THE BAG BUMP

Working at The Bag seems to have a mystical effect that propels people into the music business. Not long ago, one of our baggers left for London with a record deal and is still playing live gigs all over Europe. Now, another one of the gang is heading out on the road. His name is Yves and he'll be playing guitar in actress Juliette Lewis' new band, Juliette and the New Romantics. The Colbert bump is old news, the Bag bump is where it's at. Good luck to Yves on the international tour. Don't forget to tweet.

NEW BUSINESS

It's not all gloom and doom in the radio biz. On the imaging end, a lot of stations are still committing to quality production. The Journal Broadcast Group, for example, has decided to use Brown Bag imaging services in all of their eight radio markets and 9 television markets. WLUP Chicago is the latest station to grab Ripped which continues to grow here in the states and abroad. We're excited to have these great broadcasters with us and we're looking forward to more good things in 2009. Change is everywhere but quality never goes out of style.

FANCY PANTS COMPRESSION

Multiband compressors are great problem solvers, but they can be difficult to master. They have many uses that we’ll cover one at a time in an ongoing series of articles. This time around, we’ll just hit some general points.

Most compressors operate in full band mode where the whole signal is manipulated by a group of controls (threshold, ratio, release etc). A multiband unit splits the signal into 3-5 bands and compresses or expands each band separately with it’s own controls. Often a gain makeup is provided as well as an overall limiter, which is placed last in the chain. They can be used on final stereo mixes, mastering or individual tracks. They’re useful for reducing plosives on a vo track, taming an aggressive instrument, knocking down an offensive frequency…you get the idea. Anytime you need compression in a defined area as opposed to the entire signal, the multiband can be a great choice. A sidechain compressor is another way to go, but that’s another article.

Let’s say you have a drum loop with a hi hat, kick or snare that’s jumping out. Using solo buttons on the compressor, find where the aggressive frequency lives. Then zero in by adjusting the band range to the harsh area, and hit with some compression until it smoothes out. Sounds easy but it can take some time to use multiband compression precisely so you’re not affecting sounds that are better left alone. Also, listen to a narrow band is weird at first. Your ears have to adjust to hearing your audio in a very different way. In the future we’ll give specific examples and settings to help you get the most out of your multiband compressor.

THE STATE OF IMAGING

A lot of stations are cutting back on imaging but we’ve yet to hear a programmer say that branding isn’t important or that they don’t want imaging anymore. In our opinion imaging cutbacks may be temporary while the radio biz morphs. Whatever form radio takes, there’s likely to be a need for smart, creative, marketing minded production people who know how to entertain.
That being said, the state of imaging is a hot topic. Here are some issues that we hear being kicked around.
What’s up with the PPM? Doesn’t that make imaging obsolete? No. Your station is a brand regardless of audience measurement. People need to know what they’re listening too so they can tell their friends about it. When they like what they hear, they’ll want to come back so, why would you stop telling them who you are?

People perceive promos as commercials so that’s bad right? People have ALWAYS perceived promos as spots for one simple reason, THEY ARE SPOTS. They’re spots for your brand and they’re important for all the same reasons you tell ad agencies to buy time on your station. If you believe in the power of radio, you’d be seven kinds of crazy to stop running promos. Marketing on your own air is free and you need all the free marketing you can get.

Imaging interrupts the music and music is why people listen. We all know better. The magic of many great stations in the history of radio has been found between the records. Imaging done right is entertaining. It can be part of the programming. Yes, underneath it’s an ad for your brand, however, it should be creative and interesting such that nobody minds. Kinda like those spots in a certain highly publicized football game. People expect them and actually look forward to them. Folks want to be entertained; end of story.

All of those crazy noises and undulating music beds summon the devil don’t they? The point here is about production value. How much is enough? How busy is too busy? This is a tough one. Why not start by looking around at other media for clues? When you watch tv, does everything just sit there? What about when you go to the movies? Remember when Al Gore started the Internet? It was text only at first. What’s changed? Now it has tons more hot rockin’, flame throwin’ production value. See a pattern?

So, ask yourself, what is your imaging doing? Is it actively working to build the brand? Is it lifestyle relevant? Is it entertaining or at least interesting? You’ve got a transmitter, a stick and access to free airtime. Why not work it?

Control and Kaos

If William Hung were a keyboard player, what synth would he use? A Casio, you say? Well that may be true, but being the good friend that you are, you’d probably tell him to put the Casio down before he hurt himself and pick up the Kaossilator. It’s as portable as a cell phone, as easy to use as a laptop mouse pad and it releases your inner synth beast. But even if you’re a diehard knob tweaker, the Kaossilator is sure to satisfy your sonic needs - all at the touch of a finger.
The Kaossilator KO-1 is a pocket sized/portable phrase synthesizer made by Korg. It packs a wide variety of sounds ranging from acoustic instruments like trumpets and guitars to analogue synths, noises and blips. Surprisingly dynamic, everything is playable by touching or tapping your finger on a laptop-like pad without the hassle of that pesky thing called talent. There are 31 scale patterns that are triggered by moving your finger across the length or width of the pad, creating even more diverse sound possibilities. Some of its stronger features include a gated arpeggiator and a loop function that allows sequencer-like instrument sound layering. But the strongest feature is its portability. This AA battery powered gizmo weighs in at approximately 6oz, and is roughly the size of an old palm pilot.
There are some drawbacks. The lack of midi, the sparse audio outs and the two 4/4 bars looping limit may set some hardcore synth lovers off, For us radio types though, the price is right, (under 200 bucks most places) it’s easy to use and it’s easy to shuttle between the station and your home studio. This thing is fun. Talent is optional.

http://www.korgkaossilator.com/
http://www.williamhung.net/