HOW NOT TO 'LOOSE' IT Greg Diamond Call it a pet peeve if you like, but I have found numerous instances where stations don’t do enough to maintain one of their best attributes – momentum.
The pace at which your station ‘chugs along’ should remain fairly brisk, particularly in the Rock, CHR, and Hot/AC formats. In lighter formats momentum is obviously slower and more relaxed, but in no way does that excuse a sloppy or ‘loose’ sound.
Before addressing the “how”, we need to look at the “what”.
In more up-tempo formats are the production elements in keeping with the style of your station? Are they as ‘snappy’ as they could be given the nature of your music library? Is the read and script appropriate to fit in and compliment your ‘stationality’? Is your timelier imaging up to date? (There’s nothing like a Valentine’s Promo/ID still running the first week of March!) All this is without yet asking the really important question – Is the music right?
The answers to those questions are fodder for an entirely separate article (or better yet, book) and will not be examined here. However, if you have any amount of concern, get as many qualified ears as possible to listen to the station… and soon
If the above is not an issue, how it all runs together then becomes the area of focus.
There are a few things to listen for to determine if your momentum remains consistent or if it ‘trips’ from time to time. Ask yourself the following questions: Does one element fade too low before the next one makes it to air? Is there a slight pause between elements? How quickly are the announcers jumping on the extro of a song?
If any of these occur, there are some simple fixes to raise the impact of your overall sound.
With most stations now using some form of hard drive storage/playback system, you have the luxury of controlling the pace of the station right from your office. Take advantage of that.
First, join yourself at the hip to the Production Department and specifically the Production Director. Meet with him/her regularly to ensure you are both on the same page with regards to the “vision.” After all, it will fall on their shoulders to maintain or correct any momentum-based issues.
When music is recorded into the computer, everyone needs to know exactly when the following selection should begin. The point where one element starts another is commonly known as the “EOM” or “Aux” mark. To be confident this is being placed correctly you may need to spend time together listening to various endings and practicing. In the big picture, it will be worth the relatively few minutes invested.
It should also be noted, in a fadeout, the song should be finished within a few seconds after the end mark. This may entail the Producer fading down manually in the recording process.
The intro is just as important to keeping things tight. Nothing takes the wind out of the station’s sails more than a long fadeup. Again, spend time with the Production people to show them where to cue into a record to find an appreciable level, and then how to slide the fader up as the recording starts.
If you are (or will be) in the process of converting your existing library to hard drive, it’s advisable to assign the entire task to just one person. The level and intro/extro consistency will be greatly enhanced.
Production elements including ID’s and commercials must be recorded with absolutely no space at the end. Having an ID go to air with a slight pause before the next element (a musical selection with a cold intro for instance) makes for the “trip” mentioned earlier. A good Production Department never allows this to happen. If it is on your station, instruction should be given immediately and the entire ID/spot run should be examined and fixed. Most systems will not require you to rerecord the item when only tightening the end mark. The process should be fairly painless. Further, many of the latest playback software packages make changing end marks so simple a process you can do it yourself right from your own desk.
The final area can be more difficult to correct – the human element. If announcers are keying the mic too late in the extro there could be a couple of things that need addressing.
One common problem is misleading headphone level. Often jocks will be deceived by thinking it is still too loud and will be reluctant to talk in fear of ‘fighting’ with the extro. Yet for a listener, the song level may already be non-existent. One would be hard pressed to argue with an announcer for erring on the side of caution, yet they must be instructed to watch the VU’s more closely to better judge the appropriate time to speak. Decide on the correct level by trial and error (preferably out of prime listening blocks). Jump in your car and wait for the jock to perform a backsell at an agreed upon VU level. Call them and let them know if it was too early or too late. Repeat the process until you have it right. Instruct the rest of the airstaff accordingly then be patient while they get used to it.
You will find a song’s intensity plays a role in the proper place to start a break, but that is something the announcers can learn later. It is better to get them all on the same page to begin with.
Many of today’s computer playback systems have visual cues to easily alert the announcer to ‘hammer the calls’. If you are fortunate to have such software, make sure it is being used properly.
If after all your instruction you still end up with an announcer who is consistently ‘slow on the draw’, the answer to that situation is straightforward – spend some ‘quality time’ with them in your office.
Improper levels are also prevalent with the use of music beds. It is interesting that ‘beds’ are employed specifically to keep momentum up during ‘jock-talk’. Often though, one only hears the first second or two of the bed before the announcer buries it far too low when they execute their break. This causes two problems. It immediately defeats the purpose of why a bed is there to begin with, but it also becomes a listener irritant since there ends up being “something” in the background, but no one can quite make out what it is.
For stations still running their on-air elements (music, spots, imaging) from more traditional media (CD’s, carts, etc.) the preceding paragraphs must be incorporated into all aspects of the station’s sound. Not just music. That is no easy task, but vigilance on your part will eventually correct the situation.
Level plays a vital role in your station’s sound and in the way it is perceived by the listener. A station with good momentum has an infectious feel to it. A station with poor momentum sounds sleepy and lazy. Which one do you think has a better chance of attracting and keeping listeners?
Get together with your staff and help them help you find the ‘snap’ to set your station above the rest. |