Patrick Kicken: A good voice is better followed than a bad one, Menno de Boer – Spreekbuis.nl

[BLOG] I was drawn to a column from a month ago, written by 3FM’s best ever station manager, according to Mark van der Molen, a deejay at the same station. I have rarely met a disc jockey as lazy as Mark, who left the studio immediately after closing the microphone slide for the last time that day. Of course it’s nothing to leave the studio empty, but Mark wasn’t interested in that, at least in the Veronica days. When his successor got stuck in the elevator or broke his leg on the stairs, two records later the station went silent. Speaking of which, It seems that Menno de B is not a fan of voice tracking and prefers to do everything live. I don’t think comparing the two makes sense, it’s a completely different sport. And Menno does not hear about the fact that the channel, in spite of everything live, is still without a score.

Since those damn cameras were let into the radio studio, so the social media department has something fun to post, it hasn’t gotten any easier to produce a solid, listenable radio show. In most radio studios you will see the ‘Voxpro’, the device with which you can make the most beautiful phone calls and conversations, usually sitting there full of dust, doing nothing. Although what is important is what comes out of the radio speakers, not what is seen on the cameras. By leaving everything to chance by doing it live, you are not giving your listener the best. Can you imagine that RTL Boulevard would do everything (short) and a live interview? It would be a big, slow mess. In short: a bit like many radio programs. No thought, no preparation because everything has to be ‘nice and alive’.

It’s fine to use these cameras to cut a few nice clips from the continuous video file, but don’t let broadcasting every live chat spoil the fun for the listener. Should we also broadcast films, video clips, podcasts, adverts and ‘live’ series? Nonsense, it’s about the content. Especially now with radio, the medium is already under great pressure from TikTok, Facebook and other social media where you as a user receive immediate service. So yes, if only jocks were scanning the phone lines during music for fun content, recording it immediately and cutting it short. I once had Nickelback in Veronica’s studio, four strong. The first time was voice tracked so I could just do that Voxpro purr with them. Then the best clips were broadcast between 2 and 4 pm. You owe it to your listener not to leave everything to chance!

Voice tracking of an entire show can be compared to indoor football. You can make it sound as live and authentic as you want, there is definitely a missing part. So don’t compare it to playing football on an outdoor field. But make sure you can do it well! Because you can use elements from a voice track presentation (thinking in advance what you are going to say, organizing an hour properly) during your live performances. By recording content in advance, you can also repeat it much more easily, forward it to the social media department or a journalist friend to get the press. Because the last one, as strange as it sounds, is not something you should leave to chance but you can manage yourself. So go, blow that dust off the Voxpro and make sure that while the music is playing you are always busy mining the gold available. In the studio, on the phone, even with guests in the studio. Again: it’s about what’s on the radio, not how much fun you have in the studio between talks.

Patrick Kicken