Who are the "Radio People" on here?

[BillyK]

I know there are a lot of "studio folks" on here but I was just curious how many members of this forum are in the radio biz?

I've been working in the Chicago market since 1983 and am still actively involved, while at the same time my affection for SawStudio has allowed me to branch out into the studio biz also. I am still very active in network radio too! So who are the radio brothers and sisters out there?

BillyK

[Kurt Garehime]

Yo BillyK...
One in Las Vegas...AM hosting/programming with a strong emphasis on production-driven shows, thx to strong support from SAW :)
I don't know if you follow the Network AM sports side, but 'Papa Joe' Chavalier, recently with Sporting News Radio out of Chicago, has landed here in Vegas on one of the stations where I've programmed and hosted. "The Game" avatar is the name of one such program. I, too, am moving toward studio production and this forum is very, very helpful to those of us wanting to sharpen our engineering chops :)
welcome along....

[John Hernandez]

I know there are a lot of "studio folks" on here but I was just curious how many members of this forum are in the radio biz?
Right here, Brother Billy! I'm currently producing radio programs for James Durbin Communications in So. Calif. I use SAW Studio on a daily basis (my boss has SAW 32 on all his production systems...I haul in my laptop plus Multiface to get the job done :p ) For a sample of my work, check out hischannel.com (Reaching For Life).

For a time, I was also doing VO work for a Spanish broadcast. The engineer tracked me into SAW 32 (yuk!) and of course I had to fly the tracks into my lap to give them the SS treatment :cool: .

Welcome to the fray, my radio brotha!

[Dave Labrecque]

Billy,

I don't know if I count, insofar as I left full-time radio about 12 years ago...

I, too, started my radio career in Chicago (suburbs, mostly) in 1983! Left in '92, moved to Tucson and started my own studio thang. In those 9 or 10 years I worked at WFXW, Geneva; WLIP/JZQ, Kenosha; WDEK, Dekalb; WIVS/XET, Crystal Lake; WXLC/KRS, Waukegan; and "The Blaze" (103.5 FM -- don't even remember the calls!) downtown for about six months. Any common stops, ma brutha?

Where have you worked? We must know lots of common people. A lot of people have come out here from B-96 for some reason. Still haven't figured that one out. Market number 3 to market number 60-something is an "interesting" en masse move for jocks.

[Jon R]

Add my name to the list of Radio People...or at least former radio people. I started working the air waves in college in '77. I moved around California as a jock till '99. Heck, I even remember what it was like to spin vinyl. I was always doing production for the stations I worked at. I still have calluses on my index fingers from putting splicing tape on 1/4 inch stock. I learned to us Saw 32 at my last station. When I opened my own studio I kept right on SAWing, using SAWPro till this year and now SS.

After almost six years years, I miss the fun of doing a live show and the people I worked with, but I don't miss the very corporate atmosphere that choked the life out of the station. :eek: I do love what I do now. :D

[Dave Labrecque]

...I miss the fun of doing a live show and the people I worked with, but I don't miss the very corporate atmosphere that choked the life out of the station. :eek: I do love what I do now. :D
You're telling MY story! :p

[Carl G.]

In the "History" category here. Producer/Production Eng at KYA, SF, Jock at K101 SF, and a few others (and Cameraman at ABC for 2 yrs). Grad from CSM and SFSU. Grew up in the City...was in radio there from late 60's to 1980. Got out of "Live" radio in 86... into own studio for 19 years now. Jump in! With SawStudio, the water's fine!
I miss the live excitement and excellence of engineering of "Split" operations (Jock in one room and on air engineer in the other), and programming each song by "Feel" of music (by phsycographic, music instrumentation balance, engergy, theme, style, category, popularity, message, feelings, flow, etc... and occassionally - what I darn well wanted:) ).
Carl

[Seancom]

I’ve been In radio for about 14 years now. I started in small market religious talk then small market Christian AC at KYMS in southern California. When they got sold to a Vietnamese broadcasting company, my Vietnamese wasn't as good as my English so I jumped to the content creation side to produce Insight for Living - the daily, internationally syndicated radio program of author/pastor/teacher, Chuck Swindoll.

Here I learned how to put down the razor blade and cutting block to produce programs in glorious mono on an early Sonic Solutions rig. We used to produce 9 different versions of the program each with different addresses and contact information in the body of the program for all of our broadcasters around the world. So we'd set up the program to play out to all of the different media formats our broadcasters required - several on reel, a few on cassette, four on DAT, and one on mini-disc.

When it was time to lay-off the broadcast, I would have to set the router to send the signals along the right paths, cue up all of the the different machines, run around the room firing them all off, and then start the nine track playback from the Sonic rig - all the while praying that any of the $1000 6-gig hard drives in the array didn't hiccup during playback. With five half-hour broadcasts a week and everything going down in real time, creating a week's worth of broadcasts took a considerable amount of effort - especially when there was an error. And with so many pieces of equipment, so many versions, an unstable Mac, and a more unstable engineer, it seemed there was always an error somewhere.

Eventually, I helped the company transition away from Sonic, which was expensive and difficult to maintain on aging Macs - to Saw Pro. We couldn't believe how efficient a piece of software could made our operation. Now we could produce as many versions as we wanted quickly - creating soundfiles and burning them to CD much faster than real-time. We were only limited by our PC's processor, RAM, storage, or burner speeds. The faster the PC, the faster we got.

For the last five years, I've been producing and doing sound design for Insight for Living's syndicated radio drama for kids, Paws & Tales. It's strange to use these amazingly modern tools to produce an "old-style" radio drama, but it couldn't be more fun or rewarding. We've also got a line of animated videos that I'm doing sound design on - so that has been great.

