Our npo, Tundra Club, just got another grant from the National Endowment for the Arts via their Arts on Radio and Television program. The $15K supports our series of HV Specials. The NEA, along with CPB, have been a huge HV supporters. More than that, really, without NEA, HV wouldn’t exist; many HV producers likely would never have been able to develop without NEA grants.
HV audio was all over pubradio last weekend. Jake Warga searched Ethiopia for “The Perfect Photo” on All Things Considered. On This American Life Scott Carrier, in Salt Lake City, watched “The Lake Effect” form as SLC mayor Rocky Anderson debated FOX New’s Sean Hannity.
I finished a bike “Trek through Yellowstone, Part 2” for Weekend America. “Part 1” was the weekend america before, as was Scott C’s “Steelhead Fishing” trip. And a final grand total of 384 stations broadcast our “For the Fallen” special.
This week’s HV cast is for Memorial Day, part one (of 2) of our special “For the Fallen“: Host Major Robert Schaefer, U.S. Army Special Forces, a Green Beret and poet, reveals his love-hate relationship with the bugle call “Taps.” We join a “Military Honor Guard” in Long Island, recorded by Charles Lane. We hear interviews with World War Two and Vietnam vets from the public radio’s StoryCorps and This I Believe series. Composer Phil Kline sets to music the slogans Vietnam soldiers etched into their lighters, in Zippo Songs. And we attend the daily ceremony by Belgian veterans honoring the WWI British soldiers who died defending a small town in western Belgium (produced by Marjorie Van Halteren and Helen Engelhardt).
“For the Fallen 1” mp3 23:00):
A story on last night’s NPR ATC, “Studying a Koala Mystery in Eastern Australia” was the first of a new series from Jim Metzner (Pulse of the Planet). The series Science Diaries puts recorders, and blogs, in the hands of scientists “to let these dedicated folks tell their own stories.”
For the next week the story is an NPR Story of the Day podcast, “I can see his bum…”:
 Announcer’s eye-view at Cape station |
Empires, yes: plural. Jay Allison is an institutional instigator and prolific producer. Here’s a few core pubradio foundational orgs he helped found:
Here’s an ancient piece of his, posted on the Transom Inspiration page, “Rejection”:
 Gathering of the Generals: Samantha Broun- Nature Stories Podcast, Emily Botein- Stories from the Heart of the Land, Jay, Viki Merrick- Atlantic Public Media |
I spent a few days this month in Wood’s hole observing the emperor in action. Typical day includes phone-coaching some Alaska kid in an AK studio reading his I Believe essay, working w/ Emily Botein on their new Nature Conservancy funded series Stories from the Heart of the Land, adapting his bicycle to my much-smaller height so I can mic-while-biking for said series, writing his chapter of a new book on pubradio, polishing production w/ Viki Merrick of the new HV special “Father Figures,” getting a BBQ ready for his kids, and checking out that night’s squid fishing.
Oh, one more thing, Jay also likes the bikes w/ big engines:
Third Coast Festival features “Ocean Hour,” a radio classic from 1979, back when NPR attempted such sonic splendor. It’s produced by HV’s Larry Massett (who also composed & performed the music ) and Keith Talbot– 3rdCoast interviews Keith “Behind the Scenes.”
Our Memorial Day hour special, “For The Fallen,” airs on 300+ 370+ stations this weekend. Check the webwork for audio, casualty charts, and video slideshow. The host is Major Robert Schaefer, US Army Special Forces, a poet and Green Beret.
Went to visit my dad the other day at Massachusetts National Cemetery. Forgot to bring the Kaddish along to say over his grave, so I’ll say it here instead below. First, from This American Life, my radio “Kaddish” (3:27):
Mourner's Kaddish Yisgadal v'yiskadash sh'mei rabbaw (Cong. Amein). May His great Name grow exalted and sanctified (Cong. Amen.) B'allmaw dee v'raw chir'usei in the world that He created as He willed. v'yamlich malchusei,b'chayeichon, uv'yomeichon, May He give reign to His kingship in your lifetimes and in your days, uv'chayei d'chol beis yisroel, and in the lifetimes of the entire Family of Israel, ba'agawlaw u'vizman kawriv, v'imru: Amein. swiftly and soon. Now respond: Amen. (Cong: Amein. Y'hei sh'mei rabbaw m'vawrach l'allam u'l'allmei allmayaw) (Cong Amen. May His great Name be blessed forever and ever.) Y'hei sh'mei rabbaw m'vawrach l'allam u'l'allmei allmayaw. May His great Name be blessed forever and ever. Yis'bawrach, v'yishtabach, v'yispaw'ar, v'yisromam, v'yis'nasei, Blessed, praised, glorified, exalted, extolled, v'yis'hadar, v'yis'aleh, v'yis'halawl sh'mei d'kudshaw b'rich hu mighty, upraised, and lauded be the Name of the Holy One, Blessed is He (Cong. b'rich hu). (Cong. Blessed is He) L'aylaw min kol birchawsaw v'shirawsaw, beyond any blessing and song, tush'b'chawsaw v'nechemawsaw, da'ami'rawn b'all'maw, v'imru: Amein praise and consolation that are uttered in the world. Now respond: Amen. (Cong. Amein). (Cong. Amen). Y'hei shlawmaw rabbaw min sh'mayaw,v'chayim May there be abundant peace from Heaven, and life awleinu v'al kol yisroel, v'imru: Amein upon us and upon all Israel. Now respond: Amen. (Cong. Amein). (Cong. Amen). Oseh shawlom bim'ro'mawv, hu ya'aseh shawlom, He Who makes peace in His heights, may He make peace, awleinu v'al kol yisroel v'imru: Amein upon us and upon all Israel. Now respond: Amen. (Cong. Amein).
