Thursday 29 January 2009

The Zen of Radio Paradise


picture by Brad Trent www.bradtrent.com


What music do you play when you shoot?

Playing the right music sets the tone of a shoot - period

I love my music, in fact as write this blog on the Glasgow to London train I’m listening to the wonderful ‘The Seldom Seen Kid’ by UK band ‘Elbow’

How did I become aware of this gem of an album?

Well in fact two ‘friends’ of mine introduced me to it.

I say ‘friends’ because I have never actually met them, they are the Bill and Rebecca Goldsmith.

They run a shinning light of an internet Radio Station in California, called ‘Radio Paradise’

There maybe a better, music Radio Station but I have not heard it

Or one more aptly named

As they say on their own website……

‘RP is a blend of many styles and genres of music, carefully selected and mixed by two real human beings. You’ll hear modern and classic rock, world music, electronica, even a bit of classical and jazz.
Our speciality is taking a diverse assortment of songs and making them flow together in a way that makes sense harmonically, rhythmically, and lyrically – an art that, to us, is the very essence of radio.’


It has NO ADS! As it is listener supported radio, which means they rely on people like you and I to keep the great music flowing into our worlds for the occasional contribution of the equivalent of a beer or two.

Before I discovered ‘Radio Paradise’ I was often scrabbling about to make a suitable music mix the night before the shoot, often getting it wrong with the client or subject not liking my mix, or simply forgetting to put one together

So one less thing for me to do, letting Bill and Rebecca make my shoots rock into the bargain.

How do I fill the studio with these sound? Laptop speakers are simply not up to the task.
I use a cheap, cheerful but very impressive set of speakers by Creative, I have seen them as cheap as 20 quid.




If you really want to splash out, lose the cables and place the set up in an optimum location, you can hook it up to an Apple Airport Express and listen wirelessly
One of the most frequently asked questions these days at a shoots is ‘what is that Radio Station? It is wonderful’

So if you want to bring an extra bit of magic to your shoots or anywhere else for that matter, pay my ‘friends’ Bill and Rebecca a visit, you won’t regret it.

5 comments:

Allen said...

With the few model shoots I've done, I had the model bring the music. In one case she forgot so I turned on live365.com to a stand-up comedy station and ended up getting lots of great shots of her laughing.
I'll definitely be checking out radioparadise.com though. :)

Unknown said...

Beware of RPS calling you, they have become agressive with music licences. They are trying to get small businesses to pay up for having radios on in the background.

I have recieved a call from them and they asked if Ihad a radio at work or play music for clients. I flatly said no. But they were overtly trying to wheedle out of me some sort of licence. I put the phone down on them.

I know of garage mechanics being hit with massive sums for licences just cos they have a radio on in the background.

Just warning you Drew.

Rich

Bud Simpson said...

I spent today working in Photoshop and doing general housekeeping, and I've had Radio Paradise on all day. I now also have a list of eight new (to me) artists to explore. Great station. Thanks for the tip.

Unknown said...

Love this radio station Drew ! Genius.
I usually let my clients choose the music and often have to put up with some very dodgy CD 's.
This is right up my street tho.

cheers !
Mark
http://www.markbyrne.co.uk

Unknown said...

Someone put me onto 'Spotify' too recently, which is very good

But I have to admit I do love the human factor of RP

In fact I'm listening to it right now......