I really do think that listeners are there for the music , not the dj, the hi
fi qualilty of the music will be good .
The only roll the dj has is to say what the music is and do requests and that
will be up on our website as each track plays I hope .
On anther point I think we can relax the rule that the free choice must not
come from the playlist as I said before each track will only be played once
during the month using the playlist .
Nick.
Sent from Mail for Windows 10
From: Ralph
Sent: 29 March 2020 13:32
To: hrock@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [Hastings Rock] Re: Internet stream
** Hastings Rock Radio **
Thankyou Jon for clarifying my concerns.
R.
Sent from my iPhone
On 29 Mar 2020, at 09:49, jon bird <hrock@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
** Hastings Rock Radio **
I'll try and address some of the comments raised by Ralph yesterday.
Firstly and since he's mentioned it a couple of times, regarding what I
referred to as the "experimental" nature of all of this. Yes, there is the
usual getting used to a different environment side of things and ironing
out/possibly improving the extra software I've deployed however to be honest
I'm not particularly worried about that. The software isn't that complicated,
it's more "glue" that joins some existing, pre-existing stuff together and
we've got ~4 weeks for people to play with this. What I mean here by
"experimental" is that what I'm proposing with the software and resources
available now will always be a bit of an experiment. Hence it doesn't matter
whether you do it now or in 6 months or a year. It really won't make a jot of
difference and here's why:
- My wife is using the same (Teamviewer) software to tutor some school kids
remotely. It's pretty good but every session or so they loose a session mid
way through and have to start again. This also happens with pretty much every
conferencing software I've used at work. It's going to happen, there might be
dead air as a result.
- The lag in the audio means presenters probably aren't going to sound as
professional as the usually do.
- The audio quality between DJ mic and the studio is really poor because the
technology we're using is designed for voice conferencing not broadcast. So
it doesn't matter whether you have a broadcast quality mic or one on a
laptop, you're going to sound like you're in a cupboard. Or toilet. The
levels might be a bit off but I would hope every DJ will have remoted in
before the broadcast and calibrated their mic appropriately so that should be
less of a problem.
- The same with the audio quality coming down the headphones to the DJ, it's
pretty rubbish. This means, as a DJ, you will be facing more challenges and
the experience probably won't be anywhere near as enjoyable as normal.
However my view as I said before, this year above all else it's about the
listeners not us and imho that really is the pitch that needs to be put to
the DJs.
If I get the chance, I'd like to look at improving the quality but given
there doesn't seem to be any pre-existing software out there which offers
this I have a suspicion that because of the keeping the latency to an
absolute minimum you have to sacrifice quality for that unless you've got
dedicated links. However even if I did figure something out, it complicates
the setup at the DJ end because they'd need additional software setting up.
If we go ahead with this, there needs to be an acceptance of all the above
with the impact that the station *is* going to sound more disjointed than
usual.
I don't really have that much direct contact with the listeners however I
find it odd that especially under these exceptional times, if we were to make
the effort and it isn't as perfect as they are used to the perception we have
of them is that they'd say "WTF is HR doing?" then disappear into the sunset
in an affronted huff and never come back. It's a bit like saying that because
you now have to queue to get into Tesco, you're never going to shop there
again when this is all over. If they do decide not to listen because they are
perfectionists then my answer is frankly - so what? Next year they'll be
back. There seems to be an implicit worry that we'll somehow irretrievably
tarnish the Hastings Rock brand by doing this whereas imho I think it won't
make a jot of difference and if anything will actually enhance it because
we're making he effort.
Finally, you are correct, the committee has not yet made a decision on this
however I am (and have been) pursuing this over the past few weeks not just
for Hastings Rock, a couple of other stations with frankly more pressing
needs (as in they are on air 24/7 now) than we have are starting to trial it
so I'm fairly well developed in terms of setting it up and having it
documented. Hence why I'm not doing any real tailoring for us until there is
a decision.
j.
In message <5396356A-2FCD-403A-BDF4-281C6BB9D3D7@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Ralph
<dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes
** Hastings Rock Radio **
I’m agreeing with Simon.
Also Jon is correct in saying the peak listening is irrelevant as Breakfast
gets listened to coz people are getting ready for their day be it work or
school etc. Drive/ teatime show because it’s in the title. People in cars
listening on fm. Neither of which is happening right now.
