Recording Studio Guide:
From the broadcast booth to the CD racks

Radio stations' compilations prove popular with listeners

By Lynne Margolis
August 25, 2005

KGSR-FM disc jockey Jody Denberg was still at KLBJ-FM when he started getting involved in releasing performances from artists appearing live in the station's studios. He's now up to Volume 13 of KGSR's popular "Broadcasts" compilation discs, and for at least a week or two each holiday season, he claims a rare bragging right: Producing the top-selling album in Austin.

KGSR sold 30,000 copies of 'Broadcasts, Vol. 12,' which included a track from the breakout brother band Los Lonely Boys. XL's Recording Studio Guide:   » ... but what Charlie Sexton really wants to do is produce   » The days of Stuart Sullivan's life   » Bruce Robison puts a premium on natural reverb   » DIY recording at home   » Sweet Sixteen Central Texas Recording Studios   » More studios worth some liner notes

Last year, KGSR (107.1) released 30,000 copies of its "Broadcast Vol. 12" double CD, and even before Christmas rolled around, there were none to be had in town. KLBJ (93.7) is up to Volume 13 of its "Local Licks Live," which began as a release of recordings made by bands in the radio studio, but turned into small-audience performances at the Austin School of Music, one hour of which is broadcast live.

"When artists come on the radio, it's so of the moment," Denberg says. "That's what's really exciting. They're sitting down knowing that they're singing at that moment to someone, and it is live, and will be preserved. ... So they really, really bear down, they really give it their all."

KUT program director Hawk Mendenhall says his station has produced a handful of CDs over the years, but everything is recorded, regardless of whether they expect to release it.

"Everything's set up from the beginning to do the best possible job because it's going out over the air live; we want it to sound as good as it possibly can right from the get-go," he says. Like other stations, they comb through their archives when they decide to release a CD. And several artists have used recordings made during "KUT Live Set" performances for album releases of their own, including the Damnations and the Gourds; a posthumously released disc called "Ronnie Lane: Live in Austin," contained several cuts recorded during the show.

But producing recordings from in-studio appearances is not without challenges. Jeff Carrol, KLBJ program director and operations manager, says these recordings are done on only two tracks, which means less post-production tweaking.

"The best quality of course, is when you take the band into a recording studio, and you can individually mike all of the instruments and the vocals and have a drum kit, and they can actually, if they want, start, stop and go 'It's not sounding good; let's change this,' until they get a good sound," says Carrol. "Live on the air, it's just, 'Here we go,' and if we break a string during it, or if one guitar's out of tune, that's how it's gotta be."

When you catch it at all, that is.

Says Denberg: "It's of the moment and it's live, so there's no second takes. If Suzanne Vega's in here and she's just sung 'Caramel' and I forgot to start the tape -- which I did (recently), I can't say 'Hey, can you do that again?' Either you get it or you don't."