Biweekly DJ Mix of New Brony Music

[Forward Bias 47]

So I'd like to start running a new new brony music DJ Mix. Or is it a new brony new music DJ mix? A DJ mix for new music made by/for bronies? Whatever. The goal is to play about an hour's worth of new tunes every week (maybe two if things are slow enough) in a format you can download and play in your car on the way to work.

 

The technology aspects of this are well under control. I have DJ software and am at least passably competent with it. I have microphones, controllers, and audio interfaces. So from the standpoint of making the recordings I'm good to go.

 

But that's all I've got so far. I know I need a podcast host, graphical resources, and help with getting together music and deciding what's awesome and should be played. I come to you, the amazing patrons of the Music Resources thread to ask your assistance in getting this project up and running!

 

Any guidance you guys would have to offer, or even just a favorite artist or genera you'd like me to play, would be appreciated!

 

EDIT: I'm an old fogy and the word podcast has changed in meaning over the years since I first learned it. I've swapped the titles and intro here to make it clearer as to what I'm trying to accomplish. Rest assured though, my goal is to make sure you can use your favorite podcast tools like Podcast Addict to enjoy the show.

Edited October 3, 2015 by Forward Bias

[Sunset's Shimmer 394]

  I think it'd be neat to see a podcast that showcased up and coming music, like those that just got created or some exposure for musicians that aren't very well known, that might have only a couple hundred hits on youtube.

 

Just a nice mix of fresh tunes that nobody has really heard or are just released.

[BrilliantVenture 334]

as one who worked in radio, the secret to a succesful mixcast, is to make a setlist of new/fresh tunes and classics, mix them flawlessly, and record your commentary (keep brief but informative ie. song names, new stuff coming to the podcast, little footnotes.) You may even want to make a special little section where the listeners/mlpforum users/anyone etc, can vote on a classic they'd like to hear in the next one, or select a "tune of the week". It takes a lot of work though, you need a good mic, good software, good mixing, good quality music files, FX sounds/liners, and commitment. Keep all that in mind, and I'm sure you'll do great! (and btw, you're always free to use my stuff if you like it too...in fact, pony.fm is a great place to aquire new music! I'd check there often!)

[Forward Bias 47]

That's the hope! Early on I'm pretty sure I'll be limited to 'just published' work. However, eventually we might be able to get folks to slip the show a couple of teasers for upcoming work. 
 
@BrilliantVenture I really appreciate the insight! My background is in electrical engineering, though I had an intro to broadcasting class years ago, so being able to learn from someone else's experience is amazingly helpful.
 
Since the main goal is to help people discover new artists and keep up with their favorites, my plan was to use announcements and commentary that focused on who they were, what they had coming out, and where to find their stuff as my main tool for bridging.
 
Also, I love the idea for the tune of the week. Superficially it allows the audience to highlight a song, but looking a bit deeper into things, it helps me tailor the work to the tastes of the listeners. Normally a DJ would just look out into the crowd and go with the flow, but broadcast doesn't really allow that. With that said, I'd also considered streaming the recording sessions in some place with a chat so that I could gauge the success of a song or style by the behavior in chat.
 
Lastly, I greatly appreciate your offer to use your music! I promise I'll be taking you up on that.   I'm a regular listener on Pony.FM, but the big thing is that I can only use them to discover music; Pony.FM's license to play the songs doesn't extend to me, but I doubt many of the artists there will mind me pinging them for permission.

Edited September 4, 2015 by Forward Bias

[blazah99 19]

Sounds cool but, do you have 'the voice'? Also, would this be like a weekly or bi weekly podcast and/or like 'Brony Breakdown'(which ended a few months ago)?

[Bronyance 61]

I could host or something for you, if you'd like. I've got a nice low bass radio voice. If you want a sample or something I'll record me saying some stuff or something. ^^

[Forward Bias 47]

Sounds cool but, do you have 'the voice'? Also, would this be like a weekly or bi weekly podcast and/or like 'Brony Breakdown'(which ended a few months ago)?

