Bernard Joyce

I have had laptops for about ten years, and like a lot of people I used it for Skype, Facebook, YouTube, etc. – never thinking I may record radio shows from home.

When the office and studios of CCR shut down due to the covid-19 virus the question was when would we be back there again doing our weekly programmes?

Shortly after closure it was suggested that we could record from home. Now I’m not the brightest diamond in the tiara, so my first reaction was, ‘How the hell is that done?’.

With the guidance and patience of Ed and Allan, and the ‘magic’ of today’s technology, like my colleagues at CCR I’m helping to keep the show on the road.

In the first few ‘home recordings’, I’d phone one of the guys – ‘What do I do now?’ – and with trial and error, learned how to put a programme together. Yes… you can teach an old dog new tricks.

Sound quality had to be improved. Music was okay, but voice audio not so. Recording in my kitchen wasn’t great because of hard surfaces like worktops and tiled floor.

Problem solved! Ed told me to drape a duvet over my head (he must have had a good laugh) and use it as soundproofing. It works, even though I may resemble the Sheikh of Oman, as I haven’t shaved since lock down began. (I wish I had the Sheikh’s money.)

Yes , I’ve learned a lot since the studio shut, my editing is 90% and doing  2-3 shows per week keeps the old grey matter ticking over, but most importantly keeps CCR on the airwaves and entertaining the listeners.

This is Sheikh al Bin Joyce… Stay safe.

P.S. Speaking to Allan some time ago I mentioned how patient Ed was. Allan’s reply: “My patience is spread over the years!”

John Whittle

Before the lockdown was even mentioned and “social distancing” was added to our daily vocabulary I had decided not to venture near the studios.

This meant parking Thursday’s Good Morning Show, and as football games were called off there wasn’t any point in continuing with Sports Talk.

With the days getting longer I found a lot of jobs needed doing in the garden. However, the evenings were still long to be inside and, with support from Ed I finally convinced my computer to kindly let me make programmes for radio. In the meantime I had submitted three 14 minute pieces on Whatsapp which worked quite well.

I am now making occasional gardening programmes and will also submit some on trees. These look at their best now and I feel that we should acknowledge them.

Since the lockdown started I stayed put until I could travel 5 km while staying apart. I found that other people out walking would always stop for a word while keeping their distance. This has made me realise what social animals we are.

I am extremely fortunate to have a garden that we could walk around and sort my head out. It is looking particularly nice at the moment.

Andrew Newman

I broadcast my last programme in the studio on Sunday 1st March. Then, Covid-19 was something that was happening in the continent, it was on the news, we were watching/listening but not expecting it to really impact all our lives as it did almost 3 weeks later. Then I got sick myself with suspected coronavirus (which wasn’t fun!)

When I recovered I wondered how I might do a radio programme that would be good audio quality sound, but recordable just on my computer. So this is where my new way of broadcasting began.

USB microphones have been around for a few years. I didn’t know that – I didn’t need to! My friend, who uses them occasionally, told me about the Rode NT-USB microphone, which is middle of the road in price (€159) and has a decent ‘broadcastable’ quality. I purchased one in the third week of March and the following week got a second Windows PC, and Adobe Audition – then I was in business!!

That was the beginning of where I started to learn all about how so many podcasters and YouTube video creators use these and other kinds of microphones to make their content from their home studio… or just a bedroom (like I did!).

After a few weeks of making my show with that microphone and recording  straight to Adobe Audition, I thought: Is there something that feels like a studio desk, with faders, that can make my recording feel like ‘being’ on the radio live?

Well… after a lot of research – with some saying I could a get two-channel Behringer mixer for as little as €59, but that had knobs rather than a fader – I decided to buy a combined mixer and digital recorder made by Rode.

I have to confess, it’s not cheap. It’s very popular for podcasters; some professional radio people also said they now use it when they have to, for recorded or live broadcasts. It looks and feels like the proper studio mixing desks that we are used to.

Folks, this might be the future for radio broadcasting (for a while anyway), if we can’t get to the studio to do our programmes live. It is now fairly easy (within your budget) to make your content and know it will sound great!

These few months have made us all think outside the box to find a bit of normality in doing our radio shows. I now will be able to make podcasts aside from doing my radio programme and have interviews with people anywhere from my own home.

I would have never had known, or be able to tell you about any of these things above if everything was as normal, so now the ‘new normal’ might be a little better.