Job Opening ... Bring Lots of Tanning Lotion

Happy Friday!

Channel 104.8 has an immediate opening for a creative production wizard. Accommodation within walking distance to the station will be provided, along with transportation, too.

Sounds great, as long as you don't mind working in one of the hottest places on mother earth. Ajman, in the United Arab Emirates. I checked today's forecast, which calls for a balmy 102 degrees. However, during peak summer periods the temp may surpass 127 degrees.

Oh, if you're worried about security, consider this: Halliburton will soon move its headquarters there. I guess that says something about security.

"Where's the hearse?"

So..... you're in the production studio, sitting comfortably in front of the console and ready to begin a mix-down when, to your surprise you hear somebody yell, "Where's the hearse?"

This Sheffield, Alabama station received an unwelcome guest in their production studio. I'm not sure what's funnier: the sight of a silver hearse punching a hole through the production studio wall, or the fact that the station "repaired" the damage in less than two hours.

Hey, a picture is worth a thousand words. Read the full story here.

Recording Music

Have you ever wondered what it's like to record musicians in a live performance. Let's step out of the production studio for a moment and take a behind-the-scenes look at an actual session... in this case, a jazz recording.

Victor Schermer penned this article on what takes place in the control room and the recording studio during an actual session. Leading the session is one of the great underrated pianists, Don Friedman.

Using Skype for Phoners and Production

I receive the occasional question ...usually from a home-studio producer... on the easiest way to record a telephone interview in the digital medium. Of course, the first thing that comes to mind is the use of a Gentner hybrid interface or even a Telos, assuming the session is on an ISDN circuit.

One inquiry, however was particularly complex and involved recording an interview on the phone. It didn't help matters that my colleague was on vacation in the Caribbean, miles away from the nearest studio. With laptop in hand and ProTools M-Box at his disposal, we tinkered with a few scenarios on how to record the interview as an MP3 file...something he could edit and e-mail to his producer at the radio station.

Enter Skype to the rescue! Skype taps into the speed and quality of VOIP. With a couple of quick software downloads, our intrepid explorer/producer was up and running in no time.

Thanks to David at ContentDeveloper.com for writing this thorough article on how to make it work.

Add a Stereo Mic to your collection

Okay, it's not everyday that a Production Director has a practical use for a Stereo Mic. However, a couple of applications come to mind: 1) You want to get out into the field and record some of your own Stereo sound effects; or 2) that bit for the morning show would really sound hot with a little spacial quality to it.

Well, whatever your reason might be for owning a Stereo Mic, Superlux announces the release of the E 522/B Stereo Mic. Hey, at $100, it's easy to add two to your collection. Can you say, "Quad Stereo?"

M-AUDIO ver 1.5 Release

M-Audio announces the release of version 1.5. This version makes M-Audio Session compatible with Windows Vista, and it also features some cool enhancements, too.

Download the update here.

Portable CD Recorder by Marantz

CD Recording is fairly commonplace in today's studio environment. However, finding a good field recorder has been hit or miss. Marantz, who has a durable line of MiniDisc and Flash recorders on the market announces the CDR310 CD Recorder.