How I Prepare for a Radio Show
In almost 16 years of Sunday radio shows (and nearly 20 overall) I've developed some pretty standard ways to prepare for my show. I'm not talking so much about my recently discussed way to randomize my show with new artists so much as the nuts and bolts of showing up every single week prepared to go.
I'd like to tell you that I show up and pull random music from the shelves as I go in the spirit of Delirium (who was Delight) that I more or less named my show after back in 2002, but that would not be true. That was perhaps my original inclination, but I'm too much of a planner to ever take that approach, and it leads to bad radio shows and occasional FCC violations as well. Instead:
AT THE STATION, THE WEEK BEFORE
While I'm doing my show or shortly after it, I almost always file music on to the new shelf. Any bands that interest me get written down for next week. In theory I could sign up for our "new artist" internal mailing list, but I've never really bothered. Similarly, I go through the ticket giveaway book and see if there's anybody coming that I want to give away tickets for. I usually sign up for these many weeks in advance. I also note my occasional radio traditions as they occur.
AT HOME, DURING THE WEEK BEFORE
During the week, I prepare of list of artists that I want to play. In addition to the artists above, this includes my encyclopedia artists of the week. I note anything on the concert calendar that I want to highlight. Occasionally songs come my way via my friends, reading or other means that I want to play. A variant of this is that I often hear about new music while listening to the radio shows my friends do, particularly gieves. Of late, I sometimes do the artist randomization exercise.
I will sometimes preview a few things via YouTube during the week before, but I typically prefer to get to the station and preview off of media we actually have, as we aren't allowed to play things off of YouTube on the air.
Very occasionally I realize that I want to play something that I have in my personal collection that the station does not have, so I toss that on the counter with my lists so I remember to bring it with. This is so rare an occurrence that if I didn't currently have a CD on my counter as I write this I'm sure I would have forgotten this detail.
AT THE STATION, TWO HOURS BEFORE
When I show up at the station I typically have a long list of artists. I go find as may of them as I can. Typically this pile is more than enough to do a two hour radio show. Once in a while I strike out and can't find anything by a given artist, or the media is damaged in some way.
Next up, I haul this pile of music into the backup studio and preview it to find songs I want to play. Occasionally I don't find anything good on a given album, but most of the time there's a track or two or five that is more than good enough for my taste. I rarely listen to a song all the way through unless it's an artist that I know uses profanity or if it's really good.
I write the track number (including the side for vinyl), artist and song name, along with the length of the song. Typically I use two sheets of paper, one for the genre portion of the show and another for the Delirium portion. Other things that go on the paper include suggested track pairings (done with tasteful arrows), which may go up the level of an entire set in some cases. I sometimes arrange the physical music by track order before I bring it into the air studio. This is usually more useful than the pairings on the paper.
I also add estimates of total time. I don't get too precise there; I add up the minutes and then estimate as if each track has 30 seconds (e.g., 2:45 + 3:17 becomes 2:30 + 3:30). If my estimates come out to about 55 minutes for a 60 minute period, that is almost always close enough to make it work.
Additionally I write down concert information, and in the rare case that I'm going to play a track with FCC issues I write the precise time that the profanity occurs so I can bleep it.
AT THE STATION, SHOW TIME
I may have some pairings written out, but while the show is happening I'm constantly reevaluating what song is next and building the set. I also figure out when to put the mandatory promos and PSAs to best bridge songs that don't otherwise segue well. Simultaneously I'm entering the playlist data, cuing up the next track, putting away music I've played, filing music on the new shelf, evaluating the paperwork I'm in charge, talking to people who are there, answering phones and running through what I'm going to say during the next air check. If I have a trainee, they do a lot of this work, but then I'm watching them and giving feedback.
This all sounds complicated, and it is if you've never done it before, but at this point I'm well practiced at it. That's not to say that I don't screw up, but most of the screw ups are small and not detectable by anyone but particularly observant staff members and really anal retentive listeners.
Back when I had co-hosts, it was harder. Well, at first my co-host shows were "I do an hour, they do an hour" and that wasn't really much different, but from Ron onward my co-hosts and I were constantly listening to the current track and figuring out what we'd play next. Sometimes one of us would go four songs in a row, but more frequently Ron, Shari, Colleen, fadat and I would veer back from one track to another. Doing a show solo is much easier, although it also sometimes (usually) isn't as much fun.
In the rare event that I don't prepare enough music for the show, I typically fall back on a long list of artists that I know well enough to pull more or less on demand.
AFTER THE SHOW
I typically listen to the MP3 archive of the show in the following week to see how it sounded. One of the weird things about doing a radio show is that you really don't get to listen to the music very much because too much else is going on. Sure, sometimes I'm playing a great song and I jam to it or maybe even do some dancing, but that song will be done in just a bit, and I have to be ready to go for the next one. I get to enjoy the music later. Sometimes I hear particularly stupid things during the talk break or segues that I've done and make a note so I can try not to do it again.
My approach has evolved somewhat over the years, so I don't promise that this is exactly how I did it back in 2004, but the basic framework has been the same for quite some time. I should also note that I've seen many people do shows in different ways, ranging from people pre-setting the show on a MP3 player or burned CD (hi Shari!) ahead of time to completely doing it on the fly. Depending on the programmer, the format and the time slot, any of these can work, but in my opinion the shows that do some prep ahead of time usually sound consistently better over time. The main exception would be something like a late night punk show where sheer energy carries it from song to song and FCC violations aren't a concern, or possible a show where all the cuts are quite long (some jazz, classical) and the programmer has time to preview during the show. I just am too tightly wound to do that.
