PRODUCTION, to most local stations in the early days of
radio, meant the Painstaking assemblage of various program constituents, such as orchestras, announcers, actors, etc., and combining their talents into a flawless
musical, dramatic, or informational showcase designed to invigorate the listener's imagination
and demand his rapt attention.
Back in those days, most stations depended heavily on a network for the bulk of their programming; the local staff had
only to cut an occasional acetate
disc and produce local news and
sports programs. The overall
sound of a station was pretty
much determined by its network
affiliation, and to a lesser degree,
by a handful of local personalities.
As dependence on network programming diminished, and as the
number of stations on the air increased, the evolution of the
present music-news format began,
thus requiring stations to produce
their own sound. It has been, to
be sure, a slow tedious process,
but during the past few years many stations have developed, or
produced, a sound which is at
least comparable to that of early
network production — a sound
which emanates excitement and
drama in an amalgamation of
music, commercials, news, and
other features.
The techniques of producing
commercials and other announcements, recording music, and producing news and sports programs.
require the unfaltering effort and
limitless imagination of a station's staff. The only alternative
sound is that of an overgrown
juke box with an announcer disinterestedly repeating record
titles and artists names and reading commercials and news—a
sound which does little to the
listener's imagination and demands little of his attention!
Where Do You Begin?
A fertile production department
must be comprised of competent
people and good equipment. Let us
hasten to add, before anyone says,
"I can't afford it," that this does not mean buying a "package" of
new neonle and new equipment.
It would indeed be a rare case
where there aren't any talented
staffers with some imagination,
and where there isn't any equipment other than that used for
actual on-air programming. (Daytimers can even use equipment at
night.)
In most cases, the only full time
production people are copywriters
and, perhaps, a production director. In most smaller stations,
particularly, the production director and announcers double on the
air. Therefore, the personnel cost
of a good production department
is •within easy reach of any station.
Equipment requirements vary
widely, from the bare essentials
of a turntable, a small console (a
remote amplifier, for example), a
mic, and a tape recorder, to elaborate facilities with multiple turntables, multichannel consoles,
mics, reel-to-reel tape machines,
cartridge tape machines, and even
sound-effects machines.
Production aids add to the
quality and versatility of a production department. You can get
by with music from the record
library, or you can subscribe to a
jingle service complete with logos,
sigs, etc. However, the best jingle
service is worthless if the staff
and equipment are inferior or inadequate.
The old admonition "Start
small" can surely be adopted by
the beginner; he can start with
the bare essentials and build as
time and money permit. There is
one certainty; dollars wisely invested in good production (people,
equipment, aids, etc.) will pay off
handsomely.
Staff Enthusiasm
There is another vital and often elusive element required of an
efficient production department—
staff enthusiasm! Deep within
most radio people, there is some
ham. Some have latent creative
abilities which, when properly
nurtured, can be evolved into
original concepts of presentation.
Thus, the potential of a good production department already may
exist. The problem is bringing it
out!
An experienced manager must
tap the creativity within his
people, using any means at his
disposal—encouragement, suggestion, remuneration for above
average effort, any strategem
which will "fire up" the staff.
This is not a job for a taskmaster; quite the opposite. The
wise manager will create within
his staff the will and the overwhelming desire to do the job
right; he will instill in them the
very real fact that their security,
whether they own any of the station or not, depends directly on
how well they do their work. In
other words, the manager must
give his people an incentive to go
the extra step, to try a little
harder— a goal taskmaster tactics will never achieve. By the
same token, a manager who
doesn't seem to care can hardly
exnect his staff to care.
Therefore, the first step for any
station, wallowing in the mire of
half-hearted "Well, I may as well
get the job out of the way" attitudes, is to determine, or find
someone who can determine, a
basic concept of how the station
should sound. Then, this image
can be developed by the joint
effort of even a small staff.
