Radio Production 101

It's a bit like cooking - you spend 3 hours over a hot stove, it's all eaten in 5 minutes, and nobody appreciates all the effort you put into it...

Yep.  My coworkers swear they can't tell the difference in a lot of things I do.  Probably because it's AM radio.  

An extreme example:  The morning host always records his interviews at 22050 and swears he can't tell a difference between it and 44100.  He wonders why I waste disc space at the higher rate.    

But it doesn't really matter to me.    To be honest, I strive for perfection not for them or even the listeners:  I do it for myself.

Yep.  My coworkers swear they can't tell the difference in a lot of things I do.  Probably because it's AM radio.

Boy ain't that the truth...sometimes you really wonder how much production time is worth it on AM. At least with the Truman-era transmitter hardware some of us are working under...

You guys are making me feel really guilty I ever said anything lol.

Don't ever stop being creative. Even if your work can't be fully appreciated now, one day your work may air on another medium, or you may discover other talents during your experimentations.

Bernie  

Here's another sample...There are three different filters in this file, following the original...The first filter is the one I use most often.

Emmett

Nice Emmett.  I really appreciate you posting all of these.

You know, when I made the switch from FM to AM, the hardest part was training myself to think in mono.  I never realised how many little things I did  to manipulate the left and right channels until I couldn't do it anymore.

Now I have to think in both.  Mono at work, and stereo at home for the side business.

Even with FM, I try very hard to make everything completely mono compatable.  A lot of listeners, even today, still have mono recievers or playback devices.  I do a lot of freelance work for an AM/FM simulcast station.  I use tons of stereo effects, but I'm EXTREMELY careful to check everything for that station in left-only, right-only and mono sum.  Most of the stereo effects do okay in mono...But I never pan anything more than 20% left or right.  I'm also pretty careful with flange, reverb, delay and other spatial effects.

You might think about doing something like that, so you'll have stereo files for your demos and personal archives.  A little stereo can go a long way, without hurting mono compatability much at all.

Stereo AM also comes to mind. There are some stereo AM stations in the US right? Or if there aren't now there used to be. Something that has never to my knowledge existed in the UK and I could never understand.

Stereo AM also comes to mind. There are some stereo AM stations in the US right? Or if there aren't now there used to be. Something that has never to my knowledge existed in the UK and I could never understand.

There are a lot of stereo AM stations in the US, and you could entirely be forgiven for not underanding how AM stereo works. Here is a 'simple' explanation...

lol I thought you said it was "simple"....look at all that reading

Stereo AM also comes to mind. There are some stereo AM stations in the US right? Or if there aren't now there used to be. Something that has never to my knowledge existed in the UK and I could never understand.

There are a lot of stereo AM stations in the US, and you could entirely be forgiven for not underanding how AM stereo works. Here is a 'simple' explanation...

But, there are no stereo AM receivers to pick up those stereo AM stations. At least I've never seen one nor sold one when I was selling electronics at a major retailer for that matter. One of the stations I work at is an AM, but it is not stereo as far as I know and I've been to the transmitter and I have yet to see anything that indicates it is stereo. In fact the audio is sent to the transmitter via an eqed phone line so I know that it is not in stereo.

Now if you are talking about HD Radio (IBOC), then there are stereo AM stations, but again the receivers are hard to find.

But, there are no stereo AM receivers to pick up those stereo AM stations. At least I've never seen one nor sold one when I was selling electronics at a major retailer for that matter.

There are plenty - even Sony makes one.
Kevtronics have some here, and apparently Delco make stereo AM radios for cars, and Crysler also make one.

Okay, they're not common, but you can't claim that they are non-existent.

You might think about doing something like that, so you'll have stereo files for your demos and personal archives.  A little stereo can go a long way, without hurting mono compatability much at all.

Almost all the music beds, sound effects, and stingers, stabs, swoops...you name it... I use are stereo of course.  So I do all the multitrack stuff in stereo.  Usually I'll mix down a wav in mono for the station, an mp3 in stereo to send to the client or a wav if they want it on cd, and keep the session file saved if I need to revist it for revisions...or to use on a demo.  

I do tend to be very careful with flange, reverb etc.  I guess my point was I never pan anything for work...and consequently tend to forget it as a creative option at home.

But, there are no stereo AM receivers to pick up those stereo AM stations. At least I've never seen one nor sold one when I was selling electronics at a major retailer for that matter.

There are plenty - even Sony makes one.
Kevtronics have some here, and apparently Delco make stereo AM radios for cars, and Crysler also make one.

Okay, they're not common, but you can't claim that they are non-existent.

You are correct, I can't say they are non-existent and I do know that they do exist. I just have not seen any in the stores here nor sold them when I was selling electronics. I don't ever recall a single customer who came in asking specifically for a stereo AM receiver. I guess I was trying to say that they are hard to find. Now HD Radio receivers, I have seen those.

My understanding is that AM stereo actually broadcasts in higher quality than FM.  I was always told that AM's poor quality is a result of broadcast and reciever equipment, not the nature of AM broadcast.  I've also heard that, with the advent of HD, music stations will likely move over to AM to get the increased coverage area.  I know of two 50,000 watt AM stations that reach almost all of the US at certain times of the day.  I would imagine that after HD catches on, those frequencies will be worth a fortune.