I like working the syndicator side but I do miss some of the wacky stuff that goes on at stations like:

Being the teenage, part-time weekend morning engineer and board-op at a day-time only and having the GM call me at home to wake me up after a long night of merriment wondering why it's 10:45 AM and the station's not on the air.

Producing local spots for clients with no money but who act like their $500 spot buy should be as important to me as our $100K a year agency campaigns.

Walking in to call screen the morning show going on air in 10 minutes and finding the morning host drunk in his office in nothing but boxer shorts.

Making out with my girlfriend after hours at the station in the microwave relay room and unbeknownst to us, knocking the receiver off of the hotline phone which places an automatic call to Catalina Island where the station's transmitter - and our chief engineer lives- and... several.... minutes... later picking up the receiver, and having him repeat back to us verbatim the content of our impassioned exchange.

Good times...

[Pedro Itriago]

...So, you almost really told the world how much you loved her? :p


Making out with my girlfriend after hours at the station in the microwave relay room and unbeknownst to us, knocking the receiver off of the hotline phone which places an automatic call to Catalina Island where the station's transmitter - and our chief engineer lives- and... several.... minutes... later picking up the receiver, and having him repeat back to us verbatim the content of our impassioned exchange.

Good times...

[Seancom]

Yeah, I think she was relieved that only the engineer heard us professing all sorts of things to each other instead of all of Southern California. We ended up getting married and we still laugh about it.

Now that I think about it, her mom listened to that station all the time,

<shudder>

Whew.

:o

[Angie]

I call radio my little career detour. My heart was always in the recording studio.

Started while still in High School (around '79) at WSPY in Plano, Illinois. A station that is still independently owned and hasn't changed since going on the air in the 70's. Had a short stint at JKL in Elgin, IL then WKKD in Aurora, IL for a few years. I left radio in 1988. Ten years later I voiced segues at WFXW, Geneva as a favor. That only lasted a few months. By then my studio was doing well.

[John Hernandez]

I’ve been In radio for about 14 years now. I started in small market religious talk then small market Christian AC at KYMS in southern California. When they got sold to a Vietnamese broadcasting company, my Vietnamese wasn't as good as my English so I jumped to the content creation side
Hey Eric!

Spirit 106?! No way!! :) That was one of my favorite stations...in fact, I work right near the ol' tower, and every time my wife and pass by it I comment, "Did I ever tell you that that used to be the KYMS tower?" To which she responds, "Only a million times, dear!"

In fact, shortly before they closed, your advertising manager contacted me and asked to use one of the kids from my drama ministry for a spot. It was for a Christian video game company...hey maybe that was you splicing the tape :p !


to produce Insight for Living - the daily, internationally syndicated radio program of author/pastor/teacher, Chuck Swindoll.
Wow! I sometimes produce David Hocking, Hope For Today...he and Chuck are of my fave radio ministers! Cool!


Eventually, I helped the company transition away from Sonic, which was expensive and difficult to maintain on aging Macs - to Saw Pro. We couldn't believe how efficient a piece of software could made our operation. Now we could produce as many versions as we wanted quickly - creating soundfiles and burning them to CD much faster than real-time. We were only limited by our PC's processor, RAM, storage, or burner speeds. The faster the PC, the faster we got.
Man, I couldn't imagine doing it any other way! The speed and efficiency of SAW is a must have for this line of work!


For the last five years, I've been producing and doing sound design for Insight for Living's syndicated radio drama for kids, Paws & Tales. It's strange to use these amazingly modern tools to produce an "old-style" radio drama, but it couldn't be more fun or rewarding. We've also got a line of animated videos that I'm doing sound design on - so that has been great.
Interesting! I do kids' musicals in my personal studio...sounds like we have a lot in common!

Blessings!

[Seancom]

John,

Yeah - small world, huh? I worked at KYMS in the days before "Spirit 106" up until they shut the doors. I did air shifts and was an account rep so I wrote/voiced/produced commercials etc. We all wore several hats there.

Your work sounds like a lot of fun. A lot of variety. And I know you'll agree that SS makes the work so much easier.

IFL moved their operations from Anaheim to Plano, TX in 2001 and a few of us made the move - mostly all of the radio production folks which allowed us to keep the program on the air.

North Dallas is very nice. Kind of a newer version of Irvine. If you ever make your way out here, look me up!

[Dave Labrecque]

Ten years later I voiced segues at WFXW, Geneva as a favor. That only lasted a few months.
Angie,

WFXW was my first radio job (1983) under Howard Miller. He sold it shortly after I started. We used to be "downtown", but I heard they moved back into the transmitter site building (in the basement of a little split-level house on a cul-de-sac next to the towers) a few years later . True?

Who owns it now?

I bought a cart machine from JKL for my Crystal Lake station (then, WIVS/WXET) in '85-or-so. Got to see the place. Interviewed at AUR once (or tried -- the PD didn't show). Ah... the memories.

Did you know WCLR was originally 'Crystal Lake Radio'? Are those calls still used in Chicago? Or did I hear Crystal Lake took 'em back? Hmmmm...

Wow. Here's a guy with way too much time on his hands...

http://www.angelfire.com/nm/negativfan/calls1.html (http://www.angelfire.com/nm/negativfan/calls1.html)

Pretty wild. It even mentions the 'FXW studio/transmitter site on Fern Ave.!

[Angie]

WFXW was my first radio job (1983) under Howard Miller. He sold it shortly after I started. We used to be "downtown", but I heard they moved back into the transmitter site building (in the basement of a little split-level house on a cul-de-sac next to the towers) a few years later . True?

Who owns it now?

I was going to ask you if you knew Howard. I never met the man, but I did talk to him on the phone. I think it was around '83. He was trying to get me to interview for a news position. I wasn't interested in news at the time. Turned out he was right and that's where I excelled.

