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DJ Studio Operations
The Disc Jockey
 Most people refer to the announcer of a music show as a Disc Jockey, DeeJay or DJ. The DJ tells the listener the names of the artists and titles of the musical selections being played on the radio. DJs give the time, weather and read messages, be they public service announcements or live commercials.
Many people who want to be Disc Jockeys think the DJ is the star of the show. In some cases this may be true, but it is far from the norm. In most cases the DJ is a talented technician who operates electronic equipment under severe time constraints and speaks as required to explain what is ocurring at their location.
As an example, the shows broadcast from our studios at Miami Lakes Technical Education Center combine all the elements of a standard musical radio program. The Radio Broadcasting Program produces a product on a daily basis for consumption by the listener. The shows combine the music as the main product, news as an informational by-product, and the DJ as the packaging. People will only buy a product to test it to see if they like it. If they do like it, they will continue to make purchases of that product. Radio os no different. If a listener trys a station and does not like the music, they tune to another station. When they find a station that plays the music they like, they will stay to try the product. If there are several stations playing the same music, that gives the listener the ability to try the same product from different vendors. This is the same as buying a pair of bluejeans. You can get the jeans at several stores. Prices may vary, and most people go to the lowest price outlet. If the price is the same at each place, however, then other aspects become important. These properties may include the attentiveness of the sales staff, selection, ambiance of the store and so on.
Radio is no different. The format of the program is the ambiance. The attentiveness of the sales staff is the Disc Jockey. If the listener likes the air staff, finds them attentive, interesting, informative and personable, they will continue to listen to that station over another that plays the same music. Toward this end, you should try to learn about your listener.
| Who is the listener? | | What do they want musically? |
| How old are they? | | Who is in concert locally? |
| What is their ethnicity? | | What new music is being released? |
| What is their income? | | Who wrote the music? |
| Are they married or single? | | Who is singing backup? |
| Do they have children? | | Who is playing instruments? |
| Where do they live? | | How is the artist's name pronounced? |
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| What is important to them? | | What's happening locally? |
| What TV shows do they watch? | | What is the weather? |
| What music do they like? | | What are the traffic conditions? |
| What news interests them? | | What affects the community? |
| What is funny to them? | | What affects them personally? |
The more the DJ knows about the audience, the better her or she will be able to relate to them. The overriding rule of the Disc Jockey is never to talk to an audience. Always attempt to have a one-on-one conversation with a single person. Never talk to a group. Be the person with whom you would like to spend time.
Tight and Brite
There are many terms used to describe the way in which a DJ should speak on air. Program Directors tell their air staff to be "Tight and Brite" or to get "In and Gone." This simply means to say what you need, in as few words as possible. It means to be positive and friendly. It means that you should carefully select or craft your words.
When giving the weather, you could spend a lot of time talking about fronts, cloud types and the barometric pressure. Try reading these two weather reports:
It's a beautiful day. I hope you're enjoying it. There's only a 20 percent chance of a shower and the sky is fairly clear. Thank goodness for that rising barometer. It means we'll have nice weather for a while. The current temperature is 82 degrees. It's on the way down to an overnight low of 74 degrees. The wind is out of the east at 9 miles per hour with gusts of 15 miles per hour.
OR
Great day. A 20 percent rain chance. Wind at 9 from the east. It's 84 degrees on the way down to 74 overnight. Enjoy!
As you can see, one is considerably shorter than the other, though the salient points are still covered. If you were listening to a music show, which would you rather hear? If the DJ talks that long every time they say something, you wouldn't hear as much music. Cut out the unnecessary. Pare your speech to the meaningfull. In other words, get in and gone and be tite and brite.
When To Talk
When preparing a radio show, the most often asked question is, "When do I talk?" The answer is, you talk when your show's format allows you to. You may talk between songs and before breaking for commercials. You may talk after commercials and before going back to music. You may talk after every song, every other song or only before a commercial. You may talk over the beginning of a song, it's intro, or over the end of a song as it fades, it's outro.
Depending on when you talk, and what you say during these times, you say specific kinds of things. In general these are:
| Sweep: | Talking between two pieces of music. Used to promote the station, such as, "The best of today's contemporary jazz on WXYZ's New Music Show." |
| Break: | Talking before a commercial break, or stop set. Usually this includes the backsell, or giving the artist names and music titles. The DJ may also tease the listener, or provide partial information about something that will happen after the stop set. |
| Re-enter: | Talking after a stop set, before the music begins. |
| Legal ID: | The station identification must be said as close to the top of the hour as possible. This is the law per the Federal Communications Commission, or FCC. This may be said as part of a sweep, break, reenter or on it's own over the music, depending on format. The legal ID must have the station's call letters followed immediately by the city in which the station's license is registered, such as "WXYZ Atlanta." |
| Segue: | No talking at all, this is a smooth transition from one piece of recorded material to another. |
Logs
This has nothing to do with trees, other than the paper that the logs are printed on. In this case the logs are legal documents in the air studio that are filled out by the Disc Jockey. There are several logs in the standard air studio. The music log lists the music that you will play during your air shift. The days of the DJ playing what they want or the listeners making requests and having them played almost immediately are virtually a thing of the past. There is laso a traffic log that has nothing to do with highway traffic. It is the schedule of commercials and when they are to be played. In this case, traffic refers to the commercial traffic on the radio station's airwaves. There may also a transmitter log to record the readings of the transmitted power of the radio station's signal.