Developing a "Sound"
In modern radio, developing a
sound is tantamount to developing station individuality. Primarily,
station sound is decided by its
approach and by its format—a
hard-sell or a soft-sell approach
within a music-news or talk
format. The hard-sell approach, of
course, is the rapid, machine-gun
style, exuding a constant, almost
frenzied, "edge-of-your-seat" state
of excitement. This approach
places certain demands on air
personnel; in addition to maintaining a "tight" sequence of various format elements (records, announcements, etc.), they themselves must sound excited, almost as if they were attempting
to squeeze two minutes worth of
material into one. Consequently,
the hard-sell approach requires a
staff capable of developing and
holding high-spirited fervor.
The soft-sell approach, on the
other hand, is any operational
pace other than hard-sell, and
isn't easily defined or categorized.
It is, however, in no way less demanding (although perhaps less
strenuous, physically) ; it does not
suggest, and cannot tolerate, sloppy attention to sustaining a tight
sequence of events. Air delivery
can be more relaxed; general production material can be lower key,
less frantic. But, the more relaxed
approach requires just as much
care in program element preparation as the hard-sell approach.
Therefore, adopting a soft-sell
sound is no easy way out of establishing good production standards; either approach is, in essence, equally demanding.
Production Concepts
Once the hard- or soft-sell decision has been made, a basic
tailoring-to-format job must be
undertaken. No matter what the format—rock and roll, top 40, popstandard, country - western, concert or classical music, or all talk
and news—a general production
concept or set of standards must
be established for newscast and
sportscast production, special
events production, special feature
or "gimmick" production, and, of
course, commercial production.
The concept must fit the format
(obviously, production standards
would differ between classical and
country-western formats).
Production concept development
requires intimate cooperation o*
the copy staff; all material must
fit the overall production aim,
whether hard- or soft-sell. Copy
written for rapid delivery requires different treatment than
that written for a more relaxed
delivery; if nothing else, more
words are needed far the rapid
delivery. By the same token, if the
copy people are to prepare suitable material, they must have
complete cooperation from the
sales department, such as adequate, accurate information for
the message as well as advertiser
preference of background music,
jingles, etc. Of course, in smaller
stations, fewer people are involved
in these various inter-departmental relationships; the salesman
may be the copywriter and may
even assist with production, which
may be better in some respects.
Production Aids
The life-blood of any production department is a variety of
production aids. At no additional
zost, a station can accumulate,
by careful listening and screening of all incoming records and
albums, a vast selection of musical interludes, bridges, logos,
sigs, and background music. Production aids must be carefully
indexed; otherwise, the very piece
wanted for a specific use will be
lost in a myriad of records and
albums. If the specific record or
album can't be kept in a special
production filing area, the desired
segment can be dubbed onto tape
and filed with production materials.
An alert staff can uncover
many unusual and unique production aids from many sources
other than records—public service
and commercial ETs, tapes, etc.,
or even from candid tape recordings (permission to use material
may be required). Aside from doit-yourself production aids, a good
jingle service, including instrumental jingle logos, is a good investment, particularly where a
more uniform sound is desired.
However, with or without a jingle service, the resourcefulness of
production people determines, to
a large degree, the success of a
consistent, individual sound.
A word of caution: The tendency to over-produce is quite natural with a staff just going into,
or enlarging, an organized effort.
Therefore, the need for careful
planning can't be stressed too
much. As Bud Clain, PD of
WSPR (Springfield, Mass.) so
aptly states, "Production makes
the copy, but creative copy makes
the production. Your biggest effort should go into the copy, for
it's the copy that sells the product. If you can add some f rostingto-the-cake emphasis with production gimmicks, well and good;
if not, let the copy go live."
Production Equipment
It is in the area of equipment
that most disagreements between management and production arise.