I love travelin’ the good ol’ USA picking up strange vibrations from the ray-dee-oh. Glided thru the Mass. backroads today dialed into WERS (Emerson College). Mid-afternoon an All A Cappella show came on. The excellent woman DJ laid down track after track of instrumentaless vocals, college and pro. Even the white folk do black folk songs were worth a listen cuz of the stupendous arrangements. Here’s an except the University of Virginia Academical Village People doin’ Jackson 5 “I Want You Back”:
and Voices of the Dark Side w/ Pink Floyd’s “Brain Damage’:
What we thot was a radio series turns out to be a research project: This American Life Completes Documentation Of Liberal, Upper-Middle-Class Existence.
Says senior producer Julie Snyder: “There is not a single existential crisis or self-congratulatory epiphany that has been or could be experienced by a left-leaning agnostic that we have not exhaustively documented and grouped by theme.”
So, where’s that leave pubradio when it’s hippest hour is now Onion fodder?
Jakes new video for his NPR piece searching for the “Ark of the Covenant” and finding humanity. A radio story with photos from a trip to Ethiopia:
The ShortWaveMusic Soundblog was dormant; but Myke Weiskopf is back w/ his shortwave-radio recordings. His “Duelling XMTRs!” — multiple transmitters vying for the same spot on your dial — are transcendent serendipitous audio art; Pentacostal preachers overlap Muslim chants, spy stations compete w/ 3rd world pop.
Duelling XMTRs!: Family Radio vs. V2
“A Spanish five-figure CIA numbers station (‘V2’) was coolly running digits over a Family Radio liturgy in perfect balance.”
Duelling XMTRs! #3 Duelling XMTRs! #3 VOIRI vs. the World
“This has it all: interval signals for VOIRI and BBC, Spanish ham-radio operators, slow Morse code, data squalls, fading, phasing, heterodyne”:
Lotsa mp3s at ShortWaveMusic, from seven-stringed zithers to the Voice of Vietnam, along w/ explanations of “numbers stations” and “data squalls.” Mike has a new CD of his music that samples said SW transmissions. (Just bought my copy today.)
Community Broadcasters Conference Revised Agenda:
Thursday, 12 April 2007
0715 – 0800
Badge Pickup
Continental Breakfast
Begin complaining about RIAA and SoundExchange screwing us on webcasting
0800 – 0815
Conference Welcome – “RIAA not really ‘evil’, just ‘bastardly'”
0815 – 1000
Case Studies in New Facilities and how building would have been easier with
webcasting and everyone at RIAA dead from painful diseases
1000 – 1015
Morning Break
More complaining about RIAA
1015 – 1115
Mapping the Boundaries of HD Radio Coverage and how it’s been limited by the
Great Satan of Webcasting: RIAA
1115 – 1215
HD Radio Technology Update and how RIAA plans to kill us with it
1215 – 1315
Lunch
Keynote- “RIAA is Destroying the Internet”
And this update.
(From the PUBTech listserv.)
“Vox Humana” is the theme of this month’s Radio DavidByrne.com, his 3-hour monthly webcast. Sez Bryne: “I’ve recently stumbled on a bunch of wonderful recent recordings that feature spoken word or the human voice manipulated in various ways — it almost makes me think this might be a time when this vague genre might be flourishing. Really exciting and sometimes funny stuff. Not quite singing, most of the time, but definitely musical. I have read that singing uses one side of the brain and speaking the other, and this stuff probably bridges the gap.”
The a web-stream playlist (128K mp3; also in iTunes Radio: Eclectic) is stuffed w/ great musical Spoken-Wierd, including Joe Frank, Eno, Waits, T.Heads, the Books, Beefheart, and lotsa stuff by the talented SLC composer, and bud of HV, Phillip Kent Bimstein.
