Unit 6 Audio Production

1. Chris Moyles – Radio 1 Unit 6 Audio Production By Daryl MacNeill

2. I researched into terrestrial radio to find out what different products are available for consumers to buy. It’s the most frequently used type of broad casting and it’s the most simple. • I heard someone on the radio today refer to radio as terrestrial radio (as opposed to internet "radio"). A quick Google search reveals that this inaccurate term has become fairly standard. Now internet "radio" is not radio but simply music selected by someone else to listen to coming via another medium. People do that over radio waves too, and they just wanted to capture the feel of radio stations but in a different medium. I could understand internet television, since that term is not tied to the medium the signal is carried in. But the word 'radio' is, or at least it used to be before whoever started talking about internet "radio" hijacked the term. • It's always seemed a bad idea to me to call that radio, but I think it's worse to refer to actual radio as terrestrial radio. Something is terrestrial if it is on the ground. Radio waves go through the air. What's worse, however, is that internet "radio" is much closer to the ground than actual radio. Internet cables can run through the air but can also run along the ground or underground. It would thus be much more accurate to call radio by its name, 'radio', and to refer to this thing they're calling internet "radio" as terrestrial radio. It wouldn't be accurate, but it would be more accurate than what they're using the term for now. But I guess people who coin words don't often think about what they're doing, and we've now got a case where terrestrial radio is not terrestrial, and internet radio is not radio. At least they're not distinguishing between AM and FM internet radio. Link: http://parablemania.ektopos.com/archives/2007/03/terrestrial_rad.html Terrestrial radio

3. DAB radio is less used that terrestrial radio, they are both used by the BBC. The BBC tried to switch everyone to DAB but not enough people had the right equipment to do a complete change so they had to go back to terrestrial. • Digital Audio Broadcasting The DAB standard was initiated as a European research project in the 1980s. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) launched the very first DAB channel in the world on June 1st 1995 (NRK Klassisk), and the BBC and SR launched their first DAB digital radio broadcasts in September 1995.DAB receivers have been available in many countries since the end of the nineties. DAB may offer more radio programmes over a specific spectrum than analogue FM radio. DAB is more robust with regard to noise and multipath fading for mobile listening, since DAB reception quality first degrades rapidly when the signal strength falls below a critical threshold, whereas FM reception quality degrades slowly with the decreasing signal. Link : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Audio_Broadcasting DAB

4. Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and video content to a dispersed audience via any audio visual medium. Receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively large subset of thereof. • Originally all broadcasting was composed of analogue signals using analogue transmission techniques and more recently broadcasters have switched to digital signals using digital transmission. Broadcasting

5. Although broadcast television has long been the most "visible" part of the television business, most people now view TV programming by cable, satellite, and the Internet. Thus, in terms of personnel, equipment and facilities, non-broadcast production is actually the largest segment of the TV field. It also has major professional advantages. • You can hear it in places such as Asda were they play there own radio advertising their own products and it is free to them. Non-Broadcasting

6. Podcasts – These are files with pre-recorded sound on them. So you can record yourself in the morning and play it in the evening. This can be really useful on Christmas day when people don’t want to work. So they can record themselves a couple of days before. • Radio – This is were a DJ or pre-record audio is talking or playing music. e.g. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/ , http://www.bbc.co.uk/5live/ , www.capitalfm.com/ . • Some radio shows also have a webcam in the studio so the audience can go on and watch and see what they are doing. They usually do this when they have a special guest on the show, usually someone famous. Audio Products

8. MP3 – just sound on MP3 documents. • MP4 – this also has video with it. • .Wav – its used for editing purposes because it is easier to use. • CD – some CD’s come with Video on them. • .mov • .swf • .wmv These are all compressed sounds. So they don’t sound as good in quality but they are easier to store. Audio Formats

9. Community radio stations typically cover a small geographical area with a coverage radius of up to 5km and run on a not-for-profit basis. They can cater for whole communities or for different areas of interest – such as a particular ethnic group, age group or interest group. Community radio stations reflect a diverse mix of cultures and interests. For example, you can listen to stations which cater for urban or experimental music, while others are aimed at younger people, religious communities or the Armed Forces and their families. • Community radio stations with Ofcom-issued Community Radio Licences, which are broadcasting on AM/FM. This licence does not apply to community radio stations that are internet-only or DAB-only. Community Radio

10. Hospital Radio stations broadcasting on closed circuit, induction loop, patient-line, LPAM, LPFM (excluding internet only stations and stations issued with community or DAB / Satellite licences). • Hospital radio stations peaked in number in the 1980s, when up to 300 stations are thought to have been broadcasting on a daily basis. It was a popular way for radio DJ’s to make a break into the industry. • BHBN is a charity radio station run by volunteers since 1952, serving hospitals in and around Birmingham including both the new and old Queen Elizabeth. The station broadcasts 24 hours a day, seven days a week and is dedicated to serving patients and the Birmingham health community. Hospital Radio

11. CD - this is a disc with compressed data put on it. A computer device can read this and plays the music. Some examples:- Now 80, 21, Stereo Typical and sorry for party rocking. • Downloads – You can download all tracks from the internet, iTunes is the most popular place for people to go to buy tracks online. However this has increase the amount of illegal downloads because there are hundreds of places to illegally download music. Audio Products

12. Music TV channels are becoming more successful and there are more starting up Like viva, 4 music and boxx I like Viva because of its modern up to date music. It’s a good way to find new music and for viewers to interact with the channel. The viewer gets input on the next songs but it cost money to text in. Music TV

13. My favourite radio station is Capital or Radio 1 because of the modern music and good DJ’s, I like Chris Moyles on Radio 1 because he can be quite funny and I liked his Parody album he released. • I don’t like stations like radio 2 because of the old music, I don’t like old music and that’s basically their whole playlist. They could improve it by adding some newer music to there daily playlists, but there radio isn’t just for me so I don’t mind. • But I like how Radio 2 has people of all ages ringing in and texting in. It’s a good way to get the general public involved with the show and hear the music they want. Favourites

14. Spotify is a website were you can download the latest music and sometimes get it free. This website is all legal. Spotify

15. Spotify is good because of its fast downloads, so you can get the latest music as soon as you need it. It’s easy to stream. This is a similar website to iTunes so it will have direct competition with iTunes. • These websites are putting stores out of business. For example iTunes put Virgin mega store out of business, so it’s shut down. Spotify could do this to HMV. HMV is already struggling with iTunes so another similar website won’t help. However some people prefer having a hard copy of their music to store.

16. The radio uses several types of genre for the different target audiences. Music – Rap, Pop, Hip-Hop, Chart show Comedy - Sketches, Stand-up Documentaries – Your World Drama – The Archers Entertainment – Women's hour Factual – Breakfast, The Strand Learning – Maths Challenge News - BBC Sport – Rugby, Football Genre http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/