How to Produce a Radio Show

Another one of my New Year's resolutions this year which has actually stuck is my promise to myself to get involved with radio once again.  I used to produce and present a show once a week on a Monday afternoon, I'd review new music and even have guests in sometimes to do live sets.  I remember being really excited on the day when Frank Turner came in to do a live interview in the studio, it was around the same time he was touring as support for Greenday.  He was such a nice, down to earth guy!  That was one of the best parts of the job - being able to meet people and get a real sense of who they were off stage and away from the spotlight of showbiz.

So last Thursday I went along for my first training session at Future Radio, it was pretty sweet to meet the other folks who I'd be training with; to swap tips on interviewing, indulge in talking about music for ages and drink far too much coffee!  I returned this week and we had a great time interviewing one another and then making our soundbites radio ready.  

Audacity is a free program which you can download to any computer, whether it's a PC or a mac.  It's super easy to use and has loads of different effects and alterations that you can make so that your track ends up sounding really professional.  A few years ago when I was originally on the radio I used to do a lot of editing, of various interviews or music beds (the music that you hear when the presenter is talking) but as it's been a while my internal decks have got a bit rusty.  It was really fun to play around with multiple tracks and edit soundbites, jingles, songs and news all together to make a smooth sounding show.  I can't wait to go back next week and get more involved!

What do you like about radio?  Would you change anything about it?