Live from Seattle!

I'll soon be hosting a weekly post-bop jazz radio program on KSER 90.7 FM independent public radio. The show is currently in pre-production, and I've been discovering all the ins and outs of that process.

Turns out hosting a brand new radio program is a lot of work! 🎙️

I think one of the most challenging parts has been converting my office into a semi-functional recording studio. Even with a brand new IKEA throw carpet, and a hundred acoustic tiles painstakingly installed in there, I've had all kinds of troubles dealing with reverb.

It likely doesn't help that I'm using a condenser mic, but I do love the way that it sounds. For those thinking I should just use a dynamic mic, I have a Shure SM57 and have tried running that through a Cloudlifter CL-1, but it hasn't yielded acceptable results. Maybe it's something in my audio chain, or I'm just not using it correctly? I'm not sure.

For what it's worth, my reverb issues don't appear to be noticeably better using the dynamic mic.

At any rate, it seems there's a lot of knowledge required to actually get a good sound out of this stuff. I think I've settled on something approaching that clean NPR whisper.

We'll do it live?

It's a pre-recorded show, and for me writing it has actually been the hardest part. There's so many distractions in the pre-production phase aside from setting up hardware that can just take forever. If you're not careful, you can get stuck in some pretty deep rabbit holes. After a certain point you just have to stop, and get it out the door.

The upside is that the detours over the past month have given me time to reconsider some pretty awful writing that I'm glad will never see the light of day.

On that subject, does anyone else ever read back their own writing, minutes or months later, only to discover that they sound like – and in fact are – a complete moron? 👋

When will it air?

I'm hoping to wrap up the first three episodes by the end of the year. The first one will hopefully air before the end of the year or sometime shortly thereafter.

The show will artists like Bill Evans and John Coltrane. If you're not within range of the station, you'll be able to listen to The Afterbird Jazz Programme streaming worldwide at KSER's website.