They did move back into the transmitter building. I don't know for sure, but believe the station is dark now.


I bought a cart machine from JKL for my Crystal Lake station (then, WIVS/WXET) in '85-or-so. Got to see the place. Interviewed at AUR once (or tried -- the PD didn't show). Ah... the memories.

Ah, so you met Mr. Jakle? He now owns what used to be AUR's sister station WMRO. I interviewed a couple times at AUR myself.


Did you know WCLR was originally 'Crystal Lake Radio'? Are those calls still used in Chicago? Or did I hear Crystal Lake took 'em back? Hmmmm...

Stations still use call letters??!! I probably did know that. Most calls did originally stand for something. I only visited WCLR (Gross Point Rd, right?). A friend of mine, Gil Peters, was doing over-nights there for a while.


Wow. Here's a guy with way too much time on his hands...


Nice walk down memory lane.

[John Hernandez]

John,

Yeah - small world, huh? I worked at KYMS in the days before "Spirit 106" up until they shut the doors. I did air shifts and was an account rep so I wrote/voiced/produced commercials etc. We all wore several hats there.

Your work sounds like a lot of fun. A lot of variety. And I know you'll agree that SS makes the work so much easier.

IFL moved their operations from Anaheim to Plano, TX in 2001 and a few of us made the move - mostly all of the radio production folks which allowed us to keep the program on the air.

North Dallas is very nice. Kind of a newer version of Irvine. If you ever make your way out here, look me up!
Small world indeed! Hey, don't you remember a young hispanic-looking dude with glasses haulin' in a wide-eyed kid also with glasses recording a spot for some Kingdom Kids video game company?? Had to be sometime around 1992-93. That was me!

Yeah, my work might just be a bit more fun if I wasn't also teaching a 3/4 combo class, among many other things (I'm just plain overworked). But it's been a cool ride working radio, especially using SS.

North Dallas, huh? I gotta brother-in-law in Houston...I just might take you up on that offer!

Take care, bro!

[Dave Labrecque]

I was going to ask you if you knew Howard. I never met the man, but I did talk to him on the phone. I think it was around '83. He was trying to get me to interview for a news position. I wasn't interested in news at the time. Turned out he was right and that's where I excelled.

They did move back into the transmitter building. I don't know for sure, but believe the station is dark now.



Ah, so you met Mr. Jakle? He now owns what used to be AUR's sister station WMRO. I interviewed a couple times at AUR myself.



Stations still use call letters??!! I probably did know that. Most calls did originally stand for something. I only visited WCLR (Gross Point Rd, right?). A friend of mine, Gil Peters, was doing over-nights there for a while.



Nice walk down memory lane.

Angie,

Call me crazy. I guy I used to work with in radio in Crystal Lake (mid-80s) sent me an email out of left field yesterday, having come across my name when Googling the station calls. This thread was hit number two!

I did the same Google and noticed that I never replied to your last post. Almost three years ago. Sorry. :p

Yes, Rick (was it Rick?) Jakle showed me around WJKL in '85 or so when I went to pick up a cart machine he was selling to us. He seemed very proud of his "system" whereby sales orders went in one end and an automation system played the scheduled spots on-air at the other end. All computerized and stuff. Ahead of his time?

Yes, 'CLR was on Gross Point Rd. in Skokie, I believe.

Interesting that we both talked to Howard about possible employment around the same time. I remember showing up for my interview in a tie. Silly me.

[CurtZHP]

O.K. I'll jump in......

I'm currently the assistant engineer at Star 99.1 (WAWZ) in Zarephath, NJ. I pretty much spend my days keeping the station's Audio Vault system happy and fixing what the jocks break.

Prior to that, I was a production engineer at Blue Ridge Broadcasting in Asheville, NC.

Before that, I worked for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. I was the engineer for their "Decision Today" radio program. Also did some work on the "Hour of Decision" weekly program.

Did my own recording on the side.

[Angie]

Angie,

Call me crazy. I guy I used to work with in radio in Crystal Lake (mid-80s) sent me an email out of left field yesterday, having come across my name when Googling the station calls. This thread was hit number two!

Cool!!


Yes, Rick (was it Rick?) Jakle showed me around WJKL in '85 or so when I went to pick up a cart machine he was selling to us. He seemed very proud of his "system" whereby sales orders went in one end and an automation system played the scheduled spots on-air at the other end. All computerized and stuff. Ahead of his time?

Yes, Rick. If by "ahead of his time" you are referring to his computerization. I guess that is true. Automation had been around long before that. WSPY had been using a primitive sequenced automation system since the mid 70's. Looked and worked pretty much the same except that instead of a computer doing the sequencing, there was a little peg board you set the sequence on. Quite frankly, the automation at JKL really sucked. You really had to be a programmer to work with those computers. They had the network running through the AM to the FM's automation. The automation computers were on opposite sides of the room. We were a Mutual affiliate and ran Larry King overnight on both stations. One night the network went dark. Imagine silence sense alarms going off for 15 minutes. No one told me I had to get the AM running first. I was running back and forth trying to quiet things down and get *something* on the air. What I would have given for that old peg board that night.

[DBenkert]

I am in a similar role as many here. I don't do any live work, but produce a program called "Walk in the Word" with James MacDonald. I started almost 5 years ago, but just recently got into full production which is great with SAW. I have gone through 2 times where I was asked to switch programs, but I just couldn't do it :)

Eric - I think I work with one of your old colleagues - Barb Peil :)

[Dave Labrecque]

Cool!!


