Instrumental Invasion to air weekly on WCWP! March 30, 2020

Wednesday night will mark the beginning of my first weekly stint at WCWP since the Evening Jazz era a decade ago.

Instrumental Invasion with Mike Chimeri began life on WCWP in 2015 as a new name for my annual Homecoming Weekend show. I’ve done two shows a year: a live one on Fridays and a prerecorded show early on Sunday mornings. The name Instrumental Invasion was recycled from my WGBB-AM show in the mid 2000s.

The closure of WCWP during the COVID-19 pandemic led to a call for alumni to create original programming to run while the station was entirely automated. After receiving the blessing of WCWP Director of Broadcasting Dan Cox, I planned out six shows to record. I’ve been recording since last Wednesday and will record the last of the initial six today.

Two days ago, Dan gave me a regular slot: Wednesdays from 9PM to 11PM for at least ten weeks. I am thrilled to be given this opportunity and I thank Dan very much for it.

Make plans to listen to WCWP every Wednesday night starting April 1. If you can receive the signal, you can listen on your radio at 88.1 FM. Otherwise, go to WCWP.org or the WCWP app for iOS and Android.

In case you’re wondering, here’s my setup:

I use an Audio-Technica AT2020 XLR condenser mic with a compatible windscreen by Whisperteknik. (If that windscreen is unavailable, get one by VocalBeat instead.) The mic is connected to a Koolertron shock mount which attaches to a Neewer boom scissor arm stand. A six-foot AmazonBasics XLR male to female cable runs to a FocusRite Scarlett 2i2 USB interface. I’d been using Adobe Audition 3.0 for 12 years, but it does not take kindly to USB, regularly freezing while recording. Adobe Audition 2020 does not have that problem. I subscribed to the software early in the recording process. My shows are recorded in multi-track sessions. Airchecks are recorded and music and liners are added. The duration of an aircheck depends on how much time is left in a segment or to the next song’s post. Audition 2020 lets you record files up to 48 kHz and 32 bits, but I stick with 44.1 and 16.