Re: Tape Delay (WAS Bob Bittner's Unlikely Ally In The Fight Against The "CashMachine")

[Crystal Airheads <comedy@crystalair.com>]

Almost but not quite. Coming out of delay (at least with the two systems I
used...I don't remember their names) was immediate off. That's why we would
play a spot, and when the spot ended in the studio, switch over to the
airsound. There would still be 7 seconds left to the commercial. (In the
meantime there's silence in the studio itself.) When the commercial
finished on the air, we'd flip the switch, matching studio time to actual
air time, and go into the next element, out of delay.

We didn't have a means of getting back into delay on an immediate basis. It
was gradual, gaining the 7 second delay over the course of 30 seconds or so
(I think). So after traffic we'd flip the switch, which started the gradual
take back into delay, and it was usually during a commercial (traffic
spots), sometimes noticeable, sometimes not.

One thing that sometimes happened was that the board-op would be listening
to the airsound instead of the studio sound when going back into delay. As
a result, by the time that spot ended, he was listening 7 seconds behind
actual time, so when he went to play the next element, it was nowhere to be
heard! Of course, it's easy to fix, because you would just stop whatever it
is you were playing, dump out of delay (again), and then play something
else. Instead of 7 seconds of dead air, there would only be 1 or 2.

Of course, I use "he" somewhat liberally... :)

Chris Adams
Crystal Air Productions
"We Make Radio...Funny"

At 09:19 AM 1/28/00 , you wrote:
>Don't you mean that, seven seconds before the commercial 
>ended, you'd flip the switch and the talent would start 
>talking so that, as soon as the spot ended, the program 
>would be back in delay? Unlike Ca$h, which lets you 
>gradually vary the delay, aren't other forms of delay--
>even the newer all-solid-state types--either on or off?
>
>> And when traffic was
>> done, we'd flip the switch, and gradually climb back into delay.
>> 
>