Evaluation

Brief
My brief for this radio unit was to create 2 Radio advertisements,
a featured interview with the head teacher, a 30 second jingle and
finally a 30 minute radio show. In my group I worked with myself
Jack and Ranen.

How have I recorded sound?

Radio Adverts - Myself Jack and Ranen recorded our adverts by
going to the media office and booking out a sound recorder, this
is called a zoom. We then went to a quiet isolated room, this Is so
the zoom doesn't pick up any outside noises. In this case we went
to the radio room, which is sound proof. We then got our scripts
out for our advertisements and practised to get our timing
correct. We then started by placing the zoom in the middle of the
table so it was able to pick all our voices up, then we clicked the
red button on the side which ensured us It was recording. When
we were finished we clicked the square button. This stopped the
recording. I had then plugged the USB into It and stored It all onto
the computer, once I had done this I edited my advertisements on
premiere pro. Overall, We found this quite simple to use.

Radio Show - To record our radio show we firstly booked out the
radio room for a few practice sessions, this is to help us to get
familiar and to learn our running order. On the day of our radio
show we ensured we booked the room out for an hour to give us
enough time, we then printed our running orders out and was
ready to start. Firstly we sat in our designated spots, Jack was the
host and me and ranen were the co hosts. We positioned our
microphones and then clicked the red button which started our
recording. We had a music bed running through the whole show
and had 6 jingles. We had also placed our audios we are using on
the computer on the que. Once we had finished we wished our
audience the very best rest of their day and pressed the red
button again, this concluded the show.
What problems did I encounter?
Radio adverts - In My radio adverts i encountered a few problems,
such as making them a few seconds long, this was caused by
many pauses, i was easily able to fix this by shortening them on
premiere pro. Another problem I encountered was a speech error,
this was caused by nerves from being recorded, resulting in
hearing stuttering and a few bits of laughter. We were able to fix
this by calming down and recording again, I was also able to edit
out any mistakes. The final issue I encountered was hearing the
sound levels which were quite distorted, after a few practice runs
we figured to put the zoom in the middle of the table and to
ensure we didn't go too close to it. This helped me achieve a
perfect sound rhythm with a music bed and sound effects in the
background.

Radio Show - During our radio show, as a group we encountered a

few problems, firstly we had to take a few rehearsal sessions to
perfectly get 30 minutes long and attempt not to go a minute
longer. We also struggled with the sound levels, for example there
were a few times when the music bed was louder than our voices,
resulting in the audience unable to hear. We were able to amend
this by putting the slider in the correct places on the music desk,
for instance we put the music bed lower and the microphones
higher.

How easy was it to record sound?

Radio Adverts - Overall we didn't have many problems while using
a zoom recorder, one issue we ran into was placing the zoom
down as soon as we clicked play, this created a loud band at the
start of the advertisements, this was easily fixed by editing it out
on premier. Another problem we had was the sound levels, when
we listened back to the adverts they appeared to be loud, this was
fixed on premier pro by lowering the volume. Finally, the last issue
we had was creating them too long, this happened because we
took quite long pauses, after I had cut them out the
advertisements were successfully 2 minutes long.

Radio Show - While recording our radio show we encountered a

few problems, such as the music bed playing throughout, this was
because the sound levels appeared to be higher and the
audience were not able to hear our voices, due to this we had to
 redo our show. For our final recording made sure to turn the
music down on the radio dec and to turn our microphones up on
the slider. Another issue we had was knowing when to cue our next
song/jingle, at first we found this quite confusing but after many
attempts we figured to move the sliders at the same time, this
gave us a nice fade switching between audios. Finally the last
problem we ran into was having the radio show too long, we went
over around 4 minutes, this is due to us taking a few pauses and a
bit more on certain topics, overall this was easily fixed by editing
them out on premiere pro, effectively giving us a 30 minute radio
show.

How do I use the radio desk?

Audio adjusters
Can overall change
the audio

Track Sliders
Controls Volume
On and Off
indicators
Shows if the
station is live or
not
Microphone Sliders
Change how loud
or quiet the
microphones are
Fade Button
Used to effectively
fade each audio

Radio Advertisements - In our radio show we effectively used 6

adverts, this was demonstrated by queuing the audios just how we
planned in our running order, overall this helped us to stay on
track and organised. As a group, to make sure our adverts didn't
sound distorted we ensured the volume wasn't too high on the
radio desk, so the slider was placed in the middle to create an
even sound, this is along where the microphones were placed, this
is to make sure everything sounds equal. We also had a fade
button which enabled us to have a nice sound going through.

