My Production Studio Arrived

You don’t always do radio from a “live” studio. I prefer that way, mostly because it reminds me of how I did the magic for so many years. But sometimes it just can’t be done in real time, or portions need to be done in advance; that’s where a production studio (or booth) comes in handy.

My radio program is done essentially “live” in terms the FCC accepts: recorded in one take and broadcast the next day. A show 60 minutes long, done in exactly 60 minutes.

So I have the regular studio, which had to be moved due to renovations in the building it shares with another office. That’s in a location which is ideal at night, but very loud during the daytime. The new production studio, where people who can’t be around at night, do the pre-records, is in a different location – my room.

It works well, but I needed to equip it professionally; what I had been using was hardly fit for more than one person. There would be three of us in the new setting. So I bought a new mixer and two new microphones. The MiniDisc recorder was already in place and we were pretty much set to go. It all worked, and worked well.

Cheaply, too: even a professional mixer comes in at quite a reasonably price these days. This one provides for three mics and two “line” inputs (for tape or cd’s) and has a bunch of features included. What they’re able to build, and put into a small package, these days is amazing. Forget the good old days.