From the studio
Notes on automation, voice tracking and making a station sound the way you meant it to
The music library: categories are the foundation for everything else
Import your folders once and work from a catalogue instead of a file browser. Categories are what make rotation, compliance and reporting possible at all.
Read the postDrag and drop that does not break playback
Reordering a playlist while it is playing is where most software breaks. Getting it right means the playing row can move without the audio noticing.
Read the post25 jingle buttons, and the ducking that makes them work
Instant playback from a labelled grid, with music automatically dropping underneath. The details that matter are the ones you stop noticing.
Read the postThe on-air display: what the studio sees from across the room
A borderless, always-on-top now-playing window for a second screen. Large countdown, clock and artwork — readable at a glance, not a working interface.
Read the postSchedule confidence: finding the problems before they air
A missing file at 03:00 is a very different problem from a missing file at 15:00 the day before. A background scan turns the first into the second.
Read the postCue stops: handing control back to a human
Sometimes automation should stop on purpose. A cue stop is a marked handover point where the playlist waits for an operator.
Read the postHow hardware-locked licensing works, and why RSA matters
A licence tied to one machine, signed with a private key you never ship. The signature is what stops a text editor being a licence generator.
Read the postKeyboard shortcuts, and why they beat a mouse in a studio
An operator running a live show has both hands busy. Every action that needs a mouse is an action that happens more slowly than it should.
Read the postSeparation rules: the arithmetic behind not sounding repetitive
Listeners notice repetition long before programmers do. Separation rules are how you stop the same artist appearing three times an hour.
Read the postWhy a radio playout system plays video
Visual radio is now normal. Playing a music video through the same engine that handles audio means one timeline instead of two systems to keep in sync.
Read the postAudio formats, and what happens to a 5.1 WAV
Seven audio formats, one source of truth for the list, and automatic downmixing so a multichannel file does not play out of two speakers wrongly.
Read the postSelf-contained deployment: no runtime to chase
The application ships with everything it needs. On a studio machine that nobody administers, that is worth more than a smaller download.
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