Radio show tips and advice

Music
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Managed to land myself a radio show on the Cornish station Magic Wall radio-so named and inspired by a trip to love international festival.

Not done radio before but wanted/needed to do it to give me reason to play music rather than not.

Am gonna keep it Balearic, first half ambient and chill and then up the tempo for the second half- to capture my wider range of tastes also inspired by @Joe show.

Be great to have some advice from our seasoned broadcasters!

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Nice one, it looks like a pretty cool station where what your planning to play would fit in no problem.

This is something Iā€™ve been thinking about trying to get into myself lately, as Iā€™ve found myself not enjoying playing out as much as I get older.

Iā€™m at the stage where I love the prep, picking my tunes out and putting things together beforehand but then not so much the actual gig itself as I feel a bit disconnected. Iā€™ve done a few different podcasts in the past and always enjoyed that.

Good luck with it!

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Nice one mate, congrats!

Will it be live, or a pre-record? If its the latter, the best advice I can give is invest in a decent microphone. A good quality, clean and clear vocal really makes the difference. Iā€™m not a voice personality by any means and hate talking but any time I do get on the mic I just make sure what Iā€™m saying is clear. As for the music just keep it varied which sounds like you plan to do.

Live broadcasts are a different kettle and more white knuckle so Iā€™d just plan and have loads of notes to refer to x

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Pre record at the moment. Got a PA regular mic that I can direct into the mixer so will test that out. My partner has various usb mics for her work that I can play around with but will need to figure the set up of those out

Your vocals are very clear on your show! What do you use??

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Some tips Iā€™ve been given over the years:

  • Donā€™t use ā€˜of courseā€™, as in ā€˜that was James Brown, of courseā€™. I think thereā€™s often a thought in a presenterā€™s head that they are broadcasting to other aficionados, but the opposite is closer to the truth. Donā€™t assume any knowledge.
  • Present the program to a single person. 'Itā€™s great to be with you. Not ā€˜itā€™s great to be with you all/you guysā€™. Radio is a link between you and many single listeners, not a link between you and a crowd. Some people place an object in the studio, a mug or whatever, and present the program directly to the object, to get the hang of this.
  • Moments of silence are OK. You can let a track play out and pause for a moment before jumping in on the mic (not particularly relevant if youā€™re doing a mix show)
  • Less can be more. There is sometimes a tendency to over-enthuse or supply too much information. Listening back to your shows can be a good way to find out if youā€™re getting the balance right.
  • They say if you can smile while presenting it goes a long way, you can hear a smile through the radio believe it or not. Itā€™s just the opposite to being rushed or flustered or underprepared or whatever.
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Avoid whatā€™s known in our house as the Balearic mumble. Turn your mic up.

I genuinely want to know what youā€™ve just played, when itā€™s out and any other interesting bits

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Or the dreaded ā€˜Ermā€™ interspersing every word, no pressure! :rofl:

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Thatā€™s what Iā€™m most worried about! Even some of the 6music DJs are errmmā€™ing a lot!

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I love ermming :unamused_face:

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Just be yourself, play the music that you want to play and the rest will flow. Donā€™t stress over making it super polished - I much prefer hearing a train wreck or mistakes over something thatā€™s been smoothed out in the computer. Mistakes also give you something to banter about

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Yep give it that full send and never, ever apologise. Thatā€™s what the people want :slight_smile:

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My son, who sat in his room for 4 years not talking to anyone or going out now does occasional shows for Salford student radio. A few mistakes in the early ones but he laughed it off and carried on with not a trace of embarrassment coming over on air. Itā€™s made us so proud to hear him doing this

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and the current middle-aged affliction of saying ā€˜you knowā€™ all the bloody time. No, i donā€™t know!

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Have to admit some radio-isms such as ā€˜keep it lockedā€™ and ā€˜shout out toā€¦ā€™ really grate on me, but its sometimes hard not to fall into the trap. Iā€™ve definitely been guilty in the past

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Ignore the pool of blood in the lift and the smell of piss.
Donā€™t let the dog out of the flat bedroom
Take a mate - someoneā€™s gonna need to skin up

If the DTI turn up donā€™t forget your record bag
Enjoy wrestling with those belt drive citronics

Those were the days

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-find where you want the song to start on the record. then rewind it back approx ā€œ45mins of the clockā€ / 75% of one revolution. now when you press play the tune will come in at speed. (this was one of the first things I learnt on a radio course when I was a younglingā€‹:rofl:

-speak 50% slower than you think youā€™re speaking.

-to avoid moving your mouth/face away from the mic and losing vocal projection, feel free to move other parts of your body instead. Lots of great Radio people I know do a sort of shimmy on the spot, or roll their shoulders, figet with pen etc.

-if you donā€™t have autoducking or talk over, 3/10 volume for whatever track youā€™re announcing over is a good reference.

-if you have a deeper voice, reduce the bass on the mic line to make your voice clearer