I’m still of the view we should hold fire and bring this phase of HR in
slowly over a few weekends and build it up so we know it works and sounds
good. ( content wise I mean Jon not your software)
By content I mean DJs possibly using inferior mics, perhaps making voice
content distorted or unbalanced and above all the whole sound of the station
being disjointed
Why not (if we have to do it at all) start it on a weekend in May then maybe
a few evening shows and see how it is received
It’s a game of two halves really
We could be broadcasting as Simon says to no one at all (save friends and
family of the presenter that s on) OR run the risk of HR fans listening in
and going WTF is HR doing.
I still think this sort of broadcast should be launched while we are on FM
and then carried on and improved in the future.
As Simon says am I the only one not getting carried away with this great
idea and I am NOT putting barriers up either just saying how I see it
Also. I don’t remember the committee voting as to whether to go ahead with
this, just Nick saying “let’s do it man” ?
Cheers R
Sent from my iPhone
On 28 Mar 2020, at 13:01, jon bird <hrock@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
?** Hastings Rock Radio **
And (at the expense of possibly denting the ego of some DJs), there will
almost certainly be some people who will listen in during periods of
automation precisely because of the *lack* of someone waffling away between
tracks.
However (and I will post something a bit more in a bit because Sarah had
the right idea) I think you are still in the mindset of trying to run it in
the same vein as we normally do, we can't, it's going to have to be a lot
more fluid on both our side of things and how the listeners find stuff out.
There may not even *be* a schedule as such, I'm envisaging that this sort
of thing will be posted out, at fairly short notice on the FB page and that
will form the hub of how we communicate this stuff. And yes, I know there
are some people who "don't do Facebook" but unfortunately in these times
you may just have to get over that and join (at least in the short term).
In message <1d0c943a-3d00-acee-f024-fc5472814832@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
sfhrock <sfhrock@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes
** Hastings Rock Radio **
I think the only problem with a random schedule (e.g outside a limited
set of broadcast hours) is that people will not be listening. Personally
I do not listen to automated programming, by that I mean un-hosted,
because it is so boring, particularly with limited playlists. So if
someone decided they would link in and present a one off, I would think
that it is unlikely to be heard except by accident.
I am not trying to put up barriers but I cannot be the only one who
thinks like this.
Simon.
On 28/03/2020 09:37, jon bird wrote:
** Hastings Rock Radio **
I'll add a bit more detail later when I have time but....
WHAT IM NOT SURE ABOUT IS how a dj can use their free choice as i don’t
how that would work , can you enlighten please Jon B .
Where do they normally get their free choice from? If it's an existing
track within the Playout system, then just pick it from the music list
as usual. If it's say from a CD then clearly that is a no-go. The only
other option would be if they have the it as an MP3 file or something,
it's possible to drop it into the system but I'm not sure how viable
that is for most DJs.
The other thing I'll just add quickly is that I'm puzzled as to why
we're putting up barriers already - I saw a post earlier that
suggested "no specialist shows", Nick (below) saying "no DJs' after
6pm". Why? If DJs are available at those times and/or have shows they
want to present why would we stop them? Given we're going to be short
of people anyway and for those than can/are working from home, after
6pm is most likely going to be their best availability anyway.
I'll try to answer more of the comments/queries later, I also plan to
get the machine up and running so people can have a play over the
weekend. In the meantime, for those keen to see a bit more detail this:
https://www.oasw.co.uk/vmeeter/VMeeterRemotePlayout.pdf
is a document that covers the setup and general instructions. For
DJ's, only the first 11 pages are relevant the rest is studio setup.
This is a fairly generic document, I plan to do a more tailored
version for Hastings Rock if we want to go ahead with it - it's also
an evolving work in progress.
j.
In message <E1jHt6u-0008Ap-Nk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Nick Apps
<nick@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes
Here is my vision .
if we can get 4 or 5 that can do the internet broadcast that would
enough . they wouldent need to comit to everyday .
There would be no djs after 6pm but we can repeat all the specialist
shows from last year . Jon B has everYthing still .
Also, maybe, some spelilist shows could go out live without remoting
the playout system . For instances Sarahs new Rock show .
we would all be folowing the playlist during the day . so when then is
no dj just music, the list continues .
Kerrang radio have 2x 2hour shows that has no dj during the day .
WHAT IM NOT SURE ABOUT IS how a dj can use their free choice as i don’t
how that would work , can you enlighten please Jon B .
Nick.
Sent from Mail for Windows 10
From: Sarah Shirley
Sent: 26 March 2020 20:18
To: hrock@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [Hastings Rock] Re: Internet stream
** Hastings Rock Radio **
I think we are probably a bit ambitious if we believe that we can fill
the
schedule up every day for 28 days on an internet based solution. Most
internet stations (including the ones I do shows for), just look to do
live
shows (or even pre-recorded shows) when DJs are available to do them
and for
the rest of the time their auto DJ kicks in. Either allowing requests
or not
allowing requests depending on time of day.
