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Soothing Music for Cancer Kids Makes Good Cents John Rowland is once again donating his recording skills to produce another soothing CD for children undergoing cancer treatment at Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital. The original CD 'Cello Lullaby' released earlier this year was so popular with children and adults alike that a second CD is due out next March.
The idea, conceived by the RCH's Dr Catherine Crock, is to play soothing music to children with cancer, to help them relax during their many difficult medical procedures. But the music that soothes best, is music recorded with no artificial mixing or editing so the recordings have to be carefully prepared. John recorded 'Cello Lullaby' in the 115 year old chapel at Sacre Coeur Girls' School. ...no artificial enhancements... Next year's CD, an ensemble of piano, bassoon, violin and flute was recorded by John this month at the South Melbourne Town Hall - the home of the Academy of Music. John says apart from the fact he's working for a great cause, the recordings themselves are wonderful work. "The joy for me is going back to grass roots. You need to take care with the musicians' placement. It's a lovely exercise in the craft," he says with no processing, natural reverb and no EQ. The CDs are used in operating theatres before and during regular oncology and haematology procedures, such as lumbar punctures and bone marrow aspirations and are very effective at calming young patients and their anxious parents. ...raising money as well as spirits... The CD was so effective and popular the Hospital decided to also use it as a fund-raiser. Since March this year the RCH formed an alliance with other leading children's hospitals and gained sales representation from Australia Post and Virgin Blue. Everyone involved in the project works pro-bono. $16 from each $24.95 CD is donated to Children's hospitals Australia wide. Order forms for the current CD 'Cello Lullaby' are also available via the RCH Melbourne website. The ensemble recorded by John in December will be available next March. PS For the purists the recordings were done with two Neumann TLM microphones. Internet Serves Up Sydney Creativity for Malaysia Tiger Recording and Ambience Entertainment used Internet exchange for their recent three-month three-way collaboration to create an image make-over for Astro, a 14-channel Malaysian TV network. Kearon de Clouet at Tiger created, designed and mixed most of the sound - about 70 different versions in total. He says from a technological point of view the project could have been problematical. "Imagine if you were doing everything on tape, trying to keep track of which version was what - it would have been a nightmare." Instead, a central file server was set-up and all material was exchanged via the Internet. "Instead of having to re-stripe 20 different versions of the animation, I delivered all the sound mixed directly onto the vision," Kearon says. Some of the audio also had to be sent to Malaysia for mixing and editing to satisfy demands for local content and Kearon says there's no way all the work would have been completed in the same timeframes without the Internet exchange. ISDN Old Hat for Kiwis Good Audio Sense Melbourne found themselves on the receiving end of AudioNET® earlier this month when they needed voice drops from talent in New Zealand. Auckland Audio recorded the talent - all 63 takes- and then sent the audio in batches via AudioNET. Auckland Audio Facilities Manager Maria Loo says it was very easy and efficient to use. "We were going to do a line feed but we didn't have the studio time and AudioNET® probably took one tenth of the time and at smaller cost anyway," Maria says. "Our guys found it really easy once they logged in." Plus she says there was the added benefit of knowing the material arrived OK at the other end with AudioNET® delivery confirmations. Maria says if they'd tried to e-mail the audio there's no way all the files would have fitted in the GAS inbox at the other end. Gold Produces EEEEEASY Christmas Retail Campaign Three days after he started as Creative Production Manager at ARN in Melbourne, Gordon Moore workshopped a Christmas Campaign for Clive Peeters that worked so well it's now enjoying its second festive season and an extension into TV. In stark contrast to the usual loud, fast-paced Clive Peeters spots (imagine a slower Harvey Norman) about what the store can give, the Christmas spots are voiced by different generic family members, thinking wistfully about what they'd like to receive. Gordon says the concept came up during a routine planning session about a year ago. ...radio campaign migrated to TV... "We did a planning day with Clive Peeters - something we offer to all our clients - and anyway they came up with the information that they hadn't started planning their Christmas campaign yet. We basically walked out with the campaign in place." It worked so well last year, the team decided to use it again this year and Gordon suggested they take it into TV as well. "Clive Peeters wanted something that wasn't just product and price but engaged people. They're very pro-active." ARN has also helped launch the new Moorabbin store and another in Brisbane. Gordon says in-house production at ARN has really changed over the past year and is now concentrating more on strategic work. "It's the strength of this organisation that we do sit down with our clients and look at their whole marketing. And we've got the writing and production staff to make some really good stuff," he says. The spots were so good they attracted the attention of Phil and the team at Risk Sound. "It's a breath of fresh air and I just wanted to ring them up and congratulate them," Phil says. Sydney Radio Merger Disappears after Hot Air 2UE and 2GB's merger deal had a Keystone Cops ring to it - not only did it fail fast - it appeared to leave Southern Cross