Podcast:
Transom Podcast Returns

Life is as much about maintenance as invention. So, amid all our new features, we have just gotten around to upgrading the Transom Podcast which was languishing between systems, a state common to contemporary life. Just click the link below to subscribe. The nice thing about Podcasts, of course, is that you don't have to listen to them right away. Subscribing is sufficient to indicate your good intentions. But eventually, you'll be stuck in an airport and then you'll be glad to have a backlog of unheard, interesting Transom pieces on your pod, won't you?

Show:
Running From Myself

There's something about Louis' voice; it's both wise and callow. It feels like he has the answers while he's searching for them. Louis used to rob people on the street, but he stopped. Now, he's trying to reconcile the person he was with the person he is and wants to be. Louis worked with Anthony Mascorro at 826NYC to tell this powerful, complicated story. (By the way, it was nice for us to learn that Anthony acquired his editing chops at Transom.) We all hope you'll visit Transom to listen, and talk to Louis and Anthony about their piece.

...more shows »

Jim Russell

Let's say you want to do more than tell a good story on the radio… you want your own show. You want foundations to fund it, stations to carry it, and you want a good time slot. You can dream, can't you? Sure, but for a dose of reality, check out Jim Russell's downloadable issue of the Transom Review in which he reveals all sorts of obstacle-traversing tricks to producing, promoting and funding big projects in public radio, including an insider's guide to budgeting.

Ben Shapiro: Joining the A/V Club – Storytelling with Images and Sound
Our Editor Sydney Lewis has compiled Ben Shapiro's Guide to Multimedia, along with your Q&A, into a new downloadable edition of The Transom Review. Ben engages questions about the interplay between image and sound, and how to persuade them to play nicely. Come see radio stories stretch their legs on the web.

WCAI's Steve Young and Sean Corcoran: On Local News
duPont-Columbia Award winners Young and Corcoran discuss producing news at a small public radio station. They offer proof it can be done well. This is useful stuff for reporters, editors, and managers. Come get their issue of The Transom Review, compiled in easily downloadable HTML or PDF file.

Other Recent Reviews:

• Mark Kramer
• David Kestenbaum
• Nancy Updike
• Rick Moody

...more reviews »

Marantz 620

Jeff Towne reviews another tiny new digital audio recorder, this time the Marantz PMD620. The 620 is getting pretty close to the mark, but still has a few weird quirks that may drive you crazy, or maybe you can work around them. Check out all Jeffs thorough, radio producer-specific reviews at Transom—lots of pictures, details from field use, comparison charts, and audio samples with various microphones.

Zoom H2

Adding to his reviews of new digital audio recorders, our Tools Editor Jeff Towne presents a comprehensive test of the Zoom H2, focusing on field recording for radio. As ever, it ain't perfect, but it has some unusual capabilities, along with the customary weaknesses common among these little machines.

TASCAM HD-P2 Digital Recorder

Jeff Towne continues his evaluations of new digital recorders for radio work. "The trend in flash-memory-based field recorders has been toward smaller, lighter, and simpler, but count Tascam as one of the few swimming against the current. The HD-P2 is an unabashedly old-school recorder: bulky and a little pricey, with broad flexibility and few concessions made to the consumer market. But with the bulk, and the $999 price tag, one gets XLR mic inputs, full phantom power, excellent quality mic preamps, flexible signal routing and headphone monitoring, a built-in speaker, and an informative, readable display."

...more tools »