And now you know how I spent most of my Sundays. As hobbies go, there are worse!
I'd like to tell you that I show up and pull random music from the shelves as I go in the spirit of Delirium (who was Delight) that I more or less named my show after back in 2002, but that would not be true. That was perhaps my original inclination, but I'm too much of a planner to ever take that approach, and it leads to bad radio shows and occasional FCC violations as well. Instead:
AT THE STATION, THE WEEK BEFORE
While I'm doing my show or shortly after it, I almost always file music on to the new shelf. Any bands that interest me get written down for next week. In theory I could sign up for our "new artist" internal mailing list, but I've never really bothered. Similarly, I go through the ticket giveaway book and see if there's anybody coming that I want to give away tickets for. I usually sign up for these many weeks in advance. I also note my occasional radio traditions as they occur.
AT HOME, DURING THE WEEK BEFORE
During the week, I prepare of list of artists that I want to play. In addition to the artists above, this includes my encyclopedia artists of the week. I note anything on the concert calendar that I want to highlight. Occasionally songs come my way via my friends, reading or other means that I want to play. A variant of this is that I often hear about new music while listening to the radio shows my friends do, particularly gieves. Of late, I sometimes do the artist randomization exercise.
I will sometimes preview a few things via YouTube during the week before, but I typically prefer to get to the station and preview off of media we actually have, as we aren't allowed to play things off of YouTube on the air.
Very occasionally I realize that I want to play something that I have in my personal collection that the station does not have, so I toss that on the counter with my lists so I remember to bring it with. This is so rare an occurrence that if I didn't currently have a CD on my counter as I write this I'm sure I would have forgotten this detail.
AT THE STATION, TWO HOURS BEFORE
When I show up at the station I typically have a long list of artists. I go find as may of them as I can. Typically this pile is more than enough to do a two hour radio show. Once in a while I strike out and can't find anything by a given artist, or the media is damaged in some way.
Next up, I haul this pile of music into the backup studio and preview it to find songs I want to play. Occasionally I don't find anything good on a given album, but most of the time there's a track or two or five that is more than good enough for my taste. I rarely listen to a song all the way through unless it's an artist that I know uses profanity or if it's really good.
I write the track number (including the side for vinyl), artist and song name, along with the length of the song. Typically I use two sheets of paper, one for the genre portion of the show and another for the Delirium portion. Other things that go on the paper include suggested track pairings (done with tasteful arrows), which may go up the level of an entire set in some cases. I sometimes arrange the physical music by track order before I bring it into the air studio. This is usually more useful than the pairings on the paper.
I also add estimates of total time. I don't get too precise there; I add up the minutes and then estimate as if each track has 30 seconds (e.g., 2:45 + 3:17 becomes 2:30 + 3:30). If my estimates come out to about 55 minutes for a 60 minute period, that is almost always close enough to make it work.
Additionally I write down concert information, and in the rare case that I'm going to play a track with FCC issues I write the precise time that the profanity occurs so I can bleep it.
AT THE STATION, SHOW TIME
I may have some pairings written out, but while the show is happening I'm constantly reevaluating what song is next and building the set. I also figure out when to put the mandatory promos and PSAs to best bridge songs that don't otherwise segue well. Simultaneously I'm entering the playlist data, cuing up the next track, putting away music I've played, filing music on the new shelf, evaluating the paperwork I'm in charge, talking to people who are there, answering phones and running through what I'm going to say during the next air check. If I have a trainee, they do a lot of this work, but then I'm watching them and giving feedback.
This all sounds complicated, and it is if you've never done it before, but at this point I'm well practiced at it. That's not to say that I don't screw up, but most of the screw ups are small and not detectable by anyone but particularly observant staff members and really anal retentive listeners.
Back when I had co-hosts, it was harder. Well, at first my co-host shows were "I do an hour, they do an hour" and that wasn't really much different, but from Ron onward my co-hosts and I were constantly listening to the current track and figuring out what we'd play next. Sometimes one of us would go four songs in a row, but more frequently Ron, Shari, Colleen, fadat and I would veer back from one track to another. Doing a show solo is much easier, although it also sometimes (usually) isn't as much fun.
In the rare event that I don't prepare enough music for the show, I typically fall back on a long list of artists that I know well enough to pull more or less on demand.
AFTER THE SHOW
I typically listen to the MP3 archive of the show in the following week to see how it sounded. One of the weird things about doing a radio show is that you really don't get to listen to the music very much because too much else is going on. Sure, sometimes I'm playing a great song and I jam to it or maybe even do some dancing, but that song will be done in just a bit, and I have to be ready to go for the next one. I get to enjoy the music later. Sometimes I hear particularly stupid things during the talk break or segues that I've done and make a note so I can try not to do it again.
My approach has evolved somewhat over the years, so I don't promise that this is exactly how I did it back in 2004, but the basic framework has been the same for quite some time. I should also note that I've seen many people do shows in different ways, ranging from people pre-setting the show on a MP3 player or burned CD (hi Shari!) ahead of time to completely doing it on the fly. Depending on the programmer, the format and the time slot, any of these can work, but in my opinion the shows that do some prep ahead of time usually sound consistently better over time. The main exception would be something like a late night punk show where sheer energy carries it from song to song and FCC violations aren't a concern, or possible a show where all the cuts are quite long (some jazz, classical) and the programmer has time to preview during the show. I just am too tightly wound to do that.
And now you know how I spent most of my Sundays. As hobbies go, there are worse!