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P. Kenneth Burns/from a videotape
Kenny recording and editing a newscast produced from the Burns
Media Centre in his living room.
The Burns Media Centre has been a dream of mine for quite a
while. I was inspired to pursue it after looking at the set up a former
co-worker had. I thought that it was pretty cool when I saw it back around
2002 and I vowed that one day I would be able to build the same thing.
That happened around the beginning of Spring 2007 when I started purchasing the
equipment necessary to build my home studio. Everything would not be
complete until one year later as depicted below.
The Burns Media Centre is powered by:
• Audio Technica AT2020 Microphone
• ART TubeMP Microphone Pre-amp
• Alesis 3630 Compressor
• Behringer XENYX 1202 Mixer
• JK Audio AutoHybrid (for phone interviews)
• Realistic Stereo Cassette Deck
• RCA Stereo Speakers
• JVC VHS VCR
• Cool Edit Pro 2.0
There are also two computers set up. The main PC on the
left, is used for everyday computing task (including blogging). Also, the
left PC includes a sound panel that is utilized for whenever I need rapid fire
sound bites. The PC on the right does not do anything but record
audio. It is also acts as the main hub for storing audio to the external
hard drive and as a gateway to the laser printer (not on camera) which is used
for everyday printing. The printer in the picture is used for color
printing, copying and scanning. The only thing I am not able to do is broadcast
like from my house, but with the way the internet is going, I am not too far
off.
Now, I am sure you are asking yourself if all of this stuff
works. That is a great question. Until July 2008, I did not have a
real chance to see everything come together. Greg Corombos, host of
Dateline: Washington, took a week off. Under normal circumstances, when
Greg takes off, I anchor a newscast during his show. This happens to be a
situation under normal circumstances. I did not tell Greg (yet) but I did
let my superior know that I would be emailing the newscasts in from home on
Tuesday and Wednesday to which he consented. Those days are my normal days
off and truth be told, I did not feel like driving to Virginia just to do maybe
a couple of hours work when I had the stuff set up at home.
So on Tuesday, July 1 and Wednesday, July 2, the Burns Media
Centre did it's first production for Dateline: Washington, a program syndicated
through Radio America.
For the sake of contrast, here are two audio files just to give
you an idea of how everything sounded on the finished product.
Tuesday, July 1 - There is an advantage of having an affiliate
to a program syndicated by the network you work for in the area...you can record
it. Here is an actual aircheck of the first newscast recorded from my
living room as aired on Federal News Radio WFED (1050AM) in Washington,
DC. CLICK HERE TO LISTEN
Wednesday, July 2 - Here is the second newscast recorded from my
house. This one was not recorded from the radio, but the studio recording
that I sent to work that day. CLICK HERE TO
LISTEN
If you like what you hear, give me a call or send an email if
you're interested. I will be happy to freelance for your organization.
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