Radio Show - Overall we found using the radio desk was quite
simple, although as a group we did run into a few problems, the
first issue we had was the sound levels of the music bed or sound
effects, after a few tries the group figured to place the slider on
the lowest volume and the microphones to the highest, this
ensures us the audience will be able to hear everybody speaking.
Another problem we struggled with was a speech error. After
listening to our practice show we acknowledged there was a lot of
stuttering and pauses, this was due to nerves being on air, for our
final recording we tried to relax and became more comfortable,
this left us with clear voices and easily listenable.

What did I use the desk for?

Radio Show - We used the radio desk to achieve an enjoyable
radio show, we had used the sliders to increase and decrease the
volume of the music bed and sound effects, this is to ensure the
sound isn't distorted. We also ensured when using the
microphones to make them louder than anything else in the show
when talking between intermissions, this is so the audience can
hear us clearly. We then used the fade button at the bottom of the
desk to give off a clear and smooth transition between songs and
jingles. There are also buttons at the bottom of the deck which
instantly plays a song at the correct volume while switching
between different audios.

How did I change the sound levels?

Radio Advertisements - When recording my radio advertisements I
made certain the sound was professional and good quality. Firstly,
I ensured to put the zoom in the middle of the table, this is so it
picks up everybody's voices but makes them all even. Secondly I
went onto adobe premier and adjusted the audio gain to ensure
the sound wasn't distorted. Overall this made my adverts sound
more appealing and to guarantee it wasn't too quiet or loud. The
use of sound effects also had a big impact on my adverts as it
made the audio appear more clear to the audience.

Radio Show - In our radio show we changed the sound levels by

utilising the music desk, this was achieved by moving the sliders
up and down to increase or decrease the volume to avoid
distortion, for an example the music bed or jingles, we also
ensured to have the music bed lower than the microphones, this
was so the audience were able to clearly hear our voices with no
problems. Overall this took us a few tries to get used to the system
while on live but once we got the hang of it we soon perfected our
radio show.

Timing of adverts
Advertisement 1 -
During advertisement 1 we had a few problems at first with
perfecting the timing. This was due to the fact that we hadn't
learnt the script but we were quite nervous being recorded. As a
group we worked together to sort this out by taking a few practice
runs to learn our words, we had then tried to become more
comfortable with our surroundings, this soon left me with my
completed advert. Finally I went on premiere pro to perfect my
advertisement, I did this by fixing the audio gain and then cutting
out any pauses or stutters. Eventually this gave me my completed
advert. My completed time for this was 1 minute and 17 seconds.

Advertisement 2 -
While recording advertisement 2 we encountered the same
problems we had with advertisement 1, I fixed these problems by
using premiere pro and editing out any pauses and stutters. The
finishing time for my advertisement was 1 minute and 16 seconds,
unfortunately I didn't stay between the 30 second time frame
altogether my advert sounded more detailed and professional,
keeping it longer.

Assessing my product and evaluating how successful

they are
Radio Advertisements -while recording my radio adverts there
weren't many problems with only little mistakes which I rectified on
premiere pro. Once adjusting the audio gain to make sure there
was no distortion and embedding sound effects and a music bed I
successfully completed 2 adverts.

Radio Show - In my radio show there were only little mistakes, such
as the music bed and jingle transition. Once we had started
recording our actual show we felt more relaxed and became more
funnier since we had done many practices beforehand. During the
middle of the show the monitor turned off, we soon addressed this
to the audience and apologised then stated we will be back
shortly. We had also tried to go off script when we were live and
tried memorising the running order, this is so we sounded more
natural and less robotic to give off a professional and realistic
look.

