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After a week of no KXTE, I finally am back in the studio doing what I love the most. Some slight changes were made over here at the station and it was a great opportunity to get a glimpse in to sudden and crucial changes that are made swiftly in the radio industry. Ransom and I are no longer helping out with Marco and Jeetz in the morning. As a matter-of-fact, Jeetz is no longer helping out either because he jumped at an opportunity to get back to Seattle. Marco is now the captain of the morning vessel which was appropriately renamed "Mornings With Marco," and as a family here at the station, we wish him the best of luck. Ransom is now spearheading imaging and production on a broader scale here at the station. During my week out of the studio, my girlfriend and I both were surprised at how much more we are hearing Ransom's voice throughout the day on-air. Everything from production orders, station promos and imaging, Ransom is our guy.
I arose this morning at the butt crack of dawn out of habit, only to realize that my new schedule allows me now to go in to the studio at NOON. That's right, noon. No more waking up at 3:30 or 4 in the morning before the sun. Its a pleasant change, but one that I'll need to get used to. Anyways, I was welcomed back at the studio by a very excited and almost rejuvenated Ransom and was shown what the new routine is. Ransom is constantly in contact with our sales and administrative team to insure that all production orders are taken care of for the week. He guided me over to the office area and the bins where the new production orders are dropped. The administrative team was actually out to lunch when we arrived but I'm sure I will be dealing with them a lot more now. After we got back to the studio (luckily our studio has not changed), Ransom gave me some great insight in to websites and online archives for libraries of different beds, drops and sweeps to be used across the board in our production. FrostBytes and MyRealWorld are great online tools to really bring out the enthusiasm and energy for different spots. He also gave me some great tips on really bringing my assignments and future production work to life through various effects and tools in AdobeProuction. Especially during the Halloween season, certain vocal effects can really tie your entire promo together. Its amazing how a simple effect tool can make a simple promo about a Halloween event turn in to a eerie commercial that really personifies and embodies the holiday spirit. One such effect was the center delay that adds an frightening echo to your vocals. I also touched up on my mastering skills. In Ransom's studio I was used to using what we call the "broadcast" tool to help master my production work. The broadcast tool brings up and also evens out all of your audio. In the studio I use, that specific effect is not available to me. Instead, I use a former producers mastering effect (Jared) and also use what is called a "hard limit" effect which essentially does the same thing as the broadcast effect. It evens out all of your audio levels leaving no room for any awkward level changes.
I, of course, was practicing my skills the entire week I was off with my personal podcast, but it's great being back in the studio. I am revisiting some of my older work to get real perspective on how much I have improved in the short time I have been working with Ransom. I am also practicing with production orders that Marco has already done for the week. Lastly, I am experimenting with Lesson 17 (the audio editing assignment) with different beds and with my new mastering effects to really get the best quality I can for that assignment. Up next is my lesson on interviewing. As a huge fan of both Howard Stern and Marc Maron, I am very excited to get an opportunity to interview someone. I have always studied interview skills and look at it as an art form. Its amazing how the most subtle of questions can bring forth such detailed answers that you never thought you'd hear. I do plan on asking Ransom if he could be my subject, but I do also have a Plan B and C just in case.