 

I've got a baritone voice myself, though how that goes with radio is it's own question. That said, given that this is a podcast, I can probably tolerate a bit of a pass on the traditional voice (not that I think I will need to) given other works like This Week in Chip Tune.

 

As for frequency it will depend on how much content I can get my hands on and how quickly. Given a choice I'd like it to be weekly, but a realistic take on things suggests that although I could play new music for an hour every week, playing exceptional new music, and moreover licensing it weekly might be more of a challenge.

 

 

I could host or something for you, if you'd like. I've got a nice low bass radio voice. If you want a sample or something I'll record me saying some stuff or something. ^^

 

Any thoughts on how that would work? My intention was to generate the content live soas to better connect with the audience. Most of the mechanisms I can think where that would be possible would require a great degree of coordination and would be pretty badly subject to lag and digital compression.

[Lyme Soundstick 266]

If you need any help getting the music to play maybe I could help?  Browse the web for newer brony music then send it to you.

Edited September 4, 2015 by Lyme Soundstick

[Bronyance 61]

Any thoughts on how that would work? My intention was to generate the content live soas to better connect with the audience. Most of the mechanisms I can think where that would be possible would require a great degree of coordination and would be pretty badly subject to lag and digital compression.

Hm, I don't know really. I have good internet but I have no idea.

[Forward Bias 47]

Hm, I don't know really. I have good internet but I have no idea.

 

In a normal talk show podcast I'd say Skype or some other mechanism, but in the context of a live mix show I'm not sure how I'd implement it since the host has to interact pretty directly with the mixing hardware to keep things moving smoothly. It might be worth digging into deeper once I get a chance to make a prototype of the show and see how things go if that won't work.

[Prince Golden Lotus 166]

I would find it a true pleasure if you could somehow add some of Aviators' newest stuff to your thing.

[Forward Bias 47]

I think I'll probably work on getting a 15 minute demo reel put together this weekend using your stuff @BrilliantVenture so folks can get a feel for where things are at presently in terms of my intended approach. Projects are always easier to see in context.   

That said, I know I still have a lot of things I still need to be successful, and I've grabbed a few of the ones I know about below.

• A Name: Names are hard! I've been calling it 'the weekly brony music podcast' in casual conversation, but that doesn't really roll off the tongue you know? I've pondered following the pony way and making some kind of pun, but nothing is solid yet.
• More Music: Finding enough music to keep a weekly show running is not trivial. Pony.FM is a great source (thanks @BrilliantVenture,) and hopefully I can get a bunch of awesome folks like you @Lyme Soundstick and to contribute to the weekly playlist so the well never runs dry.
• A well defined voice: No, not the voice, though that can help. I mean an overall look and feel for the show. Sure you can just introduce yourself, play songs, and close out, but a really effective show will have a consistent tone that resonates with it's listeners. I know that I'm prone to end up with a very intellectual talk show host kind of voice.
• Liners/Intros/Outros: These don't have to be hard; they can be all speech. However, just a little bit of polish here goes a long way to really giving a podcast that professional feel! I have some ideas for how to go about this, but any thoughts on the matter are welcome!
• Licenses: Getting new music is easy. Getting the rights to preform and record it... Well... Not so much. Bronies are usually a pretty chill bunch in this regard, and I don't expect a lot of headwind on this, but if you ever want to scare yourself silly at the same time you bore yourself to sleep, try reading the Creative Commons' Podcast Legal Guide at https://wiki.creativecommons.org/wiki/Podcasting_Legal_Guide. With that said, anyone who gets super excited about talking with awesome artist folks and is good with agreements and such, or even anyone with guidance for how to go about this without ruffling feathers would be super handy.
• Hosting: This is pretty easy for me to work out technically, but I know there's some hosting tools already out there and I don't know anything about them. If anyone has any thoughts about this I'm all ears!

Edited September 4, 2015 by Forward Bias

[BrilliantVenture 334]

That's the hope! Early on I'm pretty sure I'll be limited to 'just published' work. However, eventually we might be able to get folks to slip the show a couple of teasers for upcoming work. 