Naturally, an aggressive, anxious
staff will want good, versatile
equipment. Clumsy patching arrangements and equipment combinations severely hamper good
clean production. If, for example,
a man can't conveniently reach all
necessary controls, flawless production may be very difficult to
achieve. A good, flexible recording facility comprising available
equipment, used properly, may
result in better material than one
where the best available equipment is arranged poorly and used
improperly.
A wise manager will authorize
the best equipment his budget
will allow, and continue to improve the recording equipment as
economic conditions permit. If
this intent is known by the staff,
they will willingly extend themselves to do a good job; they will
exert the little extra effort needed to make do with the available
equipment. The feeling to be
avoided is that management
wants superior performance with
antiquated and hazardly arranged
equipment.
Also, a wise manager will insist that equipment be properly
maintained to ensure best possible quality production. A rather rigid preventive maintenance
schedule is vital to proper performance and long useful equipment life.
In 'conclusion, lei us simply
state that it behooves the manager of any radio station to initiate and strive for the best
possible production facility, in
line with the desired station image and in accordance with its
economic potential.
ENGINEERING AND MAINTENANCE
Dramatic engineering adds a vital element to recorded
announcements. Long, slow fades are useless, since
they are mostly offset by limiters and compressors.
Sharp fades and "stings" (quickly bringing up music
or jingle) are much more effective.
Consistent recording levels can't be stressed too
strongly; if the level is too low, background noise
begins creeping up; if it's too high, the result is
distortion due to equipment overload. Then, too, a
standard recording level for all production results
in more reliable on-air levels.
Thorough tape erasing is essential; otherwise, you
run the risk of airing an occasional blip or unerased
sound. When using bulk tape erasers, adequate
erasing time should be allowed for each tape (15 to
30 seconds). The eraser should be passed over the
tape or cartridge in a brisk, circular, or elliptical
motion, so as to cut the maximum lines of force.
Maintenance is important, particularly for tape
machines. Many stations have thousands of dollars
invested in tape machines, logically necessitating a
religious maintenance schedule. Test tapes for head
alignment, any special wrenches needed to adjust
heads, and a head demagnitizer should be provided
and used. Wiring harnesses for out-of-rack operation
of rack-mounted machines greatly facilitates service
and ajustment procedures.
Maintenance records, including notes showing normal operating and performance parameters, will aid
in spotting trouble before it actually happens. For
example, data might include pinchwheel tension, lever
position adjustments, solenoid voltages, control voltages, B-plus voltages, etc. Armed with this data, anyone on the staff can ascertain when any piece of
equipment is not operating properly.
A spare parts stock, at least for cartridge machines,
may eliminate long periods of down time. Items to
consider include spare motors, capstan idlers, replacement heads, power supply diodes, cartridge positioning springs, and a spare set of tubes.
A tone test tape, with 50 to 15,000 cps tones
recorded on a new machine, or one known to be
operating properly, periodically played on all equipment and compared with previous readings, will giee
advance notice of deteriorating quality.
Tape heads should be cleaned often, especially
those on regularly-used machines; the best time to
do this is after sign-off, at least for on-air machines.
Each tape transport mechanism should be disassembled periodically (except sealed bearings and
press-fit assemblies), and thoroughly cleaned and lightly lubricated. This procedure should include inspections for worn parts and other potential trouble
spots. Vital working parts should be sparingly lubricated when required (over-lubrication brings on unnecessary troubles). A spray can of silicone lubricant
is suitable for some cartridge machine brake assemblies, particularly older types. Vaseline is ideal for
cartridge hub bearing lubrication.
A stereo reel-to-reel recorder can be used in some
cases for master tape recording, especially where
frequent copy changes (with the same production)
are required. In this manner, only the copy track on
the stereo tape need be re-recorded; the two are
mixed when dubbing to the cartridge.
NOTE: The NAB Engineering Dept. has published
standards for reel-to-reel and cartridge tape recording and reproduction. The data is essential to all
broadcast engineering departments. Available from
NAB, 1771 N St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036.