Yes, Rick. If by "ahead of his time" you are referring to his computerization. I guess that is true. Automation had been around long before that. WSPY had been using a primitive sequenced automation system since the mid 70's. Looked and worked pretty much the same except that instead of a computer doing the sequencing, there was a little peg board you set the sequence on. Quite frankly, the automation at JKL really sucked. You really had to be a programmer to work with those computers. They had the network running through the AM to the FM's automation. The automation computers were on opposite sides of the room. We were a Mutual affiliate and ran Larry King overnight on both stations. One night the network went dark. Imagine silence sense alarms going off for 15 minutes. No one told me I had to get the AM running first. I was running back and forth trying to quiet things down and get *something* on the air. What I would have given for that old peg board that night.

Wow. Peg boards. Reminds me of my old irrigation timer.

Ah... the good ol' days of running automation systems on the graveyard shift. That was my gig at LIP/JZQ Kenosha in '84. JZQ had those SMC cart carousels, a bunch of ITC reel-to-reels and a dual cart deck that handled jock liners on one side and weathercasts on the other. One night I'd program half the automation system's memory with the next day's spots, the next night I'd program the other half. One day I programmed the wrong half of the memory, and all the wrong spots ran that day. The next night, having discovered the problem, I stuck around after my normal shift for untold hours into the daylight discreping all the errors. It was not a happy day.

This was a station run by a former WLS 60s heyday jock (ever heard of Dex Card?). When our EBS unit was down, they had a cart in the automation system that ran the test message with tones for months. Not exactly up to the FCC guidelines at the time.

[Ian Alexander]

OK, my turn. Another former radio guy.

First on-air experience was a part in a radio drama version of The Importance of Being Earnest on the student radio station at Penn State. One young woman got the giggles, so we had to invent lines to cover her plot points for several pages. That was actually a lot of fun.

In the summer of 1985, I interned at KISS 100 in Philadelphia. That fall, the sales manager left KISS and bought a 1kW AM station nearby. I got the midday gig for 11k per year and still put a few bucks in the bank. Can you tell how exciting my life was?

Worked at WCZN, your Country Cousin, from 85 to 89, adding weekend shifts at KISS and PD at the Cousin to my resume. When I started, I knew who Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers were. Learned quickly that country artists and listeners were some of the nicest you'll ever meet. Artists did phone interviews with our little AM when they were mortally ill. Listeners brought us birthday cakes and handmade sweaters. They had no idea we made less than half what they did and really appreciated the food and clothing.

Along the way, freelance VO gigs kept getting better, so I had to make a choice. I went full time freelance in 1989. Been self employed ever since.

Started doing VOs here at home with an RE-20, a Symetrix 528 processor, and an Otari Reel. First "booth" consisted of the cushions from the patio furniture. The absorption and isolation were surprisingly good.

Still doing freelance VO, mostly dry voices. Some of the regulars have me do fully produced spots, which keeps the rust off. Lots of corporate training, too.

Curt, I often send MAC Events spots to WAWZ.

Radio seems very different these days. We used to work six days a week, holidays included. We got some vacation and some comp days for big holidays. Now you gotta get spots into stations three days before Christmas Eve, because the corporate party is on the 21st and nobody's there after that.

I don't think I could take somebody in an office tower 1500 miles away telling me what to play. In the old days, a few stations were silly enough to hire consultants from out of town. Nowadays, locally owned and operated stations are almost unheard of. Also, my clients now are in advertising and corporate training. They all work Monday to Friday 9-5, so I do, too. Mostly.

This says it pretty well: I make commercials for a living, but I listen to NPR and Sirius. I think radio has become pretty dull, but so has the music biz. I guess that's why both are going through such changes. The money people are not broadcasters or musicians.

[BillyK]

Angie,

I bought a cart machine from JKL for my Crystal Lake station (then, WIVS/WXET) in '85-or-so. Got to see the place. Interviewed at AUR once (or tried -- the PD didn't show). Ah... the memories.


WOW... I forgot I started this thread!! :p

Dave... In my "life before radio" I was working for a pager / mobile phone (pre-cellular) company out of Schaumburg and we had some transmitter gear out on the WIVS tower in the doghouse. I think a guy named Art Reis was the Chief Eng. at the time. I am down the road from you for awhile (in Phoenix) working a network radio show... and glad to be out of Chicago for the winter!

Bill

[Fat Cat Music]

Hello,

My Dad gave me a Sony Superscope reel to reel 1 7/8 - 3 3/4 ips 1/4" tape recorder when I was 14 - 1966. I figured out how to put aluminum foil over half the erase head to be able to do "sound-on-sound" and started producing some spots for our local AM rock station - KORD :eek: - they were actually quite awful but at the time all my friends thought that was just about like being a rock star too! I made enough money recording and producing jingles that I was able to put myself through college with scholarships, playing gigs and small composition commisions as extra money.

While I was in college I got a Dokorder and was able to do some 4 track productions for a local station (KRPL) along with some productions for the PBS station jointly operated by the University of Idaho and Washington State University. I had the oportunity to do an on-air classical show and then a jazz show while I was there (I developed my love for "Orban Blue" ;) while there).

A degree in physics, performance on violin and viola and music composition and theory in hand and a new wife from Massachusetts I was ready to find out what the East Coast was like.

As a classical violinist/violist and composer I ended up going to Boston for grad school and ended up getting to "work" (read volunteer) at WGBH mostly running tape and string cables (setting up sessions for the Boston Symphony were some of the best learning opportunities I have ever had). I got an opportunity to do biasing and alignment on the 2" machines :eek: - that was a job - and learned how to do "fly sync" dubbing along with large format razor blade editing there.

I traveled performing in a string quartet for a couple of years and then ended up going through an ugly divorce that sent me home to Eastern Washington where I set up a part time studio while working in a rock band (electric violin). The band ended up traveling quite a bit so it wasn't until the middle 80's I got back into the studio full time.