 

@BrilliantVenture I really appreciate the insight! My background is in electrical engineering, though I had an intro to broadcasting class years ago, so being able to learn from someone else's experience is amazingly helpful.

 

Since the main goal is to help people discover new artists and keep up with their favorites, my plan was to use announcements and commentary that focused on who they were, what they had coming out, and where to find their stuff as my main tool for bridging.

 

Also, I love the idea for the tune of the week. Superficially it allows the audience to highlight a song, but looking a bit deeper into things, it helps me tailor the work to the tastes of the listeners. Normally a DJ would just look out into the crowd and go with the flow, but broadcast doesn't really allow that. With that said, I'd also considered streaming the recording sessions in some place with a chat so that I could gauge the success of a song or style by the behavior in chat.

 

Lastly, I greatly appreciate your offer to use your music! I promise I'll be taking you up on that.   I'm a regular listener on Pony.FM, but the big thing is that I can only use them to discover music; Pony.FM's license to play the songs doesn't extend to me, but I doubt many of the artists there will mind me pinging them for permission.

 

Awesome man! Glad I could help

[Forward Bias 47]

So I got the demo reel worked up. You can download a copy of it from Brony Radio Show 0.mp3. I tried to keep it brief, so you could get a feel for it quickly; just one intro, one crossover, and an outro. It's short, but you'll find the track list at the end.

 

There's a few things I'd like to do differently going forward such as getting (and sharing) some information about the album and upcoming songs, getting a proper intro clip, shortening some of the songs to make them a bit more digestible, and general refinements in my DJing.

 

However, those are just the things I can think of off hand, and I know there's going to be a ton of stuff I don't realize are problematic. So what needs improvement? What did you like?

 

Track List and Acknowledgements:

Find the Music in You - Brilliant Venture

True True Friend - Brilliant Venture

This Day Aria - Brilliant Venture

Dj Rkod - Pulse (George Ellinas Remix) by George Elias as some fill music.

 

[Forward Bias 47]

Okay, so we're a week in and no comments, so I'm gonna assume something between "if you can't say something nice say nothing" and "not interesting enough to mention" is driving the quiet. I'll head back to the drawing board and see what I can come up with as an alternative approach.

 

Thanks a lot for your help so far guys, and I'll see you once the idea is reworked!

Edited September 17, 2015 by Forward Bias

[BlueBrony 388]

Hey Forward Bias,

I have to admit that I didn't even notice your previous post until you posted your most recent one, so I decided to go ahead and give it a listen. I have to say that in my opinion what you have already is a great start. Your voice is pleasant to listen to. With so many different brony podcasts out there it is hard to really stand out, but do not give up! As long as you are consistent and bring good quality, your show WILL get of the ground. 

 

If you are still on board to work on this, I have a few suggestions:

you can start talking before a song is completely finished. Right around the part where the track is fading out is where most radio hosts would start talking to introduce the next song. That way, you will minimize the dead space.

At the end of the show is a good time for an outro sequence- something where you talk about user submissions, upcoming events, comments/suggestions, and end with restating the title and/or a catchphrase

[Forward Bias 47]

 

 

you can start talking before a song is completely finished.

That's definitely not a bad plan. Thinking more on it, had I picked a different song order, I could have used one of the ones with a more DJ friendly intro as part of the initial spin up too.

 

As for outtros, the honest fact is that I really need to start building up a repository of songs that start super slow that I can use to close shows up with, maybe even make a bit of an encore as it were. You know those songs where the actual music doesn't really start until the one minute mark? Or maybe even make/commission stuff I can use. Really what I need is to doodle a bit with theme and variation to give the ins and outs a unified feel.

 

In any case, I really appreciate the feedback! I'm still not sure where to take things given the minimum of response the demo generated relative to the original pitch, but it is indeed something I'm still trying to work through so this is very helpful.

[ABronyAccount 2]

I personally don't care for talking over the end of a song. Much better to let the artist finish up whatever they had to say before butting in. However, fading the beginning of the song in while finishing up a thought doesn't bother me. That's less like an interruption and more like ceding the floor to somebody else.

 

I think the demo is good at showing you have a suitable voice and "feel" for this kind of thing, that is, you don't sound out of place or awkward at it.

