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06/18/2005 Entry: "RAdio"

AS FAR as I know, Saturday at the BRN came to an end without any of the kind of bullshit that has come up in the last two years what with riot cops and all. There seemed to be a tad fewer people out and about after midnight than I remembered from earlier years, two. I, for one, am glad that they banned glass containers again this year--the ground was peppered with solo cup snowflakes.

Thanks to all who tuned into my show today. It was my first time to do that sort of thing, but looking back, I made several mistakes from which I learned something:

1) Know how long you are supposed to DJ.

I thought I was only on for 45 minutes. If I looked a little more closely, I would have realized that I was scheduled for damn near two hours.

Fortunately, I was prepared with plenty o' material. But I found myself forced to play several tracks from the same group more than once. I wished that I could have gotten more stuff from more Nashville acts.

2) Keep a written list of what is played.

I had planned play four or five sides, then talk a bit, then play some more. But I goofed a coupla times, as I'll mention below, and had to improvise on the quick. This was stressful, and I forgot to name some of the tracks in doing so. Oopsy daisy.

3) Remember to slide down the mic fader when done talking.

It happened two or three times. So I guess Hank or Loretta were accompanied with that damn squeaking swivel chair in the background.

4) Don't forget which button to push and in the right order.

That happened once, causing one song to start repeating again. How embarrassing.

5) Be dead certain which track number is the song you want.

Jeez Louise. Two or three times I played the absolute wrong track. The worst song on the CD. Grr...

6) Make sure your CDs don't skip.

Yep. Twice on my shift my CDs started skipping out. Why, even the Sandmänchen bit afterwards wouldn't play on CD 2. So also make sure that your CD players are fit.

7) Ensure that your internet connection is solid.

Most people told me that several times in the program the sound went out. It turns out it was no fault of mine; The studio is not at the same location as the antenna. So the program goes over the internet, and is then broadcast from an antenna crosstown. But there was some network congestion. As a result, the signal went out for minutes at a time several times during my show. Damn.

8) Watch your levels.

At the studio, we have no limiter or compression. So you gotta know how loud you can move the faders. Woulda been nice if they had told me that the signal shouldn't be louder that -7 dB. So some of the songs were totally distorted.

9) Don't say the P-word on the radio.

Sorry about that, folks.

But still, to toot my own horn, I think I ran a pretty tight ship for a maiden voyage. Early on while I was rapping, one punk wandered in and asked where the tip jar was.

I found out later about the internet problem. Sorry bout that, but it wasn't my fault. On a positive note, the show, like all the others, has been recorded and will soon be available in the outaspace archives. Whoopy.

Okay. I gotsta crash. B'lieve it or not, Wheezy's here and snoring like a sawmill. Later.

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