I first set up a mobile system in a small travel trailer while living in the San Juan Islands doing jingles and voice-overs for stations around the outlying markets north of Seattle before I moved home again to Eastern Washington and set up shop as Crystal Midnight Recording (named for the desert summer skies in the Columbia Basin).

That business expanded and I then designed and built an actual 3200 square foot studio facility in a cement tilt-up building with 18" walls (which encluded a 38' by 40' tracking room with a 23' ceiling). The bread and butter for me was writing jingles and doing voice-overs. Several of the radio stations in the area had fairly marginal recording capability so I got anything that was more complex than their 2 track systems could not handle.

In 1987 I joined forces with a local video company to open a full service audio and video studio. That business continued until 1997 when the video side of the business split off as I had an offer to join the faculty at a local college. With a new marriage and a new baby on the way the offer looked like the best way for me to go.

I found the schedule much to my liking (practically like a vacation in comparison to the studio schedule) and now only do recording when I want to and only for people I want to deal with. I do location recording and I still produce jingles and do voice-overs but only whjen I want to:) .

Jingles and radio were my foot in the door and still remain an important part of my life. Although radio is not my primary career (and never was actually) I think that radio helped me in more ways to be a better engineer, producer, composer and now a college professor.

My students like the stories I share with them about my life in music and recording and they take what I teach more seriously because I make sure they understand the concepts I emphasize are the concepts they will USE when they get out of school.

In music everything important you can know is what you can hear - it is listening.

Use what you have and do whatever it takes to get the sound - that is what radio taught me and I hope I will never forget that.

I still miss the smell of acetate tape and hot tubes in the morning sometimes:D .

Fat Cat Music
D Robert Burroughs

[CurtZHP]

I am in a similar role as many here. I don't do any live work, but produce a program called "Walk in the Word" with James MacDonald.


We carry that program on our HD-2 channel.

[Bud Johnson]

Wow, what a small world.
I grew up in Crystal Lake. Left for blues, bars, and girls, (maybe school too) of Chicago by 77. In Critter City, I grew up listening to WFOX and what was then the illegal predesessor to WXRT. They were underground till (I think) 74 or 75.
I don't remember the call sign of the local station when I lived there, but it was different than the one Angie and Dave mentioned.
Never worked in radio, but I own a few!:p
Just thrown by the small world thing!
Bud Johnson

[Demodave]

Add another in Las Vegas. I am the production manager of Lotus Broadcasting with our 4 (and soon to be 5) radio stations. We started with the original Saw many years ago and now use Saw Studio Lite.

[DBenkert]

Wow, what a small world....
Bud Johnson

All this slipped by me - I live in Gilberts and work in Elgin so I know the area, but those stations and happenings were before my time as far as when I got into this. Still very fascinating to hear about all the history!

[Angie]

Nowadays, locally owned and operated stations are almost unheard of.

That station in Plano, Illinois I keep bringing up, WSPY has been since it went on the air in I think '75.

And there is a new one here in Denver! KCUV It started on the AM a couple years ago and has since moved to FM. I discovered them this summer. As far as I can tell, the jocks even program their own shows. They remind me of WXRT in its better days. http://kcuvradio.com

[Dave Labrecque]

That station in Plano, Illinois I keep bringing up, WSPY has been since it went on the air in I think '75.

And there is a new one here in Denver! KCUV It started on the AM a couple years ago and has since moved to FM. I discovered them this summer. As far as I can tell, the jocks even program their own shows. They remind me of WXRT in its better days. http://kcuvradio.com

Ah... Chicago's Finest Rock. Hey, I just checked their website. I guess they're still going! Terry Hemmert and much of the gang I remember from the 80's and early 90s are still rockin'. Crazy.

[Cary B. Cornett]

I started in radio engineering part time in 82. At first I worked 8 hours a WEEK, as a transmitter op for WLQV. I also did occasional engineering and announce work at WCAR, and engineered at WHND for a few months, before WLQV lured me back full time. At one point I was pulling almost as many on-air hours as engineering, but then was told I had to choose one department or the other... and stayed with engineering.

I left radio for recording when WLQV finally remoted their transmitter site in 1988.

I find it amusing that I managed to work in a Top Ten market (Detroit) and still do mostly "small time" stuff. It was fun while it lasted. Now I, too, usually listen to NPR in the car.

[AcousticGlue]

I worked for Clear Channel back in 2000 for 1 year. IT manager. I was going to Bonneville to do the same but Sept. 11 derailed those plans. Now I work for Savvis in St. Louis.

[bcorkery]

I started at KGB, San Diego in 81, carting spots. Later they let me write, voice and mix 'em. Moved on to 91-X when they needed a production director. I got out and bought a studio in 93, a year before JaCor started buying up stations. I was all analog until I heard about SAW Plus and sold my Tascam 8 track. It's been SAW ever since. Thanks Bob!

[Dave Labrecque]

I started at KGB, San Diego in 81, carting spots. Later they let me write, voice and mix 'em. Moved on to 91-X when they needed a production director. I got out and bought a studio in 93, a year before JaCor started buying up stations. I was all analog until I heard about SAW Plus and sold my Tascam 8 track. It's been SAW ever since. Thanks Bob!

We have parallel paths, Bill. I started in radio in '83, got out to start my own thing in '93, stopped using my TSR-8 when I bought SAW Plus (still have the reel-to-reel somewhere, though). I started in digital audio with the CardD and The EDitor (later FastEddie) stereo waveform editing software, then got SAW shortly thereafter. :)

[Ian Alexander]

We have parallel paths, Bill. I started in radio in '83, got out to start my own thing in '93, stopped using my TSR-8 when I bought SAW Plus (still have the reel-to-reel somewhere, though). I started in digital audio with the CardD and The EDitor (later FastEddie) stereo waveform editing software, then got SAW shortly thereafter. :)
Did my first multi-voice industrial project with the CardD and the EDitor/Fast Eddie, can't remember which. It was a pretty fast two track editor, too. I remember a whole new concept opening up when I realized I could save edit lists instead of new files all the time. I didn't go multitrack until SawPlus. I'm a little slower to change. Or younger.:)

[CurtZHP]

I too cut my teeth on digital editing with a CardD/FastEddie combo.

