Red Light Fader Up
The most recent development at Hospital Radio Bedford is the launch of our brand new 'Studio One'. Simon BB tells us how it all began…
One
night a decision was made that we might possibly have to up-grade
HRBs’ Studio One, which was originally upgraded back in 1978....
OK, I may not remember this happening, but
many HRB members do as it was a huge moment in hospital broadcasting.
Sonifex, the company who decided they were
bold enough with some spare time, not to mention a few odd parts and the occasional
rusty screw decided to assist, well in-fact they built us a brand new studio
mixing desk that has served the test of fingers and I suppose time, so well
done guys.
However, this decision was
driven by the demand in the additions that the mixer needed to cope with, in
most cases this was achieved by the HRB engineering team, Ronnie Stanley and
Dave Hill, who I believe have both admitted that some parts of the old mixer
were indeed held together with duck tape!!
Take note, no screws…duck tape is the answer.
The decision took place late one night by the HRB Executive
Committee in one of its meetings that I’m sure would require an article, just
to examine some of the vast and very un-related radio topics, not to mention
hospital related conversations.
I will
never know how we spend 90 minutes 10 e-mails later about the subject of
chairs!
Now where was I?…oh yes my
thought, which was just as mind blowing as understanding the hypothesis of
space being endless.
I sat there
thinking, and yes, I wonder how many other members have thought along the same
lines as me, ‘how many times has the microphone fader been pushed up’?
Lets not attempt to answer that question, unless
someone has Carol Vorderman’s phone number as we shall probably be still
working out this very large mathematical equation in another 32 years time when
I sure we will have to consider another studio up-grade……can someone pick up
the station engineers off the floor!
To find out who was in favour of this upgrade we used a very
reliable method of a simple hands up vote…I believe someone had to help the treasurer
put his hand up!
Therefore, with this in
mind and with various committee members in contact with other ‘radio people’, a
mixer arrived about 2 weeks later.
Now
when this parcel arrived in a brown box, it was received with great excitement,
but also a sense of ‘times change’, it sat there for another 2 months.
Yes, you are probably asking why as this was
such a principal moment, new equipment, lets play, remember that feeling of
when you were a child receiving a new toy…that’s the one.
The reason why it sat there, was as no-one
had considered a final broadcast for the existing mixer, which I’m sure was
feeling, slightly disheartened with the new boy just a few feet away.
So back to the committee room we marched, where
the drawing board was waiting to be re-drawn.
A date was set, and the final broadcast took place on 9th
October 2009.
The dismantlement
commenced as the fader went down for the last time, and I’m sure that someone
had a tear in their eye, probably Dave who saw that his duck tape was no longer
required!
Poised with a screw driver and
some duck tape remover, they set to work beavering away as fader by fader,
panel by panel and 1970s wiring came away as the mixer desk was becoming naked
for the very last time.
Now if it was
still live and recording and making a running commentary on the progress as it
was being stripped, I’m sure it would have recorded the endless conversations
about the time, when it was put together and how many times both Dave and
Ronnie have been on their hands and knees fixing sections and adding new
equipment.
Then suddenly it was gone and a huge empty space appeared, and
possibly a game of catch that CD broke out as members enjoyed the new space,
realising that they have to broadcast from Studio Two for the next 6
months.
Now hands up, who does not
understand the operational skills required for such a diverse studio…see the
majority of hands reluctantly raised as defeat was admitted! – I of course did
not like Studio One so I was a pro in StudioTwo…watch the training begin well
on Thursday night at least.
From the
16th to 19th October 2009 saw the decorating skills of
David Alley, Chris Mantle and Steve Eldridge come into operation leaving a
gleaming bright new colouring scheme from the standard NHS colours.
It would seem not a drop of paint landed on
the carpeted floor!
Out come the tape measures, the marks on the wall, the empty cups
of coffee and of course the pencils behind the ears as the tasking of fitting
in the studio commenced.
Before you ask,
we had thought about this, so a march to the committee room with the drawing
board, which was now covered in some technical language was not required.
It was not as simple as a flat pack from Argos, fix A into B with D joining to the corner of M, no it was more complicated just as complicated as the concept of space being endless, yes I’m still trying to get my grey cells to understand that.
Many weekends and
Monday nights were spent fixing and screwing, not so rusty screws into holes
with comments like, how does that work, and not, ‘do you remember when’…this
was possibly the only time when our engineers were actually astounded into
silence!
I shall not even mentioned the
meetings that took place to decide how many Mini Discs and CD players we should
include….perhaps the phase…’we are a radio station’, clenched the argument, and
stunned, many members into a form of silence that made you think…’realisation’
and I knew that, anyway agreed and moving on!!
Now a phenomenon event like the opening of Studio One that has
created talk with all members, instead of what shall we play next or deciding
who is going to be number 1, discussion started about the vast fader population
that has broken out.
I am sure they all
doing something, questions is what…perhaps we can operate the traffic lights in
London, who knows what Ronnie and Dave have wired up!
So who should open such magnificent
machinery, well for one last time the HRB Executive Committee marched back to
the committee room to consult the drawing board, and throw suggestions as to
who should open the new studio.
Now not
to sound pleased, but I think we all agreed in quick recession that it should
be Chris Stills who built the original mixing desk should open the new
studio.
I know that he does not have a
link to the building of the new studio, but we all thought best to keep some of
the old equipment alive, after all he built the last mixing desk that lasted
for 32 years, so Dave and Ronnie, you have a lot to live up to!
3 - 2 - 1 Red Light On, Microphone LIVE, ‘good evening this is
Hospital Radio Bedford broadcasting Live from our brand new studio’…………….has
anyone seen the duck tape?
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