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  1. #11

    Default Re: A little OT: Simulate radio broadcast playback

    Quote Originally Posted by Stashu View Post
    That's what I was saying. He can listen to the station, try to match up his processing to try to emulate the station signal to see what his stuff will sound like. But, only to hear what it will sound like. Not to send it back to them that way .... Well, maybe I didn't put all of those words in there. But, that's what I meant. Wonderful catch, Mark, ... I mean Dave.
    I still stick with the last part of my diatribe on the subject. Matching the live stuff to the station's raw stuff will make his stuff blend in ... with the ... other stuff.


    Does that clear it up for you, Dave?
    Oh!, I think I also misunderstood you.

    I see what you're saying now.
    Using a CD, or whatever, that they play, set up a processing chain in my own equipment (software probably in my case) that mimics the end result of the station's broadcast of the CD. Run my own mixes through that chain of processing to mimic what it would sound like on air.

    That's what I was going for, really. A way to check how my own mixes might come across on air, so that I can stop all this second-guessing routine.

    That might just get me close enough.

  2. #12

    Default Re: A little OT: Simulate radio broadcast playback

    Quote Originally Posted by Dave Labrecque View Post
    ...Also -- depending on how precise he wants to be, it might not be possible to emulate the station's sound. Those broadcast multi-band compressor/limiter gizmos (like Optimods) can be high-dollar items, I think. And not easily emulated with fewer dollars, I'd guess. Or maybe he could get close enough for his needs.
    This is true.
    But how did you know I would be spending fewer dollars??

  3. #13

    Default Re: A little OT: Simulate radio broadcast playback

    Quote Originally Posted by MMP View Post
    it's radio, it's not supposed to sound good. [ducks]
    That's always been a big disappointment for me.... having been awed by the transition from AM to FM as a teenager, listening to "underground" rock stations late at night and wondering how they achieved such a great sound!

    I've since come to realize that once the product leaves the studio, or mastering house, all bets are off... chances being strong that few care about how great it sounds.

  4. #14

    Default Re: A little OT: Simulate radio broadcast playback

    Quote Originally Posted by MMP View Post
    Seriously though, transmitter chains are all over the map. I think if you have good monitors and a second set of small speakers and your mix sounds good to you on both, it should be within the ballpark on air. The only thing I would caution against is a lot of energy above 15k or below 60hz...that can hit the multiband limiting harshly. Also, most chains push vocals a bit more out front, so if the spot depends on music to power it, sit the voice back into the mix to the point where it feels just a little shy.

    There used to be a guy in town that monitored through an Optimod, but I am not sure that really made a huge difference in the resulting mixes.

    Regards,

    MM
    Good info to note!
    I learned the hard way at both the low end and high end just how harshly those processors deal with an overly aggressive mix. It only took two projects for me to stop mixing so that "I" like it. Two of my favorite mixes ended up sounding like major dog doo on the radio.

    Yet, somehow or another, there exist a multitude of commercial CD releases that would appear to ignore this advice entirely.

    As of late, I think I've found one kind of solution...... and that is to mix bland. It seems to be working pretty well, actually.

  5. #15

    Default Re: A little OT: Simulate radio broadcast playback

    Step 1: Stuff cotton in one ear. It doesn't matter which one. Stuff peanut butter in the other.

    Step 2: Take a pair of small cheap computer speakers (or, if you have them, a pair of Radio Shack speakers). Stick a pencil through one of them. It doesn't matter which one.

    Step 3: Compress the ever-living snot out of the music in question. Make sure the final waveform looks like a petrified dinosaur turd that's been sanded smooth.

    Step 4: Listen to it while talking on the phone with someone. Bring up politics or religion so you will be sure to be shouting midway through the conversation.

    Success! It will sound just like it should on FM radio. This is how a vast number of station program directors arrive at their on-air sound.






    (Disclaimer: I am kidding. If you happen to be a PD, don't throw things at me. If you're a fellow engineer who works for such a PD, you have my sympathies.)

  6. #16

    Default Re: A little OT: Simulate radio broadcast playback

    Quote Originally Posted by MMP View Post
    ...most chains push vocals a bit more out front, so if the spot depends on music to power it, sit the voice back into the mix to the point where it feels just a little shy.
    I've found this to be true for radio, too. (assuming this was still a TV-specific recommendation).
    Dave "it aint the heat, it's the humidity" Labrecque
    Becket, Massachusetts

  7. #17

    Default Re: A little OT: Simulate radio broadcast playback

    Quote Originally Posted by Dave Labrecque View Post
    I've found this to be true for radio, too. (assuming this was still a TV-specific recommendation).
    Forgot to mention that this (and MMP's initial reply) is a good point and something I also have to keep in mind, even though most of it is instrumental Jazz. It's true of instrumental solos as well to a different degree.

  8. #18

    Default Re: A little OT: Simulate radio broadcast playback

    Well, yesterday it dawned on me (like a rock upside the head)
    that one thing I could do just to cut back on the number of guesses I have to make, would be to use the tcp/ip remote functions in SAW. At least that makes it easy enough to run the mixes through a couple different systems and environments without first burning CD-R's.

    Especially true now that I've been figuring out cool things to use my first laptop pc for.... wireless is cool too! Who knew?

  9. #19

    Default Re: A little OT: Simulate radio broadcast playback

    Quote Originally Posted by CurtZHP View Post
    Step 1: Stuff cotton in one ear. It doesn't matter which one. Stuff peanut butter in the other.

    Step 2: Take a pair of small cheap computer speakers (or, if you have them, a pair of Radio Shack speakers). Stick a pencil through one of them. It doesn't matter which one.

    Step 3: Compress the ever-living snot out of the music in question. Make sure the final waveform looks like a petrified dinosaur turd that's been sanded smooth.

    Step 4: Listen to it while talking on the phone with someone. Bring up politics or religion so you will be sure to be shouting midway through the conversation.

    Success! It will sound just like it should on FM radio. This is how a vast number of station program directors arrive at their on-air sound.






    (Disclaimer: I am kidding. If you happen to be a PD, don't throw things at me. If you're a fellow engineer who works for such a PD, you have my sympathies.)
    That's one to frame for the wall!
    (Same was true for many analog Television stations just a while ago)
    Carl G.
    Voice Talent/Audio Producer
    www.creativetrax.com

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