedule and pre-recorded programs.
3. Write the THOUGHT that each break will contain – whenever it be a liner, contest solicit or break, trivia, or a spare break where a caller could be slid in. This way you know your deadlines on air and this will drive you to get that great caller in time for its planned spot.
4. Always be ready to change once you’re on air if something happens and it makes sense to change you’re plan. Seizing every opportunity.
5. Write the Hook that each break will contain (research if necessary the compelling part of this hook).
6. Work out the linear order of the first 2 breaks.
7. Write out your first 2 breaks before you even get into the studio.
8. Practice you’re first break until it’s perfect.
9. Once on air keep working ahead 1 break.
BE FAMOUS FOR SOMETHING
I can’t tell you what to be famous for, it could be great calls, great hooks, great music trivia, or even you’re voice. But stand out from the pack…
AIRCHECKING
Did you know the only person who doesn’t hear you on-air is yourself. This is why it’s crucial to be regularly air-checked.
Problem is PDs are so busy these days they often don’t have the time to do this, or they themselves are too inexperienced to how to do an air check. Especially in regional markets. While I offer this service I’m not the only one you can turn too. PD’s and APD’s of a lot of major metropolitan stations will give you feedback if you send them an air check of you’re work. It’s not totally selfless on their part; they are searching for the next talent, as much as you are looking to make the next step. You should make this part of you’re regular routine. The stations most likely to hire you out of regional markets are Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth, don’t waste you’re time with Sydney and Melbourne they are far too busy to respond.
If you are just starting out in commercial radio I would recommend you have daily air check
sessions, if you have medium experience I would recommend weekly, and if you’re an old experienced bugger like me I would recommend fortnightly.
Class #21 – Monday June 1, 2009
June 1, 2009- Report on 3-Minute story.
- Radio Program Practice
Students to divide into groups of 3, appoint producer/panel operator and decide jobs, plan a general music show, practice.
Groups:
1. Jacob, Jeremy, Naomi- Wednesday 11.00am
2. Nathan, Sarah, Mitchell- Wednesday 12.00noon
3. Pablo, Jess, Kirang – Wednesday June 10, 11.00am
4. Silvia, Warnot – Wednesday June 10, 12.00 noon
