State of the Art Audio Consoles

In 1966, when the FM was added to the AM, lots of new equipment was purchased. Some of that had to be made to control two radio stations at the same time. I would guess there were not a lot of manufacturers making audio consoles for an AM/FM controlled from the same central point, but one that did make an audio console designed just for that purpose was Gates/Harris. (Harris purchased the Gates company in 1957 but continued to use the Gates name until sometime in the 70s). In case you were wondering, MOST AM/FM stations at that time had an AM studio and an FM studio and separate staffs for each, although some might have worked on the AM side some and then move to the FM side or vice versa. But here one person was expected to monitor and control the AM, the FM, or both together, or both separately at the same time. Over the years monitoring and controlling two radio stations in the same studio was certainly challenging.

There was a set of switches at the middle of the board (under the VU meters in the picture) that controlled
putting audio on AM, FM or both at the same time, or taking the board entirely out of the circuit and
allowing automation to feed directly to the processing equipment.

The AM (main) studio had a Gates Dualux II when I started there. The Dualux II was an impressive looking audio console for the time period. While most audio control boards were set up with a program set of channels and an audition set of channels, the Dualux was designed for an AM/FM controlled through one audio console. The Dualux also took automation into consideration and could be switched out of the program audio path entirely - allowing automation to feed directly to the on air path without tying  up an audio console. That meant that during automated periods, the Dualux could be used to record commercials, music or interviews. The Dualux was still in the main (AM) studio when I started in 1978 - although it appeared to take its share of abuse through the years.

One of the overnight guys later suggested renaming the studios, Studio A, Studio B and Studio C - which we did (thanks Mark). The main studio where both stations could be controlled was labeled Studio A.

A Gates Statesman audio console was in the FM studio (later called Studio B) when I started in 1978. It too was showing its age. The high frequency response of both audio consoles was not what it should have been, because the capacitors in the audio circuits had been drying up for more than 10 years.

In the news booth, later called Studio C, was a Gates Producer audio console. The Producer was mono, while the other two were stereo audio consoles. And like the other two, the Producer had its share of abuse over the years.

And would you believe the audio lab at Central Missouri State University (where I finished college)  had a Producer and a Statesman audio console - so they were already familiar to me when I started here.

The GM and I ran a partial "proof of performance" on the air chain around 1982 and found both the Dualux and the Statesman had poor audio response on the high frequency end.

The annual Proof of Performance was an FCC thing. When done correctly it verifies that the on air audio chain of equipment meets minimum specifications. You were supposed to measure things like frequency response, noise level and separation among other things.

A Proof of Performance was required once a year back then, as well as any time there was a change in audio consoles, transmitters or antennas. I believe the current state of affairs is that a proof is only required when replacing a transmitter or antenna.

One interesting thing to note about the Harris Medalist 10 channel console in Studio A - was the fact that Harris, nor any other manufacturer was producing an audio console designed to control an AM and an FM at the same time through the same board by 1983. We modified the Medalist, adding a third VU meter on the right. The program stereo channel was assigned to KWWR (the red switch on each source), while the audition channel was assigned to KXEO (the blue switch on each source). Additionally we added 6 position double throw push button switches to both Medalist consoles, so they could be switched out of the audio path and let the automation feed directly into the processing.

Those Medalist consoles were still performing up to specifications when I left in 2010.

The news booth (Studio C) got a small stereo console made by a company that later went out of business that replaced the Gates Producer.

And we added Studio D after the turn of the century to allow the recording of commercials in two studios while Studio A was on the air.

The FM studio, Studio B, had been one large room up until automation was added. At one time there was a baby grand piano in that studio - which was still in the basement and painted pink when I started in '78. The baby grand dated back to a time when radio stations provided live music for at least some of their programming. When automation was added, large floor to ceiling plate glass panels and patio doors were installed in the FM studio to isolate all of the automation equipment from the actual studio.

Glass was far from perfect for its acoustic qualities - but it allowed one to see both the AM racks of tape decks for automation, and the FM racks of tape decks for automation.

In this picture I grabbed from the Internet,
you can see reel to reel tape machines, his
hand is in front of a dedicated or regular
studio type cart player and above the guy
are two carousels.

So at a time when "live" radio was using carts (cartridge tapes) for commercials, in either 40 second or 70 second lengths, how were carts played through automation? They were called Carousels and consisted of a big circular drum with metal slots for 24 carts. When called upon, one slot would pull in to a tape head and capstan to play on the air. Carousels and the System 90 were a nightmare. A carousel was capable of taking a finger off if you got it in the wrong place at the wrong time. I didn't lose any fingers, but did get my share of cuts and scrapes.  So using multiple carousels, our entire commercial inventory was in the automation system. The entire commercial inventory was also on carts in the studio for live or live assist use.

For what it's worth, the man who invented the carousel for automation, William Edison Moulic Jr passed away last month at the age of 94..

And where automation used to take up the whole room with racks of tape decks, an entire automation system (music, commercials, voice tracks) can be set up in one personal computer now.

So it goes.