Logs are legal documents. In most cases you are required to sign your logs signifying that you followed them exactly. This does not mean that you will always be able to follow the log. A piece of music or a commercial may be missing. When you must deviate from the listing on a log, it is called a discrepancy. Any discrepancy should be noted on the log's discrepancy report. Often there are special discrepancy forms as part of the log.
Of most importance today is the traffic log. It is a statement that each commercial scheduled to play at a certain time was played as scheduled. It is your word, noted by your signature, that the person who paid for the commercial air time actually had their commercial played on the radio. The station, and you, are legally obligated to play commercials that are paid for. If a client disputes their billing because they say a commercial was not played, the log is the backup for the station to make it's case that the commercial was actually played. Saying that a commercial was played when it was not can get you in deep trouble. Never falsify your logs.
The transmitter log is the other major document in the air studio. It records the power of the station's radio signal. It is required by the FCC. Usually the transmitter readings are taken every two hours. Some stations require more frequent readings be taken. The log will vary from station to station, but in general includes the amperage and wattage of the transmitter and the percent of total power the transmitter is providing. You are required to sign the log and are responsible for its accurate completion, although, with today's automation systems computers are now logging the transmitter readings at many stations.
Licensing
As of January 1, 1996, it is no longer a requirement to be licensed to be a Disc Jockey. Before that, a DJ needed a license from the Federal Communications Commission called the "Restricted Radio Telephone Operator's Permit." That does not mean that you do not need a license. It is not up to the radio station whether or not they require their air staff to hold the FCC license. Some radio stations still make a valid license a condition of employment.
The test to get a Restricted Radio Telephone Operator's Permit from the FCC is not difficult, in fact there is no test. You simply fill out a form, attach a check for the licensing fee, about $40 last time we checked, and the FCC sends you a license. Between the time you mail the form and they send your license, you have a temporary license that is valid as soon as the form is placed in a mailbox and remains valid until your license is received.
The required form and instructions are available online at the FCC website, www.fcc.gov.
Daily Exercises
Exercises are performed to loosen the tongue, lips and throat, and to get blood flowing in the muscles. You wouldn't go jogging without warming up a bit before your work out. You shouldn't try to use your voice professionally without warming up.
- Bend forward, arms hanging loosely in front of you, head hanging loosely, jaw relaxed. Sway from side to side, rotating at the waist. 30 seconds.
- Drop your head forward, placing your chin on your chest. Rotate your head slowly from side to side, increasing the rotation slowly until they are full circles. 30 seconds. Note: if there is any discomfort, decrease the rotation or simply tilt the head back and forth and side to side.
- Yawn with your mouth wide open. Move the lower jaw from side to side.
- Yawn with your mouth closed, fighting the muscles to open it.
- Over exagerate mouth motions while saying the following:
| AW-EE | EE-AW | OO-EE-AH |
| BAW-EE | BEE-AW | OO-EE-AH |
| MAW-EE | MEE-AW | OO-EE-AH |
- Tongue exercises. Reapeat each sound for 20 seconds, like singing "la la la la la."
Change the sound daily using a new consonant, ie. BAH, WAH, TAH, DAH, NAH, etc.
- Repeat slowly, emphasize second sylable. Breathe from the diaphragm. 30 seconds.
- Repeat slowly. Rising tone on first sylable, emphasize second sylable sharply. 30 seconds.
- Hum with your lips barely touching, not with a closed mouth. Hold as long as possible.
- Repeat 9 above, changing the sound from HUM to HUN. Hold as long as possible.
- Say the following. Hold the first sound for 3 to 5 seconds. Over exagerate the last sound with an explosive delivery. Left column followed by right column.
| Hummmmm - mAH | | Hunnnnnn - nAH |
| Hummmmm - mAU | | Hunnnnnn - nAU |
| Hummmmm - mEE | | Hunnnnnn - nEE |
| Hummmmm - mOH | | Hunnnnnn - nOH |
| Hummmmm - mOO | | Hunnnnnn - nOO |
- Say the alphabet. Repeat each letter three times. Exagerate mouth and lip movements. Enunciate each sound. Pace yourself, don't rush. A A A pause B B B pause etc.
RELAX. Breathe deeply a few times. Calm your mind. Prepare for the days work.
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