Pros of radio adverts

Radio Advertisements -The pros of my radio advert was how well
we performed while being recorded and scripted, as a group we
tried to achieve a more realistic and natural look, this is to make
us appear professional. Once we had finished recording I edited
on premiere pro, for advertisement one, 80s movie club, I
attempted to give off that effect by adding 80s songs, such as
GhostBusters and Don't forget about me, I have used these as they
are very iconic from this era of music, I then added sound effects
and this concluded my advert. I then started to edit Advert 2,
which was textiles enrichment. To achieve this effect I added
relaxing music in the background, this makes my advert appear
more relaxing and enjoyable. Finally I then added a school bell
ringing sound effect, this is to illustrate class had just ended since
my advert was based in school. Comparing this to the radio
adverts we had listened to I have effectively done this by adding
sound effects and a music bed, this is what the other ads had, I
had also used persuasive language to convince my audience to
attend the college enrichments. Finally, I had also used catchy
music.

Pros of radio show

Radio Show - The pros of my radio show were the comedic humour
we had added into it. We did this by telling funny jokes and sound
effects, this ensured the audience wouldn't get bored, we had also
made sure we weren't scripted, this was achieved by memorising
the running order and then going off what we thought. We had
also added a relaxing music bed quietly in the background. Finally
using the music dec when switching from different audios we had
pressed the fade button, this gave us a nice transition between
intermissions and songs. When creating my radio show I ensured
to make it like the ones we had listened to by not sounding too
scripted and came natural, this made it also sound comedic.
Finally we added a jingle and music to make it sound realistic.

Cons of radio adverts

Radio Advertisements -There were only a few cons when recording
my radio advertisements, for example we were unsure at first how
to correctly use the zooms, this resulting recording multiple times
until we got used to it and found it quite easy. Another problem we
had was having many pauses and stutters, this was due to nerves,
overall we managed to get over this by trying to relax and taking
practice runs. The final con we encountered was pressing the
record button and then passing the zoom down. I fixed this on
premiere pro and cut it out. I also reduced the sound levels to
make sure it was all even. The cons of my radio adverts compared
to the professional ones was mine were a lot longer and not as
short and easy to remember such as how the others were.

Cons of radio show

Radio Show - Overall there were a few cons when recording the
radio show, the first issue we encountered was the monitor
shutting down in the middle of recording, instead of restarting we
addressed it to the audience and stated we will be back shortly,
after we fixed the issue the group carried on as we were. Another
problem we had was the music bed audio was too loud and you
were unable to hear us. Unfortunately since we were live we
weren't able to edit it out so we had to redo our show. On our last
run through we ensured to turn the slider all the way down for the
music and then had it turned up for the microphones on the
music deck, this reassured us that we were hearable. Finally the
last problem we had was the silent pauses between intermissions
and songs when going through our rehearsal. To overcome this
we clicked the fade button at the bottom of the deck which gave
us a nice transition when switching between the audios. The cons
of my radio show was we didn't have many smooth transitions
compared to the radio X ones.

What would I do differently next time?

Radio Advertisement - For next time when recording my
advertisements I will ensure to place the zoom on the table first
and then pressing record, this takes away the unnecessary bangs
in the background. Finally, I would ensure to give myself enough
time to record 2 adverts since I felt a bit rushed and wasn't able to
give my full potential.

Radio Show - For next time when recording our radio show I will try
to keep an eye on the time when talking about certain topics and
to not get carried away. I would also make sure I wasn't too close
to the mic since some sound distortion was illustrated when
listening to it back. Finally, I will ensure for next time to add more
sound effects to keep the radio show more comedic.

How are my products like professional products?

The products I am provided with are owned by the college, such
as the music deck, this ensures us we can increase or decrease
the sounds on the show, another product we used is the the
monitor and the shows software, this increasingly helped us as
this is what we recorded our show on, we were also able to que our
next audio and see the timings. Another product I used was the
sound recorder, this is called a zoom, I was able to use this to
create my radio advertisements and jingle. Finally, the last
product I had used was premiere pro. This app is very effective as
it allows me to easily edit all my clips and add music, sound
effects, etc.. Comparing to the professional products Radio X or
BBC use we dont have them facilities so ours dont have as much
as smooth transitions.

What skills will I continue to develop?

Finally, the skills I have developed were many social skills, this had
very much impacted me as I was able to talk to new people and
create a comedic and fun radio show while doing it. This Radio
unit has furthered my media skills and knowledge and would really
help next year when I carry on this subject.