[Carl G.]

Recapping (earlier post) quick bio: In broadcasting since 1967 in San Francisco thru 1980. Jock in San Francisco's K101 (3 yrs) then Production Engineer/Producer at KYA, San Francisco (8 yrs). Earlier was an audio Eng./camerman at ABC TV (2 years). Graduated S.F.S.U (B.A. Degree in Broadcasting, CSM AA in Telecomm & Electronic Circ. Design). Grew up in S.F.and loving working in radio when we were 'split operation' (jock in booth, engineer on other side of glass)... real excitement - and classy operations. It was 45's, LP's all the way till 73', then we carted them for air. I was in a combo situation at K101-when it was all records!

Moved to midwest in 80 - management, air work, and mid-west network program for 6 more years (buying a large cellular communications tower has been a blessing over the years too). Though I always had a studio 'at home' (since college), I invested more to make it my 'Day job' in 1986 and rebuilding with new technologies since then (umpteen times). From 2 tracks/4 tracks/ and 8 tracks (Otari & Tascam), then into ADAT/BRC world, then to SAW & DAT backup, then CDR recorders (remember when we thought a deal was $700!), Then DVD's and inexpensive Harddrives - since (I think 1995) SAW Daws have been my way of life! (a REAL Savior from the ADAT/BRC sync nightmares).

There used to be a day when computer DAWs sat off to the side of the audio console. Today my audio console and hardware sets off the the side of SAWSTUDIO!

(my wife would like me to sell a room full like new records/lp's from 60's-80's.... any takers or suggestions?)

[UpTilDawn]

...(my wife would like me to sell a room full like new records/lp's from 60's-80's.... any takers or suggestions?)

Keep 'em... they're priceless.

[bcorkery]

We have parallel paths, Bill. I started in radio in '83, got out to start my own thing in '93, stopped using my TSR-8 when I bought SAW Plus (still have the reel-to-reel somewhere, though). I started in digital audio with the CardD and The EDitor (later FastEddie) stereo waveform editing software, then got SAW shortly thereafter. :)I'd read about Fast Eddie and was tempted but SAW Plus was already out and Scott was raving about the program so I got Saw Plus, a Card D+ and never looked back.

Ian, probably younger. You seem pretty fast on the uptake.

[Ian Alexander]

I'd read about Fast Eddie and was tempted but SAW Plus was already out and Scott was raving about the program so I got Saw Plus, a Card D+ and never looked back.

Ian, probably younger. You seem pretty fast on the uptake.
You mean compared to Dave Labrecque? Hmph, I don't know how to take that.;)

I'm 45 and considered by experts to be a complete moron. The experts are 15 and 13 and live here.:)

[Carl G.]

Keep 'em... they're priceless.

How Priceless ? :)

BTW... I have some rarities like:
A Custom MADE 12 inch acetate master burn from the studio (made just for me) of Bob Dylan's "On A Night Like This".... from Burbank at Kendun Recorders (Feb 14th, 1974)
They made a special mix for me adding more bass in it (I said we'd play it in S.F. if they added more bass - so they cut me that master to cart from - before the record was released).

More acetate masters (45rpm size) from recording studios, like:
from Bell Sound Studios, Inc. 237 W. 54th St. NYC (with hand typed label for artist info)
Gladys Knight & The Pips "Midnight Train To Georgia" (mono - for AM radio play)

They're all in pristine condition (played only several times with my SME tonearms with Shure V15 cartridges).

[DominicPerry]

Just burn 'em all onto an iPod at 32Kb/s and throw them away. Get modern.

Dominic

[Carl G.]

Just burn 'em all onto an iPod at 32Kb/s and throw them away. Get modern.

Dominic

I haven't laughed so hard this year yet!

[Pedro Itriago]

Indeed!

[UpTilDawn]

How Priceless ? :)

BTW... I have some rarities like:
A Custom MADE 12 inch acetate master burn from the studio (made just for me) of Bob Dylan's "On A Night Like This".... from Burbank at Kendun Recorders (Feb 14th, 1974)
They made a special mix for me adding more bass in it (I said we'd play it in S.F. if they added more bass - so they cut me that master to cart from - before the record was released).

More acetate masters (45rpm size) from recording studios, like:
from Bell Sound Studios, Inc. 237 W. 54th St. NYC (with hand typed label for artist info)
Gladys Knight & The Pips "Midnight Train To Georgia" (mono - for AM radio play)

They're all in pristine condition (played only several times with my SME tonearms with Shure V15 cartridges).

Heck if I know! I just know that someday you'll wish you'd hung on to them.
Sounds like the rarities you have are quite a bit more valuable from a collector's point of view than the 78's I have of my sisters and I singing Puff The Magic Dragon when I was too young for somebody to tell the difference between my voice and one of my sisters.:D

[Cary B. Cornett]

I'm 45 and considered by experts to be a complete moron. The experts are 15 and 13 and live here.:) The fun part is when they get to be about 21 or so and your IQ magically goes up about 30 points! :cool: I will never forget the day when our oldest daughter, then 23, told a teenage sibling "Dad knows a LOT more than you think he does!". Good thing I was already sitting down... :)

[studio-c]

Never thought I'd see the day...
I just bought a turntable to do some transfers for a client. It has a USB output.

It looks much cooler than my old Russco.

[Ian Alexander]

Never thought I'd see the day...
I just bought a turntable to do some transfers for a client. It has a USB output.

