Tweaking the knobs

This title will no doubt attract a few more hits than usual, but I'm afraid it's all above board from here on in.

Last weekend I gave my usual one Sunday morning per month to science radio on 2XX. Unlike previous times, on this occassion I took my involvement one step further by actually taking control of the airwaves. For half an hour, I was in the driving seat, tweaking the knobs, doing a little back announcing, and most importantly, avoiding dead air at all costs. In truth, the technical aspects of radio producing are not particularly complex, or at least not with the rather "analog" setup that 2XX has. What does make the job significantly more stressful than just sitting and yabbering on for an hour about topics you only have a dubious grasp on, is the multi-tasking required. You have to be on the ball. Trying to concentrate on what others are saying, what you want to say, and what needs to be done on the control panel, makes for quite a rollercoaster ride. My first go at it, while generally considered a success, was not without incident.

To be fair, the major stuff-up that occurred was more the result of my needing to move chairs than anything to do with my work on the knobs. At first I was quietly (i.e without microphone) sitting next to my instructor, Amy, who was showing me the ropes as she worked the panel for the first half of the show. Amy, who was having a bit of a bad run of things herself, needs to be acknowledged here. If producing isn't stressfull enough, teaching someone else while doing it yourself is certainly a big ask. It was probably for this reason that things, only briefly, went a little wrong. As Amy played the third track of the show, she turned to me and suggested I come and sit at the desk and do the back announcing for the next bit. What Amy and I both had not considered, was that my story was scheduled for the next segment. No biggy, except that as I changed seats, I left my story notes on the other side of the studio thinking I wouldn't need them. The run sheet I had in front of me didn't even mention my story. I figured this was because Amy thought I should just concentrate on the panel. This, however, was not the case. Five minutes later, I was thrown into an all out panic as Amy introduced my story. Amy thought Osman was covering it, but Osman, who also looked rather lost when he realised the radio spotlight was on him, was forced to correct Amy by saying "I think that is Chris' story". Somehow I managed to avoid swearing on air as I realised I was live on air and stranded without my notes. An awkward on-air silence ensued as I threw my headphones to the floor and sprinted across the studio to get my story. Amy took the mic and decided the best course of action was to just commentate my efforts to retrieve my notes. Within 10 seconds I was back in my seat, albeit a little frazzled, and began my story. A true community radio moment.

In all honesty, such events would barely raise an eyebrow with the 2XX listenership, who I am sure are quite used to such things. In the studio, however, you are detached from the listeners, which works both in your favour and against you. When left speechless on air as I was, you feel as though the entire city was listening. Of course, this is certainly not the case. In any event, it was good to be thrown in the deep end and survive. I am looking forward to having a chance to produce a full show on my own, which shouldn't be too far away now.

Incidentally, Fuzzy Logic has just launched its own blog: fuzzylogicon2xx.blogspot.com. We are also apparently in negotiations with Questacon about pod casting segments from our show. So soon all of you poor dear non-Canberrans who try to survive on the backward radio stations your home towns provide, will have access to the cutting edge airwaves transmitting from the fuzzy logic studio. Or at the very least, you will have access to more community radio moments like last Sunday's.