slightly flabbergasted. On the 26th of November the two owners, Southern Cross Broadcasting and Macquarie Radio Network announced they'd decided to share technical support, news, sales and commercial production. Interesting move for two talk stations chasing the same audience with the same programming. The first sign of trouble was that John Laws had just re-signed a seven year deal with 2UE and nobody had bothered to tell him there was a joint venture underway. He took to the airwaves the next day and publically blasted his employers. The ABA also announced it would be seeking further information, particularly in relation to advertising content and news services. ...misunderstandings... Eight days later, 2UE's owners Southern Cross Broadcasting announced that it would not proceed with "all the elements of the proposed joint venture with Macquarie Radio Network," and would retain independent news and advertising sales. However, according to MD Tony Bell "discussions on other elements of the joint venture will proceed." That was the morning of December 4th. A few hours later came the following. "Southern Cross Broadcasting wishes to clarify its media release issued this morning. Southern Cross Broadcasting and Macquarie Radio Network will not be proceeding with their proposed joint venture in respect of Sydney radio stations 2UE and 2GB/CH. Whilst it was our understanding this morning that Macquarie Radio Network was prepared to explore other cost savings options, it has subsequently become apparent that this is not the case." Because Macquarie is a private company with no obligations for public disclosure - there's been no announcement from that side about the debacle. Laws Laws Breaches Buggs ABA The Australian Broadcasting Authority has asked the Federal Director of Public Prosecutions Damien Bugg to consider charging 2UE for breach of licence, perpetrated by John Laws. According to the ABA, Laws breached 2UE's licence conditions on 19 occasions last year by failing to accurately disclose his commercial arrangements at various times during his broadcasts on 2UE. After the ABA's "cash for comment" inquiry in 2000, it became a condition of 2UE's licence that Laws would have to tell his listeners every time he mentioned an advertiser or sponsor that had a direct commercial arrangement with him, separate from any advertising arrangement with 2UE. The ABA says 2UE has repeatedly failed to maintain the standards of disclosure with respect to sponsorships by Telstra and the NRMA and it's referring the matters to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions for consideration. ...independent monitoring sought... Most of the breaches referred to references to Telstra, where Laws either commented directly on Telstra issues or interviewed federal MPs about the sale of Telstra, without disclosing that Telstra paid him directly for favourable comment. Two of the breaches related to interviews with NRMA officials, where Laws failed to acknowledge that NRMA was a personal sponsor of his. As well as the referral to the DPP, the ABA wants to impose new licence conditions on 2UE. The additional licence condition would require 2UE to hire an approved independent third party to monitor the John Laws program, for limited periods nominated by the ABA, and provide a report, including a transcript, direct to the ABA. Although the breaches were perpetrated by Laws, it is 2UE that faces charges and any possible punishment, including loss of licence. The ABA's report, Investigation into Radio 2UE Sydney Pty Ltd - Sponsorship of Mr John Laws by Telstra Corporation Ltd and NRMA Insurance Ltd is available on the ABA website. Your Bits - Studio news
Our Bits - AudioNET® Christmas Message One of the great things about the approach of Christmas is that it often brings out the best in people. Generosity of spirit (alcoholic and the real kind) surfaces often in December with gift-giving, party-giving and last minute 'lending a hand' as we all try to get everything done before at least a couple of days off. It also heralds the end of another year, prompting reflection on times past and planning for the future. At AudioNET® we've enjoyed 12 months of continuing learning and growing. We've welcomed new clients and built closer relationships with existing ones. We feel that we're very fortunate for several reasons. First and foremost we enjoy working with our clients. Many of you are fast becoming friends, and we value the trust you have in us and the advice and suggestions you share with us, so we can improve our service. Secondly we appreciate the feedback and goodwill we get from the producers and traffic managers in the radio stations We deliver to. They're the ones hanging around late in the day waiting for breakfast spots that have to be scheduled before they can go home. Their co-operation and feedback is an integral part of AudioNET® deliveries. Thirdly, we have great suppliers who provide us with excellent Internet infrastructure and support to keep AudioNET® deliveries happening smoothly day and night. What we're really trying to say is that we take none of this support for granted. Over the past few weeks we've been welcomed at several Christmas functions, have enjoyed gracious hospitality and received wonderful compliments. We promise we'll earn them all again next year! Naturally, deliveries as usual over Christmas and New Year. Support available on the 1800 FREAK OUT line 1800 003 155 or support@dbmsystems.com.au if you need us. Just remind your clients that many radio stations will have skeleton staffing over Christmas so they'll get better service if they can deliver as early as possible. Have a great Christmas and New Year and here's to a prosperous 2004. Cheers,Dave AudioNET® Thought For The Day "A good conscience is a continual Christmas." - Benjamin Franklin.
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Killer Bits: December 2003
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