These Are A Few of My Favorite Things

November 1st, 2010 by Rob | Posted in Uncategorized | 9 Comments »

Irish radio producer, Ronan Kelly.

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This Saltcast we break from the format a bit.

Ronan Kelly, from RTE, Radio Ireland, visited Salt for a week in October. He hung out in class and worked with the students. What a treat!

While Ronan was in Portland, we chatted on tape as he played DJ featuring clips from some of his favorite radio stories. You’ll hear some of that conversation on this Saltcast.

And, as if that wasn’t enough, we’re throwing in as an added bonus for Saltcast listeners, Ronan’s award-winnning doc “Roger Dowds: Millionaire Winner.”

It’s a full show!!

Be sure to subscribe to Ronan’s podcast, The Curious Ear. It’s a superb pot-luck of excellent radio from Europe and the States.

All the best,

Rob

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Podcast: Download (Duration: 55:23 — 88.8MB)

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Who’s Your Daddy?

October 18th, 2010 by Rob | Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

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Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.

That’s the sound of tyranny — the tyranny of the clock.

Typically, radio stories need to fill a specific length of time in a radio program — no shorter, no longer. Right. On. Time.

Lots of content from a story gets cut to meet those time constraints. One of the first things to go is the questions asked by the reporter. Instead of leaving in the question, the narrator/reporter will “write to the tape” meaning they’ll narrate right up to the quote in such a way that we don’t need the question. (“Write to tape” has some other meanings, too, but for now…)

Independent producer Sean Cole says we loose a lot when we cut out all the questions. On this Saltcast, Sean makes a strong case for keeping a few questions in.

Have a listen to Sean’s story “Who’s Your Daddy?” and if you have any questions, post ’em here!

Best,
Rob

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Podcast: Download (Duration: 30:49 — 70.6MB)

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Two Weeks

October 4th, 2010 by Rob | Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Crow’s Lightwriter speech synthesizer. (Photo by Emily Bender)

Crow bathes with a caregiver. (Photo by Emily Bender)

Crow died of ALS, Lou Gehrig’s disease in 2007. (Photo by Emily Bender)

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A very successful radio and multi-media producer got her start at Salt. She’s worked for a major public radio program and a major newspaper conducting training and producing audio slideshows. She once told me she sat in her car and cried for a half hour before finding the courage to walk down the street and interview people for a vox pop project at Salt.

Fear runs rampant in the early weeks at Salt. Students fear cold-calling a source, or pulling out recording gear for a first interview, or standing like a gear-laden mannequin in a crowd collecting ambient sound .

On this edition of the Saltcast, we feature Andrea Silenzi’s Salt story “Two Weeks” — Andrea’s first ever. (Andrea is not who I’m referring to above.) The story is about Crow, a woman dying of Lou Gehrig’s Disease, or ALS. Talk about tackling a subject matter that might cause even a seasoned producer to freeze in their tracks! But even with butterflies in her stomach, Andrea crossed the fear threshold with grace to produce a stunning story of courage and the life beyond.

We’d love to hear your stories of “producer fear” and how you overcame it — or didn’t. Please post ’em here at the blog.

Cheers,

Rob

Podcast: Download (Duration: 13:34 — 31.1MB)

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Ann Meets Mr. Ellington

September 20th, 2010 by Rob | Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

“Why now?”

Producers often dread this question. “It’s simply a good story” they might say. “It doesn’t need to answer ‘why now?’ This is a classic tale of (fill in the blank). It’s universal!”

But editors ask this question all the time. They’re looking for relevancy, for why a listener should care beyond those important elements.

I see the merit of both positions. A good story is a good story is a good story. Period. It’s its own reason for being. “Why now?” seems like an unnecessary stricture sometimes. On the other hand, the answer to “why now?” may help convince a listener (and an editor) this story is worth their time.

Today’s feature, “Ann Meets Mr. Ellington,” produced by Kerry Seed in 2003, doesn’t answer “why now?” It’s timeless. In fact, I wonder if this story would have ever seen the light of day if “why now?” had to be answered. Have a listen.

Best, Rob

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Podcast: Download (Duration: 9:17 — 21.3MB)

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Cypress Knees

September 8th, 2010 by Rob | Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

A cypress knee — Jay Allison’s memento from a visit to Florida, a tour of a cypress knee museum, and a radio story about “an elevated, transcendent beauty we become aware of at death.” (Photo by Rob Rosenthal.)

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“Cypress Knees” by Jay Allison is one of those radio stories that’s hard to describe. Even Jay kinda, sorta stumbled over explaining it when I spoke with him in late July of this year. In short, you might say it’s a sonic, poetic study of hardship, memory, and death.

That’s a pretty ethereal description for a story. Not something an editor is likely to know what to do with if you pitched the story to them that way. Editors typically like something much more concrete.

But, Jay says “concreteness” leaves out a lot of great stories that are hard to pin down when you explain them but genius when you listen to them. “Cypress Knees” is clearly the latter and the feature on today’s Saltcast.

Cheers,

Rob

PS – “Cypress Knees” was part of a series called “The Life Stories Connection.” And click here for more on Jay Allison.

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Podcast: Download (Duration: 19:29 — 44.6MB)

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Powered By Laughter

August 23rd, 2010 by Rob | Posted in Uncategorized | 5 Comments »

Katie West smiles to change the world. (Photo by Avery Moore.)

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Radio producer Avery Moore heard the following mantra for *four* years at journalism school: DON’T USE MUSIC!

Over and over, DON’T USE MUSIC was beaten into her.

