mareksoon

[deleted]

Do y'all still speed up songs in order to get one more song (or commercial) into the hour?

We did this at the station I worked at in the '90s (was owned by Genesis Broadcasting).

Follow up to that: in my day, we literally sped the rotation of the record (2%, I think). This, of course, slightly affected the pitch.

I suppose today you have the tech to speed up the songs without affecting pitch.

We also cut out parts of songs that didn't fit our format. I remember we tossed the guitar solo out of Simply Irresistible because it didn't fit our top-40/pop format, but was a top-40 song.

Here's a great big hug from me to you.

I remember it was important that we also speed up any pre-recorded program we played, such as the Rick Dees Weekly Top 40, which was on record when I started, but moved to CD before I left.

If we didn't, the songs sounded different. However, this also sped up the show, but we'd add commercials during the local break to fill out the hour.

Once, our $1,000 song of the day was included in the countdown. That morning I had to put my newly learned tape editing skills to work, recording that segment to tape, literally cutting that song out (which I paused recording to not waste tape) as well as the lead-in into it.

I then had a five minute hole to fill; forget what I did instead.

It was a complete fluke I landed that job; I used to be that kid who bugged DJs at night, but some were lonely and actually talked with us. When I asked how to get a job there, they said I'd need an RTF degree (I was still in high school).

Then one night she mentioned someone quit and I should apply; to my surprise, I got the job. Crazy thing is no one ever called to tell me. I called my 'friend' at the station late Saturday night (like 2am Sunday morning) and she asked why I was still awake …because she was supposed to train me on the board at 5am.

… so I was a board op for five years, weekend mornings and when needed for remotes and such. It was good extra income and the perks (concerts, movies, etc.) were nice, but when I saw how talent was treated (and paid), I lost interest and found a different career.

I did throw together a mock air check tape and tried to get on air; boss (who I still hadn't met) said she was surprised (I was better than she expected I would be with no background experience), but gave me a few things to work on.

Still, I enjoyed my time there immensely and had some good friends come out of it.

… and to this day, still have dreams overnight that I'm either back, want to go back, or they're calling me to help them in a pinch, and it's a 2017 studio, not a 1990 one; all digital, no tape, vinyl, or carts.

Aye. :-(