A LA CART

So you want to become a podcasting superstar. With enthusiastic dynamism you have embraced all the latest computer technology. Now, at your fingertips, you have the ability to produce your show from your bedroom or local coffee hang. There is one slight problem, you yearn for the "Old School" way of production. Admit it, you wish you could carry around your old trusty cart machine. Retro is cool and we understand your need to get in touch with vintage greatness

Well, if you where born after 1982 you may not be familiar with cart technology, as well as, 8 track, cassette, and vinyl records, as these are all "Old School" artifacts of the trade. Soon to be in the same class is the Instant Replay, the modern cart replacement for radio folks. It's fast, easy and powerful, however, too expensive for a homegrown podcast.

All you need now is your laptop, a mic, and an inexpensive software replacement for the Instant Replay. For you Mac users out there, for just $29 bucks, you can snag Soundboard from Ambrosia Software. With Soundboard you can add your special gloss to your podcasts or broadcasts. Add sound clips, special effects, music, backgrounds, stingers, bumpers, laugh tracks... etc. Create your own libraries of show specific audio clips and fire them off with a hot key from your keyboard. Tap the key and you have just replicated your beloved cart. Soundboard is designed to be easy to use while performing live. You can also edit sounds, drag and drop, and control Soundboard via a MIDI device.

Ambrosia Software has video overviews to get you up and running on their web site.

http://www.ambrosiasw.com

SLIPKNOT BASS PLAYER FOUND DEAD

Urbandale police say a hotel employee found 38-year-old Paul Dedrick Gray dead in a room at the Town Plaza Hotel. Foul play wasn't suspected. The Polk County Medical Examiner's Office plans an autopsy Tuesday.

Most Slipknot members grew up in the Des Moines area. The band, known for its grotesque masks, released its first album in 1999. It sold more than 1 million copies.

For our Ripped users, we have posted an imaging piece relevant to the announcement. You'll find it on the main page as a media buzz cut.

ROCKET SCIENCE REFRESHED

We're clicking around the back end of the website to do a nip/tuck on RS. It was time to refresh categories and get the site ready for the new creative that's coming. As Hot AC changes, RS will change with it, this is the beginning of another stage of evolution.

The simple and fast functionality will stay the same, only the organization will change. We'll be making a tutorial video to walk you through the refreshed layout. Keep watching the Bagazine for more details coming soon.

RONNIE JAMES DIO DEAD AT 67

Just say"Dio" and people know what you're talking about. He made an impression far beyond the world of metal. This link to an NY Times article includes several videos that help illustrate his influence.

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/17/the-lighter-side-of-ronnie-james-dio/

INDY 500 MUSIC

Memorial Day weekend is just around the corner, and that means it’s time to fire up that Indy 500 production. To get ourselves in the mood, here are some tracks we are listening to while watching Danica Patrick and Milka Duno fight on youtube.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=frcOogBzSY8

This list should also make for a good soundtrack while trying to pass that swervedriver in the Mini-van on the way to the liquor store.

Jimi Hendrix – Crosstown Traffic
Alice Cooper – Under My Wheels
Audioslave - Gasoline
Buckcherry – On the Road Again
Cake –Going The Distance
Chuck Berry – Riding Around in my Automobile
Deep Purple - Highway Star
Fear Factory – Cars
Fuel –Metallica
Gary Numan – Cars
George Jones – The Race Is On
Golden Earring – Radar Love
Jimi Hendrix – Crosstown Traffic
Ministry – Jesus Built My Hotrod
Motely Crue – Kickstart My Heart
Paul Oakenfold – Speed
Primus - Jerry Was A Race Car Driver
Ratt – Round and Round
Sammy Hagar – I Can’t Drive 55
Slayer – Born To Be Wild
Static-X – Speedway
Steppenwolf – Born To Be Wild
The Beatles – Drive my Car
The Cars – Drive
The Prodigy – Speedway
War – Low Rider
White Lion – Radar Love
White Zombie – Thunder Kiss ‘65
Willie Nelson – On the Road Again

SUMMING MIXERS

Awhile back, we tested 3 summing mixers. We don't want to get into brand names because we don't want to do a shootout. We just want to get some info out there because summing mixers are growing in sales while being the topic of much debate.

First the concept behind the gear. Summing mixers are supposed to help your daw audio sound more like it has gone through an analog console. Your audio is sent through analog circuitry to add warmth but, it's also bypassing your digital summing pipe so you can get better stereo imaging. Some boxes do only that while others claim to add some color to your sound, maybe a little beef on the bottom etc.

Second, our test. It's not so simple to do an accurate test to see exactly what the mixer does compared to your in-the-box mix. The web is loaded with controversy about it and it can be confusing. We talked to reps from the companies to make sure we were using the boxes properly. We chose one inexpensive brand, one middle priced and one high end. All units performed 8 channel summing.

Third, the result. We noticed a difference in sound with all 3 units, however, all of us here at the bag didn't always agree that the difference was an improvement. Overall, the difference was small and sometimes hard to detect. With a little more investigation we found that summing really becomes more significant at 16 channels and beyond. Imagine a 48 channel console. The cumulative effect of all those channels is really where the magic is. For project studios with less than 16 channels of output to be summed, you may find results that leave you wanting more for the money you spent.

More companies are coming out with summing mixers since they've been a hot item and maybe the technology will improve for 8 channel capacity so, this could be an interesting category to watch.

WHAT IS PPM READY?

Not long ago, the buzz phrase we we're all hearing was "HD ready". Mp3 files were rumored to soon be obsolete in the HD world. Production services were scrambling to position themselves as HD ready. Now, that phrase is clinically dead and ppm ready is the heavyweight champ of radio hyperbole.

What does it mean? How do you get there? Honestly, no one really knows. Stations that have done well in the ppm markets have perhaps done so by default. The technology appears to favor certain formats although not consistently. Programmers and staffers are baffled and from what we hear, the story on ppm changes frequently. It's a moving target. Of course, flatly admitting you don't know what's happening or where things are going is scary and unpopular. So, what do you do?

We're not armed with magic bullets but, we can offer an opinion. We think great radio works regardless of measurement methodology. Compelling is compelling right? Did Rush Limbaugh pack up and go home because he heard ppm favors music intensive pop formats? He knows better and so do his advertisers. Content is still king. If you're providing original, compelling radio everyday, pirates can't touch you and the people meter can't kill you. That's our opinion. If we're wrong, get ready for Hot AC on every frequency, every minute of every day.

MINING RADIO GOLD

Good or bad, radio is changing. We certainly don’t sit around a wooden box with our families and listen to the radio to our favorite programs anymore. Computers pretty much run the show now (literally) and a lot of the radio we listen to is piped through a mobile phone or some other wi-fi or 3G gadget. But every so often, it’s good for us to look back and see where it all came from. We’ve compiled a list of places you can online to listen to various shows, commercials and other content from the Golden Age of Radio.

Old iTunes commercials – a glimpse into what products were being advertised and how they advertised them (downloads are $0.99 but you can listen to the ads in their entirety for free – link will open iTunes app) - http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/old-time-radio-commercials/id271694368

Radio Lovers - Old Time Radio programs of all sorts including Amos & Andy, Bob Hope and Benny Goodman - http://www.radiolovers.com/

OTR (Old TimeRadio) - Old radio commercials sorted by year starting in the early 20’s up to the 50’s http://www.old-time.com/commercials/

Old Timer Radio Fans – Another place to listen to retro ads from the 50’s and earlier http://www.oldtimeradiofans.com/old_radio_commercials/1957_Chevrolet.php