Comments

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  Jeff Berlin October 7, 2008 at 3:02pm

  What's the best digital audio editor?
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  Brian Haymond August 19, 2008 at 10:31am

  Erick, my wife totally understands when I pull out things I hear on a spot or, more often, when I hear something that should have been fixed and wasn't...but they aired it anyway! I'm a video editing enthusiast as well, so when I see bad cuts etc, it gets to me...however, when I see super cool graphics packages, I think to myself "nobody knows how much time that took to complete"!
  
  Well, at least in here we can appreciate the creative mind!
  
  Brian in Charlotte
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  J. Calvert August 14, 2008 at 8:49pm

  Well, I'm just stepping in after a few weeks busy at my new job, and it looks like I came in to this topic at the right time. Like Erick wayyy to much time on the spots, and Kipp says something about production value. COOOLLL, I'll just sit back a min. and take in the discussion.
  TNX guys.
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  Brian Haymond August 14, 2008 at 10:53am

  I would like to sit with a strong producer for about a day and absorb. It would help to provide a reference for my work. I could easily be thinking I doing reasonably well, when in reality I'm making the most elementary mistakes possible...
  
  On a fun note: I just entered a contest using the voice of Dave Foxx from Z100 and I'm interested in hearing the comments when it's evaluated.
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  Mary-Lynn June 14, 2008 at 8:59pm

  I saw the words production freak and knew I belonged here. Glad to be a part of this group. Adding to the current conversation, I would agree that you don't want production to get in the way of the message. Great production enhances the message.
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  bigbaby987 June 10, 2008 at 10:05pm

  Chadd, no offense. But if you don't get the message across, then you get the point. I'm a Creative Services Director for a top 10 radio station in New York City who just hit #1 in our demo last trend, and the most important thing you can do is get the message across. That is your branding. Ear candy is cool, but don't miss the boat. I sad it before, have fun, but make sure people can walk away with the message. You can be the most artistic, creative person on the planet. but if don't get the message across, you've abandoned your goal. I don't care about audio signatures either. Styles come and go. I've been in this business for just about 20 years and can tell you that the people that thought their "style" made them "hot" are the ones that are "remember that cat that did this and that?"
  
  By the way, I produced those 2 minute promos here in New York City, and they didn't amount to too much but our egos. They were self serving and redundant. Don't get me wrong. THEY were fun. But they took all day to produce. You had to run them by everyone. AND if people didn't like anything about them, it was back to the drawing board. Get in and get out. That's what you want to do, but do it with flare, but clarity.
  
  Have you ever heard the phrase "the best form of communication is brevity??"
  
  Ben Burnside
  Creative Services Director
  98.7 KISS FM
  NYC
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  Chadd Pierce June 10, 2008 at 3:09pm

  What about audio signature? Image Branding? Ear Candy, Those Things In Between the Songs....
  
  No matter how you splice it, producers are there to make the message shine. More importantly, you are there to make your boss happy-- whether or not you agree. So, what of this "art"?
  
  To me, the "art" is personal awareness with control. Ideally, you would have outlets for your stifled wizardry.... like for me, making odd bits and cartoony videos that clients sometimes even use. Just because you're a gardener with more bush-shaping skills than Edward Scissorhands doesn't mean you get to go off and snip everything into your zoo animal of choice-- a mistake too many rookies make.
  
  A great way to make the job interesting is to incorporate influence from nontraditional sources. A radio producer who just listens to radio producers all day is gonna try and duplicate all those great "imaging" guys and gals... and that circle ultimately leads to devolution as the copied "sound" continues to age.
  
  I wish we lived in the days of radio plays and 2 minute promos... But since we don't, I figure people are either gonna shut up and do it, drop out completely, or go on to bigger and better things where their talents are more optimized.
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  bigbaby987 June 10, 2008 at 2:53pm

  What's most important when it comes to production?
  
  Come on......
  
  Come on....
  
  The message. It could be a product, a movement, a public service announcement. But when production gets in the way, it's a piece of crap. Don't get caught up with recreating the wheel unless it's revolutionary. Have fun, and deliver the product. That's what clients, from radio to web, pay us for.
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  Jake Redman June 10, 2008 at 3:24am

  "Production" sounds like an assembly line job to me. "Imaging" sounds like a 90's made-up corporate thing to make my job sound mystically important...but so would any title I gave it now.
  
  All that said I think "Production" is the art of making audio that gets a reaction from people and doesn't suck too bad.
  
  Is that a good one? Should I have used the word "magic"?

  bad.is in parked
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  Harry Legg May 31, 2008 at 5:38pm

  I think there needs to be balance in your production. If you're adding big, impactful imaging effects just for the sake of it - then you are just entertaining yourself. The script and the read are the most important factors. However, be careful not to swing too far the other way and produce for a contemporary radio station as if it's an adult format! Have fun with the wizardry - but it had better make sense. Everything in moderation. Also, don't compress/limit your production so that you have a complete brick wall (square waves) of sound. The on-air processing will scrunch it enough - let things breathe a bit. That goes the same for anyone who produces music. The songs that sound the best on the air are songs that haven't been limited to death - there needs to be dynamic range. There is no award for sounding the loudest - it is a turn-off - especially to female listeners who are most susceptible to the fatiguing distortion. Just my 2 cents!