If you didn’t know that Sean and myself have been on the air for the past semester, shame on you! It’s OK though as I’m sure you’ll make it up by listening to our final two shows for the semester (see the sidebar for more details)… Anyway, I realized yesterday that I’ve been talking a lot lately about our radio show, The On-Air Stylings of the Fickle Finn and Sonic Smee, and figured that I’d take my camera along to today’s show and give those not attending Hamilton a glimpse into the world of WHCL 88.7.
Queuing the Next Track
WHCL is a not-for-profit college radio station, broadcasting throughout the academic year. We’re off during breaks and usually during the beginning of the semester when scheduling begins. Being a college station, we play mainly alternative, indie, and rock music but every DJ is allowed to play whatever they’d like on their show, as long as they follow FCC guidelines such as no swearing in songs until after 10pm.
WHCL Neon Sign
WHCL’s studio is currently located on the ground floor of the Bristol campus center, right next to the bookstore. When you come down the stairs or elevator, the first thing that greets you is our friendly sign. Unfortunately, for some reason, they decided not to place speakers outside of the studio so those heading towards the bookstore just see a bunch of people moving around in the studio and have no idea what is being said … about them :)
The Digital Board
This semester marks the first semester of using a digital soundboard. Previously, the station broadcasted using an analog board that was far beyond it’s time. In fact, frequently the board would break down, leaving the station off the air. However, over winter break, Hamilton provided specific funds for the board to be replaced, yielding much higher quality sound and of course, better reliability.
What Time is It?
One of the coolest of things of having a show is that you’re always introduced to new music. Each week, the whiteboard in the studio is updated with the songs that we’ve played the most, a list of new music available on the rack, and the latest albums or singles that have been sent to us. It’s really a nice a feeling walking into the studio and finding an album that you’ve been waiting for available to listen to and play from.
The Whiteboard
So how are the songs for a show picked? Being that this is college radio, it’s up to you. In our case, each of us creates a playlist of songs we’d like to play on the show. We both burn our picks to a CD, print out our playlists, and then just show up to the studio. As the show progresses, we’ll pick the songs that we’d like to listen to or we feel go best with the current theme. Of course, once in a while we’ll just throw in a random song for the sake of doing something different - today we played Yello’s ‘Oh Yeah’ in between a couple of indie songs. The outcome, hilarity, if only in the studio.
So, if you’re interested in hearing an exhilarating, eclectic mix of music, tune in for our last two shows of the semester on Tuesday 4/26 and 5/3 between 10.30 am and 12.00 pm on WHCL 88.7 FM. A ShoutCast stream is available, so if you’re able to read this, you should be able to tune us in!
Here are a couple more photos taken in the studio today…
The Cast: Sean and Myself
Transitioning to the Next Song
Mic 1: Up Close and Personal
The Sonic Smee in all his Glory
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