Thanks, that's fascinating to see. What a painstaking and fiddly process! No wonder digital editing became so popular. I guess it was more fun in analogue though!
It still amazes some people, that radio programmes were literally cut together using razor blades and bits of sticky tape. When did that die out? And what replaced it? SADiE type systems?
BBC Radio Cornwall were still editing with razor blades and sticky tape in 1991, but by 1998, they'd started using a piece of software called SAW 4 (Software Audio Workshop). It was quite a complex piece of software and not very intuitive. They later would switch over to Cool Edit Pro, before it became Adobe Audition.
One of the frustrating things I found about MiniDIsc was that, despite being a digital format, you still had to record it onto a computer in real time - most likely after having gone via an analogue cable. Did anyone ever make a MD to PC interface?
As for audio editing, at my uni we had an early piece of software called (I think) Dave for audio editing, it was a simple single track edit system, I later saw it in use at Bush House.
Last edited by Inspector Sands on 2 July 2016 8:52pm
1/4" razor blade editing is more useful than just for audio. DV tape is also a 1/4". I know someone who repaired DVCAM tapes that got mangled in VT machines using the edit block from an abandoned obsolete reel to reel machine he found lying around
I learned to splice edit audio at school in the mid 90s on some ancient Tandberg machines that were redundant from the languages department and had been acquired by the media department.
We ran an RSL for a few weeks in 1997 and we were lent a minidisc machine, which was a big step up, but I think I still preferred a chinagraph and razor blade.
The Hospital Radio station I volunteer at still has reel to reel tape machine's. I was shown how to use one in training but haven't needed to use one since. They also have the old cart players in the studio still but have been replaced with the Myriad playout system but still sit on display on the desk.
From the beginning of BBC Local Radio until the mid-90s it was routine for journalists to take out a 1/4" recorder (usually a Uher or similar), bring back their audio and then physically cut it using razor blades. Even if you had moved to location recording on cassette (the Sony Pro Walkman WMD6C was an acceptable cassette recorder, and there were some Tascams as well) you'd have to dub to 1/4" to edit - there simply wasn't another option.
Then various editing and automation systems arrived (Cool Edit Pro for editing, RadioMan or Dalet for playout etc.) in the mid-to-late 90s - and they revolutionised national and local radio production. AIUI VCS Dira is now the main platform used by Network radio - not sure about local radio, suspect they may still be on Radioman - though ViLor sites may be different.
Radio Manchester are VCS too, it was cheaper to give them the same kit as 5Live when they moved to Salford. Radio London may be in the same position at NBH.
One of the frustrating things I found about MiniDIsc was that, despite being a digital format, you still had to record it onto a computer in real time - most likely after having gone via an analogue cable. Did anyone ever make a MD to PC interface?
I believe some stations had a 1/4 inch machine with variable speed. Used to rescue recordings made on a Uher with failing batteries by reducing the tape playback speed so that voices sounded ok and dubbing it off to another machine recording at normal speed.
I spoke to a former Radio 5 live producer recently, who told me that her 'specialist geeky skill' was being able to spot every 'er' in a Tim Henman sentence from the waveform on the computer screen, and clip them out precisely, all without having to listen to any audio of the interview whatsoever!
Yep and on a similar vein - I can spot every single 'err, umm' and pause in flow edit that has been removed from Steve Wright's celebrity guest interviews.
Average punter listening wouldn't spot them, but I can - and it winds me right up as it doesn't sound like a natural conversation.
All to save around 5 seconds per interview part.
It's ironic that they are edited out presumably on the grounds of repetitive umms and errs - yet the whole bloomin show it's so mind numbingly repetitive..