It looks much cooler than my old Russco.
You'll be using the A/D in the turntable. Please let us know how that turns out.

[Carl G.]

Never thought I'd see the day...
I just bought a turntable to do some transfers for a client. It has a USB output.

It looks much cooler than my old Russco.

Just wait till they come out with the Turntable in your Pocket - Walkman version!
(It'll play LP's in your pocket - AH but alas - the quality won't be the same after they use "Physical Compression") :)

[bcorkery]

I just got my Dual 1229 back from the shop. I use it to do 78 transfers, not from the pocket though ... yet.

[studio-c]

You'll be using the A/D in the turntable. Please let us know how that turns out.

Very perceptive :)
Yeah, actually the whole turntable cost a hundred fifty bucks. So you know it's some quality stuff in there :eek:

I was just humored at the incongruity of it all. But for folks trying to get their old records transferred at home, it's easy and convenient. I noticed there's also a version with an iPod cradle. I guess it sucks it directly to your iPod?
http://www.ion-audio.com/lpdock

Reading the ad copy, it describes it as "like magic". So maybe the A/D conversion IS pretty good :D

My attempt to use the USB port lasted about two minutes. I opted for the RCA outs. Still nothing to write home about. I'm not sure if that's a vinyl thing or a cheapo electronics thing. Both, I think. So much surface noise on the average consumer used record, and ticks 'n pops?! If it was a CD I'd reject it in a heartbeat. I guess I wasn't a real critical listener in high school with the T-Rex albums.

I bought it for a one-time transfer for a friend who BEGGED me to help him pull some songs off an out of print album. I would have turned down the job entirely but the guy's a good friend from a long time ago. So 150 is about what I was willing to put into it, since the job billed 80, and other than that I use turntables about once every 5 years now. I used to do the 78 transfers, but each disc would ruin a needle, so that's not a job I take on. Also off the menu is the tape baking and de-gumming of reels, as it takes 30 minutes to clean the goo off the heads. So I'm quite willing to let those legacy formats die. Oops, getting into OT rant territory :)

I'm really liking this thread. It's nice to hear voices of reason speaking up for quality.

Cheers,
Scott

[Ian Alexander]

So much surface noise on the average consumer used record, and ticks 'n pops?! If it was a CD I'd reject it in a heartbeat. I guess I wasn't a real critical listener in high school with the T-Rex albums.
Noise reduction software discussed elsewhere on the forum is pretty good with well-loved LPs. I still get decent results from the CoolEdit plugin. It's fun to get the GEE WHIZ looks from the client.


I used to do the 78 transfers, but each disc would ruin a needle, so that's not a job I take on. Also off the menu is the tape baking and de-gumming of reels, as it takes 30 minutes to clean the goo off the heads. So I'm quite willing to let those legacy formats die.
It's tough to decide whether to refer these jobs or say, "Yes, we do everything," especially when it's a valued client or a friend. When there are people like Angie who specialize in this kind of thing, you can almost do both by taking the job and then subbing it out to her or perhaps someone closer. Then you don't have the pleasure of paying for gear you'll just trip over for the next few years.:)

[mako]

The fun part is when they get to be about 21 or so and your IQ magically goes up about 30 points! :cool: I will never forget the day when our oldest daughter, then 23, told a teenage sibling "Dad knows a LOT more than you think he does!". Good thing I was already sitting down... :)

Ah C'mon - you're pullin' my leg - don't think I 've heard that one :)

cheers

mako

[Pedro Itriago]

Quality? We don't need no stinking quality!

[Carl G.]

Very perceptive :)
I was just humored at the incongruity of it all. But for folks trying to get their old records transferred at home, it's easy and convenient. I noticed there's also a version with an iPod cradle. I guess it sucks it directly to your iPod?
Scott
Nothing could be more descriptively said of the *quality*:
"I guess it *sucks* it directly to your iPod?" !! :)

[Dave Labrecque]

Just wait till they come out with the Turntable in your Pocket - Walkman version!
(It'll play LP's in your pocket - AH but alas - the quality won't be the same after they use "Physical Compression") :)

Is that a tonearm in your pocket... ? :p

[CurtZHP]

The fun part is when they get to be about 21 or so and your IQ magically goes up about 30 points! :cool: I will never forget the day when our oldest daughter, then 23, told a teenage sibling "Dad knows a LOT more than you think he does!". Good thing I was already sitting down... :)


Fortunately, my kids (6 and 5) haven't yet reached the age where they think I'm an idiot. Today, my son, not able to get an answer to his question from his mother, responded, "Well maybe I should ask Dad, 'cause Dad knows everything!"

I was feeling pretty good about myself until my daughter came up to me later and asked me how you make electricity.

:o

[Carl G.]

On the serious side, I found the pair of QRK turntables I have really adds to the authenticity of the way we heard records in the 60's (without using Izotope's vinyl "unrestoration" software). They certainly live up to their workhorse reputation. Oh... workhorses were never known for their speed - :)
That's why I'd like to get a Technique SP-10 or equivalent (but it won't fit in the custom built hidden space under my counter top).
The SP-10's are perfect on speed and low noise (which often was a trade off on QRK's rim drive turntables)..

[bcorkery]

Nothing wrong with a good truntable.
I don't care if I never see another cart machine though!

[Pedro Itriago]

Fortunately, my kids (6 and 5) haven't yet reached the age where they think I'm an idiot. Today, my son, not able to get an answer to his question from his mother, responded, "Well maybe I should ask Dad, 'cause Dad knows everything!"

I was feeling pretty good about myself until my daughter came up to me later and asked me how you make electricity.

:o

You donh't know how it's done? But that's so easy, silly! You go outside, lace a key to a kite and fly it. Voila! Instant electricity. That's how Enron did it.

