Instrumental Invasion, 1/27/21 January 28, 2021
Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Animation, Audio, Christmas, Drama, Internet, Jazz, Laserdisc, Media, Music, Personal, Radio, Technology, TV, Video.add a comment
The January 27, 2021, Instrumental Invasion on WCWP was recorded one hour per day on December 22 (between sounds of fence construction next door) and December 23, 2020. Pickups for the first segments of each hour were recorded on the 23rd (hour 1) and Christmas morning (hour 2).
The playlist was created and annotated, and the script was written on December 21.
This was the last show I recorded in 2020 before allowing myself time off for Christmas (outside of pickups) and New Year’s Day, and the last show recorded through the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2. I received a Zoom LiveTrak L-8 for Christmas.
As noted on air, Anders Enger Jensen‘s “DiscoVision” ode to the early days of LaserDisc, contains samples from side 1 of the 1979 instructional disc, Operating Instructions for the MCA DiscoVision PR-7820 System. Here is that video, hosted by actor J.D. Cannon:
The Don Sebesky album I referenced while back-selling “The Traveler” by Earl Klugh is called Giant Box. I gave it the “big” prefix (“big Giant Box album”) because it was originally a double album on LP in 1973. The 2011 remaster fits neatly on one CD.
I inadvertently referenced the Butch Hartman cartoon series T.U.F.F. Puppy (this episode, in fact) when I said “no, don’t duck; that’s his name” after noting Marty Duck was part of the horn section on “At Your Service” by Oli Silk.
Click here to download the show’s aircheck MP3 or listen below:
Instrumental Invasion, 1/20/21 January 21, 2021
Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Animation, Audio, Comedy, Film, Jazz, Media, Music, Personal, Radio, Weather.add a comment
The January 20, 2021, Instrumental Invasion on WCWP was recorded one hour per day on December 19 and 20, 2020, with a pickup line recorded on the 21st.
The playlist was created on December 18 with annotations that day and the next day. The script was drafted immediately after that, followed by work on the blog recap of the winter storm that occurred on the 16th and 17th.
The 1984 and earlier segment returned to lead off the show.
I had to pad the last segments of each hour with extra liners because my talk breaks ran short.
I had fun with the “Oi Gata” etymology and British exclamation when back-selling Joe McBride‘s song.
Back on December 3, Audrey Varnas, WCWP’s FM music director, informed me of a music submission by the U.S. Air Force Band Airmen of Note. She asked if I wanted their 2020 Jazz Heritage Series album shipped to me, and I accepted. After listening, I told her the Airmen of Note are great, as they sound like all the other big bands I’ve heard. “Up and Running” won’t be the last you hear of them on Instrumental Invasion. Last Monday, I was informed that Audrey tested positive for COVID-19. Thankfully, her symptoms were mild, and she was resting and recovering at home. Thanks again for the recommendation, Audrey. I hope you’re feeling better.
As noted while back-selling Lee Ritenour‘s cover “Red Baron” by Vince Guaraldi, I spent six days watching various Peanuts specials – and The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show – on Blu-ray and DVD. I’ve been watching more specials since Sunday and should finish by Saturday. The inclusion of “Red Baron” allowed me to correct an error I made talking up the David Benoit version on June 3. I said it was “about a certain World War I Flying Ace” when it was really about that ace’s nemesis.
I also made reference to Galaxy Quest while talking up “Never Giving Up” by the David Wells and Chris Geith Project. I watched the film back in August, and it features the catchphrase, “never give up, never surrender!”
Click here to download the aircheck MP3 or listen below:
Instrumental Invasion, 1/13/21 January 14, 2021
Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Audio, Comedy, Film, Jazz, Media, Music, Personal, Radio, Technology.add a comment
The January 13, 2021, Instrumental Invasion on WCWP was recorded one hour per day on December 11 and 12, 2020.
The playlist was created and annotated on December 10 and was the first playlist with 18:40 segments in mind. Hours earlier, after only a few hours of sleep, I edited all but three segments for the previous four shows from 18:45 to 18:40. I hoped that would prevent automation from cutting off the end of the last segment, which happened the night before. And so far, it has. December 9 was the last show to date with that problem.
This was also the first show where I scripted out my talk breaks in Microsoft Word prior to recording, and therefore the first time I saved a script. I tweaked each portion as recording progressed.
For the second week in a row, I swapped out the 1984 and earlier segment for a third 2017 to present segment.
Recording the Lisa Hilton liner (after I annotated the playlist) required a Rube Goldberg machine. There was no way for her to record on her own in a home studio or on an iPhone app, so we had to do it over the phone. I connected a Lightning-to-3.5mm adapter to my iPhone 11, attached a male-to-male 3.5mm cable to the adapter, connected the cable to my TASCAM DR-03, plugged in headphones so I could hear Lisa, and hit record. Only Lisa’s side was audible, but that was all I needed. We spoke for nearly ten minutes with a minute or two dedicated to the liner. Afterward, I extracted the raw WAV file from the DR-03 and edited it in Adobe Audition. Once I compiled the best of each take, I hard limited, denoised, and normalized the audio.
With that long explanation out of the way, here’s the final cut:
Recording from my phone is presumably much easier on the Zoom LiveTrak L-8 mixer that I got for Christmas. I presume because I haven’t tried yet.
I like all the show’s running gags: musicians from Illinois, synth instruments on the same song as actual instruments, and the parent-child element. I’m sure Game Dave would appreciate the Ghostbusters reference in the last talk break.
Click here to download the aircheck MP3 or listen below:
Instrumental Invasion, 1/6/21 January 7, 2021
Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Audio, Internet, Jazz, Media, Music, Personal, Podcast, Radio, Technology, Video, Video Games.add a comment
The January 6, 2021, Instrumental Invasion on WCWP was recorded on December 9, 2020. It was the first show recorded in one day since the October 14 show, which was made on September 7 (Labor Day). I recorded away from home on my laptop with a USB version of the Audio-Technica AT2020 microphone. This is most likely a one-off.
The playlist was created and annotated on December 7, exactly three months after the aforementioned previous one-day show recording.
Starting with this show, I added an extra five seconds in the playlist for talk breaks coming out of two songs and for the first talk break of hour 2. I had trouble filling time in the second segment, but then struggled to hit the post in the last segment, which was the only one I couldn’t edit down to 18:40.
As with the show that aired on December 9, to accommodate new music acquisitions, I swapped out the 1984 and earlier segment for a third 2017 to present segment.
I included “Groovers and Shakers” by Blake Aaron to make up for the last 90 seconds getting cut off on November 25.
“One Day” by Yellowjackets and the WDR Big Band is another song that was also posted to YouTube:
Once I saw Russell Ferrante was playing an actual Rhodes piano, I redid that credit in the last talk break at home with an Apogee MiC 96k. I should have used that mic the day before.
Regarding “Flurries” by Brian Culbertson, I was unaware that drummer Khari Parker died back in June. I learned that on Tuesday while annotating the playlist for the February 3 show.
Click here to download the aircheck MP3 or listen below:
I also have two bonuses. First, I contributed a question to Game Dave‘s latest Digitally Distracted episode:
Here’s the question and his answer:
The second bonus is Jeff and Pat Kroll signing off last night’s The Rock Show, my lead-in:
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