The policy on Slammintunes is to jump on air if no show is scheduled
and
nobody else has already jumped on, but only when there is a gap in the
schedule.
We do have to guard against people who want to 'hog' the air as well.
For
instance, a wall to wall Phill The Bus would do my head in, so it has
to be
controlled.
Specialist shows, I would suggest, can wait for the re-scheduled
broadcast.
I know that there are going to be gaps in the schedule but these are
exceptional circumstances, and as I maintain, something is better than
nothing.
Sarah
-----Original Message-----
From: jon bird
Sent: Thursday, March 26, 2020 7:59 PM
To: hrock@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [Hastings Rock] Re: Internet stream
** Hastings Rock Radio **
In message
<AM6PR09MB44884AA5D44D368E9F05A079D4CF0@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.outlo
ok.com>, Andy Gunton <andygunton@xxxxxxxxxxx> writes
Good work Jon.
I think there's a real basis for something that could work here,
although we'd obviously have to sort out the details before committing
to it.
I agree that we should sort out the streaming service asap, in case we
want to use it.
I do have a couple of points/questions though:
*How many people are going to be able to listen to any internet
broadcast? I understand it's only 50 at present? We need more
coverage than that. How much would that cost & is that easy toset
up?
Assuming the streaming server people are still able to set things up
for
us, it's fairly cheap. Last year I think I actually paid for 100
listeners (came to about £7.50/month) but because of the way we split
the bandwidth up (with two different bitrates) in theory that would
have
given us 200. I think we could increase this figure once we're under
way
if necessary, fairly sure I did that for someone else last year.
*Is it only DJs in the second category that can use their own music
for free choices etc? I'm guessing so.
In theory it would be possible for presenters to drag 'n drop audio
files onto the Playout machine, Teamviewer allows for that but it
wasn't
something I was proposing to advertise to avoid over complicating
things.
*As we're only looking to cover the daytime is it worth going down
the specialist show route? I suggest not & think we should keep
things as simple as possible & have everything playlisted, with
free choices as normal. Nick & myself are still working on
updating the current playlist btw.
*What are we intending to broadcast when a live DJ is not available
& for the hours outside of the daytime when we won't be live
anyway? I'm guessing Robojock wouldn't work.
*My main concern is the amount of DJs we will have to cover the 28
days. The last thing we want is to have the same DJs on all the
time. My fear is that many won't be able to be involved due tonot
having the equipment, but mainly because many won't have the
space/environment/peace & quiet in their household to do a live
broadcast. Barking dogs & children playing in the background etc
don't make for good radio. Let's not forget that many more people
are at home than normal atm, a situation that is likely to get
worse before it gets better. Kids are off school & many are
working from home. I have doubts that I'd be able to do a live
show for those reasons. Not trying to be negative, just playing
devils advocate.
I think it would be down for the committee as a whole to decide how
re-arrange the schedule for this, I suspect initially driven by DJ
availability. My initial thoughts are you may want to start out fairly
small scale, say just breakfast and drivetime live and build on that.
Robojock/automation are certainly an option however DJs have been
recording their shows for a good number of years now so we could re-air
some of those (even as a minimum I still have a stack of them on the
server from last year). I also don't see any reason why we should
abandon the specialist shows should people still want to do them. If we
still have the schedule from then, given they are all date/time stamped
it may be possible to air them in a sensible fashion. Simon also raised
the prospect of people pre-recording their shows in advance, with their
own music which is also viable.
I think flexibility has to be the thing here, we're used to working on
a
schedule planned out for the next week and I think that is the wrong
approach here. Have a schedule that plans for the worst case - a lot of
automation/pre-recorded stuff but allow DJ's to come along on short
notice and say "hey I can do something between 3-4 today" - let them do
that. Or "I can record something tonight" which can then be slotted in
at a convenient time the following day. It could even be repeated at a
later date. Shake things up a bit, in a way it's quite fun not knowing
what you might hear when you turn on the radio....
--
== jon bird - OAS Software
== Hastings Rock Radio, IT secondment
== http://www.onasticksoftware.co.uk/
== email: hrock@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
--
== jon bird - OAS Software
== Hastings Rock Radio, IT secondment
== http://www.onasticksoftware.co.uk/
== email: hrock@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