[Carl G.]

Nothing wrong with a good truntable.
I don't care if I never see another cart machine though!

I helped cart the whole library at KYA, SF, in stereo so we could simulcast our AM onto the FM during dayparts.... back in the days when we had to HAND align the carts with scopes before final recording! (before Scully's ELSA features).

One day the board engineer on air and I were clowning around in the control room - twirling a large 6 foot turnstyle of carts (many hundreds) just a little too fast....
dozens of carts flew out... so...naturally we tried to stop it.... the change in inertial shot out HUNDREDS of carts like rockets all over the control room! 'Twas a night to remember. :)
(and a lot of rechecking the phase!)

I think all of us had dreams of taking a hand held bulk eraser and running it over the racks of carts - just for a little experiment :)

[CurtZHP]

You donh't know how it's done? But that's so easy, silly! You go outside, lace a key to a kite and fly it. Voila! Instant electricity. That's how Enron did it.


Of course it's easy, but try explaining it in terms a six year old will understand without asking "why?" 900 times.

[Pedro Itriago]

Of course it's easy, but try explaining it in terms a six year old will understand without asking "why?" 900 times.

Enjoy those "why"'s. They run out quite fast. I miss them already.

[UpTilDawn]

Enjoy those "why"'s. They run out quite fast. I miss them already.

Why?........

[Ed Snape]

Reading all theses posts has been most enjoyable. Although I can't really claim to be a radio person, I have been at the fringe on a few occasions and pass along these anecdotes for what they worth.

1947. Hooked up an AM broadcast band oscillator to a long wire antenna and "broadcast" to the neighborhood from my basement "studio".

Circa 1952. Magnacord was introducing an early staggered head stereo recorder and we got to demo one at Ithaca College. The impact of hearing a stereo recording over the Permoflux headphones was tremendous. We got to make several orchestra and band recordings for (mono fm) broadcast before Magnacord took back their demo machine.

Circa 1952. Worked as a control room operator at Rural Radio Network. Tom Humphries or Humprey was the name of the genius engineer who managed to network about 8 or 10 fm stations across New York state, but it worked well and was of much higher quality than land line networks. Most of the programming originated from WQXR in NYC and was relayed station to station across the state. At noon time we originated ag programming from Ithaca. One day I went in to find shiney new Presto tape machines had just replaced our battered Magnacords. When I attempted to play the first recorded segment of our broadcast, the tape rolled but the take up reel was static. Since it was to be a 10 or 15 minute segment, I improvised a take up reel by slipping a tape reel on top of an RCA 16" turntable.

1956-57. Announcer at Far East Network, Tokyo. We did dance band remotes just like the states. When Benny Goodman came to Tokyo, we recorded his Sankei Hall Concert and were later treated to a sumptuous Chinese dinner with Benny and the band.

While in Tokyo I met the Tani brothers, two NHK engineers who started Tokyo Denki Onkyo Corp.,TEAC. I had purchased TEAC's first tape deck from a store on Akihabara
radio row. The decks were sold sans electronics and hobbyists built their own electronics. I commissioned a young Japanese technician to build stereo record /play electronics copying Ampex circuits. Apparently we succeeded in making the "first" recording on a TEAC, because the Tani brothers came out to see the gear and hear the results. While on the troop ship back to the states I rewrote TEAC's first user manual, translating a stilted Japanese /English to readable American English. I tried to get a TEAC dealership in late 1957 in the US; but was locked out by Lafayette Radio's one year exclusive buy out of TEAC production.

1958-1959 Hosted and produced first sponsored stereophonic program, "Stereo Spotlight" in Philadelphia over WFLN FM and WFLN AM.

1990s. Produced "Carolina Concerts" carried statewide over South Carolina Public Radio network. Also contributed recordings to NPR. Our Orpheus Chamber Orchestra/Los Angeles Guitar Quartet recording commissioned by NPR achieved numerous repeat nationwide broadcasts.

Its been fun, and is presently great fun thanks to SAW STUDIO.

Ed



Currently. Contribute

[Ian Alexander]

Reading all theses posts has been most enjoyable. Although I can't really claim to be a radio person, I have been at the fringe on a few occasions and pass along these anecdotes for what they worth.


Great stuff, Ed. Especially the improvised takeup reel. Thanks for the stories.

[bcorkery]

Ed,

My first 2 years of high shcool were at Naramasu High on the Grant Heights housing base just outside of Tokyo, I listened to FEN radio and watched AFRTS TV. Periodically a guy comes in who had a Saturday show called "Songs from the Saddle". He brings me a stack of reel to reel tapes of his shows. I have to transfer them to CD and often have to splice these brittle things every 10 to 12 minutes, sometimes more often.

When I was at Virginia Tech, my family went to Taipei and my brother worked at FEN there playing "Charlie Tuna" platters.

This is a fun thread, thanks Billy!

[Dave Labrecque]

WOW... I forgot I started this thread!! :p

Dave... In my "life before radio" I was working for a pager / mobile phone (pre-cellular) company out of Schaumburg and we had some transmitter gear out on the WIVS tower in the doghouse. I think a guy named Art Reis was the Chief Eng. at the time. I am down the road from you for awhile (in Phoenix) working a network radio show... and glad to be out of Chicago for the winter!

Bill

Bill! You still out there? I just came across this thread by accident, and see that I never replied to you. It's been a couple years!

Yes, Art Reis was the man when I was at WIVS/WXET circa 1985. And before and after, I imagine. He was more of a consultant, I think, rather than on-staff. He was the full-time guy at the Satellite Music Network in Mokena, IL, too, back then.

I do remember hearing talk of renting tower space to a pager company. I think it was part trade, too. Man, I hated wearing that pager. ;)

Have you returned from your Pheonix get-away? :p