From the studio
Notes on automation, voice tracking and making a station sound the way you meant it to
The two-deck audio engine that removes the gap between songs
Most media players open and close an audio device for every track. That click between songs is the sound of amateur radio. Here is how a two-deck engine avoids it.
Read the postWhy a jingle should never fade in
Crossfading everything the same way is the most common automation mistake. Music, jingles and voice tracks each need different transition rules to sound like real radio.
Read the postRotation clocks: building an hour that sounds designed
A rotation clock is a template for an hour: which category plays in which slot, with what separation rules. It is the difference between a playlist and a format.
Read the postEBU R128 loudness normalization, and why it is cached
Music from twenty different sources arrives at twenty different levels. Loudness normalization fixes that properly — measured to broadcast standard, not guessed from peak level.
Read the postThe clock wheel: firing events at a fixed minute of every hour
News at the top of the hour, a station ID at :20, a sponsor bed at :45. The clock wheel is the oldest idea in radio automation and still the most useful.
Read the postMix on the marker, not the fade-out
Every song has a point where it stops being interesting. Marking that point — rather than letting the file run to its end — is what makes transitions sound deliberate.
Read the postStreaming your output to Icecast and Shoutcast
PlayOnRadio can act as a source client, encoding its final mix and pushing it to your streaming server — no second application in the chain.
Read the postDropping a live stream into your playlist like any other track
Network news, a syndicated show, a sister station relay — an HTTP or MMS URL sits in the playlist exactly where a file would, and plays the same way.
Read the postReading the VU meter: peak-hold, CLIP, and why the scale is not linear
A meter that spends its life pinned in the top fifth tells you nothing. A broadcast scale gives two thirds of its width to the range you actually work in.
Read the postGenerating a playlist with AI — from your library, not the internet
Describe the hours you want in plain language and get a playlist back. The constraint that makes it useful: it can only choose tracks you already own.
Read the postVoice tracking: sounding staffed when nobody is in the building
A presenter does not need to be on air to sound like they are. Recording links against the tracks they sit between is what separates a staffed sound from an automated one.
Read the postAirplay compliance: proving what you played
Royalty bodies and sponsors both want evidence. Play history plus compliance reporting turns "we think we played it" into a file you can send.
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