Radio DJs sometimes tend to talk right up to the point where the lyrics or main part of a song will start. They can’t be doing this by memory can they? I theorize that there’s a time (like 15 seconds or so) written on the disc, or noted next to the computer file, that tells the DJ how long they can talk. Anyone know the actual procedure?
Back when radio stations still used vinyl records, the copies distributed to radio stations did indicate how long the intro was in seconds, as well as the total length of the song.
But a former DJ I knew was so familiar with intro lengths of certain pop songs that he could do it from memory, fitting exactly enough patter in before the vocals began.
If you’re playing from CDs, the volume levels will be all different for different discs anyway, so while the previous track is playing, you typically do a pre-fade check - everything keeps playing out as normal, but your headset and the studio speakers (if any) play out the track you’re preparing; this enables you to set the levels, and to take note of the intro time.
On more modern setups, it’s all controlled by computer and instead of playing songs from CDs, they are played digitally straight out of a computer running some kind of playout software (in which case they won’t need a pre-fade listen, because all of the songs in the system will have been normalised to a set level.
Anyway this playout software incorporates a database detailing the track length, into and outro times, artist, song and album names, etc; sometimes it also has a bunch of trivia about the song and artist that the DJ can incorporate into his patter.
On commercial stations, this is often taken to another level, where the producers will schedule and arrange the show and the DJ (more or less) just sits there and speaks when the machine says speak and stops when it says stop; he’ll be able to override the automation if required, and the system will pinch up some other bit of space to compensate. That’s how they manage to switch to the news and weather on time, without usually having to cut a song off in the middle.
Oops; I meant to explain that most playout packages display countdowns to the end of the intro and to the end of the song; some of them also have a countdown to the earliest desirable fade-out time (for example, after at least one verse and a chorus)
They don’t always do it right. When I was growing up in Winnipeg, one of the off-hours DJs on the local rock station decided to talk over the intro to “Burden in My Hand” by Soundgarden. Only problem is that the vocals start immediately on said track.
A number of years ago I knew someone who worked in radio as an “on-air personality”. He told me that trying to talk right up to when the lyrics started was a sort of search for The Holy Grail, or the perfect tee shot, or something like that. As others have said, though, the mechanics of the whole thing may have changed things completely.
This custom of “talking over the intro” once inspired me to cover the instrumental opening of Black Magic Woman - all one minute and seven seconds of it.
The tomato throwing may commence.
The official reason for this practice was to prevent someone from pirating a record by recording it off of the radio (which, as I think about it now, is a pretty lame reason - you’d think most would-be bootleggers could afford to buy a copy of the 45 for 75 cents).
This is certainly true; it’s something DJs pride themselves on.
It’s called “hitting the post” and I’ve actually heard Dj battles to best hit the post on selected songs…like a dance off or something.
It doesn’t always have to be the first lyrics either. You can hit the post at a specific change in the music too. I have no reason to do it, but I try it at home just for fun.
Nowadays, if a station uses an automation system such as Prophet Systems’ “NexGen”, everything you could want to know about a song is displayed, and someone will have had to go through every track and enter the intro / extro times. That way, when a song comes up on the screen and starts, there is a progress bar that fills up, along with a second countdown, to the vocal, and the bar changes color for the extro. Nothing is left to chance anymore!
Doing it from memory isn’t really that hard if you think about it. I could anticipate the opening lyrics to a song after hearing it just 2 or 3 times. A DJ on a popular radio station probably hears a Beyonce (or RHCP or whoever) track anywhere from 5 to 10 times a day in an 8 hour shift for several weeks, or even months. If it’s an oldies or classic rock station, any given DJ has probably heard most of those songs literally thousands of times in his or her life.
When Bubba the Love Sponge first came over to Howard Stern’s radio station, Howard played an old clip of Bubba talking over the intro and the lyrics came in while he was still talking. They called this “stepping on” the track.
Bah! Piker!
Try the entire intro of Eye In The Sky by the Alan Parsons Project. 2 Minutes long!
Yes, I did it.
Once.
That was enough.
Thank you for asking.
37 years in the commercial business.
Years ago the marks on songs were “TUT” (talk up time) and “TOT” (talkout time).
The marks were part of the job of the music director.