The Community aspect of this assigned project is that we are to develop two thirty-minute episodes of a show working with BCB Radio, a long running, local non-profit radio station that specializes in getting headstarts for people of any age, looking to make a difference, speak their minds, or jumpstart their career. We intend to take the 6:30PM to 7:00PM slot on a Monday to Friday (as I believe, time is certain, but the day is undetermined), and we have learnt a bit about BCB as a foundation and how things run.
As of recent, I think the group assigned to me are only doing one episode, but this is just an assumption. I feel very burnt out and out of the loop, so I am trying my best to keep up.
From what I know, making a radio show episode is only difficult due to two factors: Talk & Tech. Talking for most can come easy, and tech can come easy to others – but the primary issue we’ve ran into with developing an episode is how Radio actually works.
To begin with, the room layouts are simple, allowing up to four people to speak, being the presenter, with a big microphone at the desk – and three smaller microphones designated for guest speakers. The first issue we encountered with this type of setup was that our first guest microphone was broken – which didn’t matter too much to us, as I was not comfortable speaking on the episode and still hold this sentiment.
Another problem I encountered was that the mixing desk was directly infront of the presenter, and so I couldn’t work on it from any distance – one of my colleagues wanted to be the presenter and so I had to relinquish that role up very quickly, leaving me in a tight spot as to what I can do. I had already offered any post-recording assistance with editing, whether that be splicing, adjusting levels, but from what I’ve been told, since the EQ is already done and all that needs to be done is removing space/pauses, running it through Audacity and slightly lowering levels – I’m left in a tight situation. I already have Audacity experience, and so I would not even have the progress of learning the program to write about, as it is a deep seeded skill from high school and my voice acting work.
The program that they use involves simulating the feel of old radio stations with cartridges, which is what is on the bottom four segments. In this, you can place the pre-recorded music, jingles (which are just reminders of what show you’re listening to), which have to be dragged manually into the section on the right. Unfortunately, this is required to do live, so people with more practice should be sat working on the presenter’s microphone because the keyboard and mouse are also there.
Which is another issue. The presenter also gets to work on the carts and guest speakers are left with relatively nothing else to do. This is where my issue stems from: there is a lack of “my role” to talk about.
Normally, in a regular setting, this would be completely fine. The presenter wouldn’t want their guest speakers pressing buttons they do not know the functions of, but unfortunately, the group is comprised of four students, all needing/wanting something to put on their portfolio. I feel this is shared amongst other students, and that I am not the only one.
Above this paragraph is a picture of the sound desk that is used for the radio shows. It involves multiple sliders, dials and buttons that can be used to adjust input levels, completely cut off a microphone, and from what I have not been taught, I can only assume some also add various live effects, and change things such as gain, treble, bass, and others. Perhaps also adjust volume floors and ceilings to avoid peaking microphones, and some PAFL to work with.