Cowntdown

A cow enjoys Smoooooth Radio at one end and a gentle squeeze at the udder.

sfx: clock ticking

vo: The clock is ticking etc.

Just to remind you that the closing date for entries in the Cow Moo Challenge is next Monday, 9 August.

Already, stations from across the UK and beyond have submitted entries and today’s news about cloned cow products has suddenly brought news and talk stations into the, er, field.

Full details and handy cow fx audio below.

The Cow Moo Challenge

Original photo (c) Rick Harrison. Used with kind permission.

You could win! Best use of a cow moo in a piece of radio imaging wins the entire joint. And we mean that. It’s a joint of beef.

Here’s what to do

1. Make a radio promo, trail, sweeper or other imaging element that includes the sound of a cow moo.

2. Put it on the radio.

3. Email the evidence to earshot@smartin.me

4. Listen to the next Earshot Creative Review to see whether you’ve won.

Need cows? Of course you do.

We’ve found a selection of copyright-free cow moos that are truly outstanding in their field. Download copyright-free moos.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

No comments

Any good production jobs going? Absolutely.

There haven’t been too many production vacancies in UK radio recently, but this one’s a cracker:

Associate Producer, Absolute Radio

If you’re thinking it’s bound to be heavily oversubscribed then you’re probably right. But that’s no reason to hold back. You read this blog so you care more than most about how things sound and you’ve listened to Vince Lynch explain the culture and creative direction he’s taking at Absolute Radio. You’re ahead of the pack.

So why am I promoting it here? Well, I listen to Absolute Radio too and like to hear it at its best. Good luck – it closes Friday.

No comments

Vuvuzela extraction

Thanks to Lifehacker, here’s a step-by-step guide to extracting vuvuzela noise from a football soundtrack…

And here’s another from something called mocksession.com…

These examples make pretty brutal changes to the sound of the commentary too but if you’re an audio genius with access to proper production kit you may be able to do a better job. Perhaps you already are.

Or you may simply accept that the vuvuzela is part of the story and should be left intact for the sake of truth and, er, safeguarding public trust if not your own sanity.

Anyway, that’s the vuvuzelas extracted. Now where to stick them?

3 splendid comments

Happy New Year

Just a short note to wish you all the very best for 2010 and to thank you for dropping into Earshot in the last year.

Given that Earshot began as a reluctant trial and that sometimes I struggle to afford it the time it deserves it is gently satisfying to see how many people do drop-in. I’m especially pleased that you’re one of them.

So what’s ahead?

Even though my work is now very much business related, I retain a keen interest in the radio production, cross-platform promotions and marketing trades in which I spent so many years of my career.

So Earshot will continue to centre on those specialist fields. In part, it’s a way for me to witness change in those areas as radio adapts to its multiplatform future and siezes the opportunities of the digital world in which its audiences live. It’s also my latest justification for being a big radio anorak.

Look out later this month for a regular new feature, the Earshot Creative Review. If you have created some radio promos, production or imaging that you’d like to see critiqued by some of the industry’s finest then do get in touch.

Happy New Year.

Steve.

No comments