This week’s HV cast is a father-daughter dialog for Poetry Month: Jack Kerouac’s daughter Jan, reads her an ode to her rarely seen dad; intertwined with Kerouac’s speeches and prose; produced by by . “Jan & Jack” (mp3 6:34):
The fine folks at Duke’s Ctr for Doc Studies asked me to compile a short list of resources for learning radio. It was for some workshops I did at their annual Documentary Happening. This is the list…
–>MUST SEE/READ: Watch Ira’s training vid, read Jeff’s ProTools primer. These are two concise yet comprehensive production guides…
Ira Glass- Current TV: Storytelling (15min video):
http://www.current.tv/studio/survivalguide/?section=storytelling&sub1=interviews&sub2=glass
Jeff Towne- Transom Tools: A Beginners Guide to Pro Tools (primer):
http://www.transom.org/tools/editing_mixing/200610_guide_to_pro_tools/
–>SHOULD READ- TRANSOM REVIEWS: Transom.org Guests’ posts are littered with pubradio insight. Here’s some of my favorite excerpts from their discussions…
Larry Massett- In Search of Aliens (online discussion)
http://www.transom.org/guests/review/200203.review.massett.html
Robert Krulwich- Why I Love Radio (online discussion)
http://www.transom.org/guests/review/200211.review.krulwich.html
Scott Carrier- Running After Antelope (online discussion)
http://www.transom.org/guests/review/200104.review.scarrier.html
Nancy Updike- Better Writing Through Radio (online discussion)
http://www.transom.org/guests/review/200601_nancy_updike/
–>BASICS: Some stripped down primers on pubradio production (a couple written for kids)…
Sound Portraits- Record Your Own Radio Documentary (primer)
http://www.soundportraits.org/education/how_to_record/
Radio Diaries- Teen Reporter’s Handbook (primer)
http://radiodiaries.org/makeyourown.html
Stories1st- How To Produce A Doc- Part 1 & Part 2
This American Life- How To Get On (submission guidelines)
http://thislife.org/pages/faq_extras/howtogeton.html
Transom: Tools: Katie Davis- Shout Out! A Kid’s Guide to Recording Stories (primer)
http://www.transom.org/tools/basics/200501.shoutout.kdavis.html
–>TOOLS: Send (ftp) files for broadcast as uncompressed .wav or encoded .mp2 — do not broadcast or produce w/ mp3s if possible; use mp3 for audition only…
PRX- Member Tools; free mp2 encoder & FTP clents (software)
http://wiki.prx.org/display/HELP/encode+and+upload
Apple- iTunes; a great soundfile format converter & soundfile organizer (software)
http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/
AIR (Assoc. of Independents in Radio)- Pitch Page (submission guidelines)
http://www.airmedia.org/PageInfo.php?PageID=21
–>THIRD COAST SESSIONS: The annual 3rdCoast Conference is, from a producer pov, da bomb. Listen to a few of my fave hours from past confs…
Nancy Updike- Die, Mediocrity, Die! (1 hr conference session audio)
http://www.thirdcoastfestival.org/annual_conference_2006_sessions.asp#diemediocritydie
David Kestenbaum- Explaining the World in Four Minutes (1 hr conference session audio)
http://www.thirdcoastfestival.org/annual_conference_2005.asp#id16
Robert Krulwich- These are a Few of My Favorite Things (1 hr conference session audio)
http://www.thirdcoastfestival.org/annual_conference_2006_sessions.asp#favoritethings
Chris Brookes- Ways of Hearing (1 hr conference session audio)
http://www.thirdcoastfestival.org/annual_conference_2003_sessions.asp#id11
Joe Richman- The Invisible Narrator (1 hr conference session audio)
http://www.thirdcoastfestival.org/annual_conference_2006_sessions.asp#invisiblenarrator
links last checked 2007.01.20
Turns out these Peabody Awards are an august affair. Here’s a clip from last year’s ceremony:
We just heard one of our specials got a Peabody Award. The award is named for Mr. Peabody of Rocky & Bullwinkle fame. For us to win both moose and squirrel must’ve pulled rabbits out of their hats.
Really, tho, this is a huge deal and honor for us at HV. Our winning special was “Crossing Borders.”
There’s a new entry at Wikipedia for radio innovator (NPR, ATC, Soundprint, Fresh Air) Bill Siemering. Said Bill in NPR’s first mission statement (1970): “The total service should be trustworthy, enhance intellectual development, expand knowledge, deepen aural esthetic enjoyment, increase the pleasure of living in a pluralistic society and result in a service to listeners which makes them more responsive, informed human beings and intelligent responsible citizens of their communities and the world.” (Wikipedia post by Program Doctor.)
This week’s HV cast is a Scott Carrier story about Fritz the dog. Fritz loves to play Frisbee. He still catches it most of the time, though not as much as he used to… before he went blind. “Blind Dog” (mp3 4:22):