Journalistically speaking, the logic is simple — don’t use music unless it’s part of the story. If it’s not part of the story, then the music is not germane and it shouldn’t be in the piece. Secondly, the argument continues, music can be emotionally manipulative — stick to the facts not manipulation.

That’s what Avery was taught and come hell or high water, she was going to stick with that philosophy… until late one night, sitting in front of her ProTools session at Salt, producing a profile, Avery did the unimaginable… and felt nauseous.

Click and listen.

Cheers,
Rob

PS – Listen to the band Saregama here.

If you’re on the hunt for copyright free music, try these sites:

archive.org

freemusicarchive.org

sounddogs.com

soundrangers.com

freesound.org

incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free/

And here’s a link to the Creative Commons page with lots of links to other sites.

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Podcast: Download (Duration: 13:11 — 30.2MB)

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Dam Radio Story

August 9th, 2010 by Rob | Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

President Franklin Roosevelt examines a model of the proposed Quoddy Dam, Eastport, Maine in 1935. The project barely got off the ground before it failed miserably. (Photo courtesy the National Archives.)

Leslie Bowman and Normand LaBerge keep the dream of a dam in Eastport alive seventy-five years later. (Photo by Emily Friedman.)

It’s hard to start a story. In fact, it took me a long time to figure out that I wanted to start this post with that sentence then tell you it took me a long time to start this post with that sentence. 🙂

But, in short, the opening of a story should (most of the time) orient the listener to the focus of the story and get their attention. Frequently at Salt, we suggest a story start in the present. Then, after establishing a scene in the present, step away for context and history.

Producer Emily Friedman tried that approach again and again to no avail when writing the script of her piece “Dam Radio Story.” Every time she inserted context and history it “cannonballed” the opening. So, she switched them starting with history then the present. Not a big deal, to be sure, but her struggle to find a good opening is illuminating. Have a listen.

Best,
Rob

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Podcast: Download (Duration: 17:14 — 39.4MB)

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Song of Marconi

July 26th, 2010 by Rob | Posted in Uncategorized | 9 Comments »

Guglielmo Marconi, inventor and early radio technology pioneer.

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Radio producer Tony Kahn once said of an interviewee “She lives in her voice.” What a remarkably succinct way to say how one’s voice communicates more than just the words that are spoken. Cadence, pauses, inflections… all are non-verbal cues about character.

I’m a fan of one non-verbal component of voice in particular — accents. Unfortunately, a great homogenization of accents has occurred on radio. It’s rare, it seems, to hear regional accents whether its news reporters, program hosts, or djs.

The commentary by Dennis Downey featured on this Saltcast is an exception. Dennis, arguably, “lives in his voice.” Raised in New Bedford and now living on Cape Cod, his accent is refreshing and honest. Take a listen to Dennis’ essay on Marconi and talking on the radio. I’m sure his accent will perk up your ears.

Cheers,

Rob

PS – This essay originally appeared on Transom.org.

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Podcast: Download (Duration: 7:31 — 17.2MB)

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Dowser, Consultant to the Universe

July 12th, 2010 by Rob | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Dowser, Consultant to the Universe

Glenn Johnson’s business card reads “Dowser, Consultant to the Universe.”  Photo by Katherine Hays (2004).

A recent interview with This American Life host Ira Glass on Slate.com got me thinking about about an old Salt Radio piece called “Dowser, Consultant to the Universe.” It’s the story of Glenn Johnson, a dowser who makes a mistake. And, therein lies the connection to the Ira interview.

Ira says mistakes are important to storytelling. Not a mistake on the part of the producer, but a mistake made by a character in the story.”I don’t go looking for stories with the idea of wrongness in my head, no,” Ira says.  “But the fact is, a lot of great stories hinge on people being wrong. In fact, we’ve talked as a staff about how the crypto-theme of every one of our shows is: “I thought it would work out this way, but then it worked out that way.”

In part, that’s what happens in the story about the dowser produced by Owen Agnew in 2004. Glenn, the dowser, goes hunting for water one day with his dowsing rods, finds what he thinks is a good source, the property owner digs a well….. and never finds water.

This “wrongness” as Ira calls it, adds an interesting twist to the story. Gives it some conflict and causes Glenn to question, if only briefly, his spirituality — what he believes powers his dowsing. Without the mistake, the story would, most likely, be less interesting.

Listen for yourself.

Cheers,

Rob

Podcast: Download (Duration: 12:24 — 28.4MB)

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How I Get By

June 28th, 2010 by Rob | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on How I Get By

Rebecca Pickett smokes medical marijuana daily to alleviate her debilitating headaches. Photo by Leah Arsenault.

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We could call this edition of the Saltcast “The Lexicon Show.” I define a few of the quirky phrases and words instructors at Salt use to help students focus their stories. Phrases like:

Circling the Stadium – A story starts much too far afield. The writing circles above a story like a blimp hovering over a sporting event only the story is on the field, not in the air.

Shoot the Puppies – There’s a picture of three puppies hanging in a classroom at Salt. A student from many years ago drew targets on the faces of the puppies then added this caption: “You Know What You Need to Do!”  Shoot the puppies means cut the tape you are in love with for the sake of the story.

Fishtailing – A story fishtails when it’s all over the place — back and forth, back and forth — not in a straight line.

All producers encounter these focusing problems, long-time and new producers alike. Recent Salt Radio student Andy Mills wrestled mightily with focus last spring. On this Saltcast, Andy talks about the value of focus and we listen to his story “How I Get By” about a medical marijuana user.

Happy listening!

Best,

Rob

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Podcast: Download (Duration: 14:35 — 33.4MB)

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