 

In between tracks it might also be good to discuss the work or the artist a bit, like they commonly do on classical radio stations. Maybe give a little context for the listener, like what was popular in the music scene when the piece was written ("Remember when 'Discord' started to replace 'Luna' as the most popular Eurobeat Brony track? Around the same time, Such-and-Such was just breaking into the community with this next piece... ").

 

Having musician interviews, either live, recorded, or read from email exchanges, might also be a good way to fill up time between songs if you find yourself needing to pad the episode out a bit. Plus it could make the podcast more podcast-shaped and less like a pre-recorded session of streaming radio.

 

I agree that an outro would be good to have. For music that has a slow build-up, the one that comes most readily to my mind is Dear Sister Moon by Silent Night. If you don't really NEED the slow build, this instrumental piece by Mysterious Bronie could serve well as an outro.

 

You might also consider the occasional plug for pony.fm or eqbeats, to draw both content creators and consumers to those kinds of sites and resources are available to them.

[Forward Bias 47]

Heads up guys. I've renamed this thread to help improve the clarity of the project. When the word 'podcast' was first invented, it was used to describe a publishing method; the format of the published content had nothing to do with whether it was a podcast. Doing a quick survey of a few folks, and it seems that word has changed meaning in the internet zeitgeist. For reference, the archaic definition I know is the one in the dictionary, namely:

 

Podcast

Noun.

1. A digital audio file made available on the Internet for downloading to a computer or portable media player, typically available as a series, new installments of which can be received by subscribers automatically.

 

However, in the intervening years the word appears to have come to mean "a talking heads-style show". Examples of this new meaning would include things like This Week in Tech, or the Bombcast. While this is admittedly the most popular kind of podcast, it isn't the type that this project is intended to be. As such, I needed to choose a wording that more accurately communicated what I had intended for this show to be. The end result is that I will be calling this a bi-weekly DJ mix, rather than a podcast. I'm still going to be publishing a podcast (in the dictionary sense) but I won't refer to it as such from here on.

 

If you're unfamiliar with the a DJ mix-style show, I would strongly suggest you check out the show that is my inspiration for this at http://thisweekinchiptune.com/

 

With that out of the way, let's move on to answering a few comments. 

 

In between tracks it might also be good to discuss the work or the artist a bit, like they commonly do on classical radio stations.

 

Agreed.  Getting the information about that is part of the data collection process that will be involved with the collection of music for the show. The demo was about showing the format and auditioning a bit as a DJ, so that research hadn't been done yet (I still need to build a music acquisition pipeline,) and as such, I spoke only to what I had: the music was offered for use in the demo.

 

Plus it could make the podcast more podcast-shaped and less like a pre-recorded session of streaming radio.

 

This misinterpretation is why the name is changing. It is supposed to be a pre-recorded session of streaming audio. In the olden days of variety radio, this would be a once a week aired show called something like "New Music Showcase with Jazzy Stevens" or something similar. To quote myself in the opening thread:

 

The goal is to play about an hour's worth of new tunes every week (maybe two if things are slow enough) in a format you can download and play in your car on the way to work.

 

Rest assured though that you weren't alone in this interpretation of my archaic use of the word podcast. Hopefully that is a bit clearer with the new notation.

 

I agree that an outro would be good to have. For music that has a slow build-up, the one that comes most readily to my mind is Dear Sister Moon by Silent Night. If you don't really NEED the slow build, this instrumental piece by Mysterious Bronie could serve well as an outro.

 

My intention for intro/outro/liners is to write a single melody line and do some theme and variation to produce a few different forms; a strong and then falling intro, an ambient talkover, and a weak but rising outro. This is part of the process of developing the 'voice' of the show. You should hear that melody and think 'Oh, that's from XXXX'

 

You might also consider the occasional plug for pony.fm or eqbeats, to draw both content creators and consumers to those kinds of sites and resources are available to them.

 

That's a more complicated subject. Regardless it's definitely worth thinking about and seeing if there's a right way to do it.

Edited October 4, 2015 by Forward Bias