Kabaret Host Duties / Guidelines
Note: this is a working document, based on observations and comments from EC, George Figgs, Kate Redmond, and Denise Hetzner. Please send comments or suggestions to the Kabaret's current producer.
Before the Show:
It's usually useful to know something about the band ahead of time, ask the music director or producer of the show if you need help with this.
Arrive at KGNU by ~6:30 PM. Earlier is OK, but please don't expect to be able to chat with the band then. It's best to stay out of the way so setup and soundcheck can run smoothly. When you arrive, please do not walk into the Kabaret room and start chatting with the band, it distracting! Check in with the Engineer to find out when it would be a good time talk with the band and go over the flow of the show. Usually this is after soundcheck, around 6:30 or so. At this time you can get band member's names - when in doubt, during the show you can ask the spokesperson in the band to introduce everyone. Encourage the band to play 2-4 song sets of music (~15 minutes) between chatting. A format of one song / chat / one song / chat is discouraged; it makes for a clunky, stop and start flow of the show. This is the expected format, and the producer of the show will most likely already have mentioned this to the band.
They may have setlist you can follow. If so, make copies of the setlist for the main engineer.
After sound check is finished (check with the engineer!), find out where you'll be positioned in the room. Usually, this will be by the SE door in a place where you can see the red studio. Check your headphone volume, if appropriate. You and the band should be moving into the Kabaret room, ready to go, no later than 5 mins before 7PM. Help wrangle the the band when it's time. It's also a good idea to check in with the board operator in the Red studio ahead of time so you know what type of cue to expect before this - it considerably helps with the transition.
Be sure to get the names of the crew ahead of time to thank at the end of show. Staff usually includes the main engineer/producer (Currently George Figgs), assistants (ask).
Want something else to do while waiting for soundcheck to finish?
Fill out the program log in Red, and add the show to the playlist. To enter in playlist, use Kabaret Krew as host and #10 for the CD then enter the band name. Let the lead engineer know you've done this.
Load and start recording a CD in the red studio at about 5min before the hour to give to the band after the show. don't forget stop and finalize the CD after the show to give to the band!
Get water or coffee for the artist(s) if they'd like.
During the Show:
After the hand-off from red, (the red air signal will be put in the Kabaret room speakers or your headphones, usually it's something like "and now it's time for Kabaret") say something simple and formulaic like "good evening, welcome to the Kabaret show. I'm _____ and tonight we're joined by ______. We'll come back and chat after a couple of songs, take it away!".
Again, let the band to play 2-4 song sets (~15 min) of music between interview segments. Hand signals can be useful to get them to keep going. Resist the urge to fill silences between songs, let the band do that if they wish.
Do not talk over the tails of songs. Resist the urge to segue as the song is fading out. When you speak, leave a second or two after the song ends before talking - this gives the engineer time to pot up the host mic, which will usually be off and out of the headphone mix during music. This also inserts a little silence so that the song can be easily isolated and edited later.
During interviews, don't forget to plug the band's website, upcoming shows, where listeners can get CDs, in addition to the usual chatty/biographic stuff. Do this a few times during the show, but you don't need to at every break. You can recap at the end.
Listen to the music while they're playing for talking points, taking notes if you wish. This may give you ideas of things to talk about beyond the usual topics such as how they met, musical influences and contact info.
Think NPR style for interviewing. Joking and humor may be OK and may help the band relax, but ongoing innuendo, slapstick, and crude humor gets old. Do you want to sound like a morning commercial drive-time schlock DJ?
Remember that the show is about the band, and not who you are and what you do at KGNU.
Remind listeners who the musical guest is. Don’t talk too much, but do interact with band. The show is about them and their music, not what you do at the station. Try not to let interview segments run longer than a few minutes.
Avoid shuffling papers if possible, mics can do a great job of picking up that noise.
Try not to announce the actual clock time, i.e. "It's 7:23 on the KGNU Kabaret" - this may need to be edited out during post-production as this show might get rebroadcast in the future at a different time. Instead, you can say "we're about halfway through", etc...
Give the credits before the last song, usually at about 5 before the hour. Plug the Kabaret show and its website (www.kgnu.org/kabaret) where listeners can find archives of previous shows and other KGNU contact info, such as the comment line. Thank the band, the executive producer (currently George Figgs), and the engineers (find out who they are if you don't know). After the last song, segue out with something like "and now it's time for A Classic Monday" (hand signals are good for this too, if you have line of sight with the red studio).
Try to end as close to the top of the hour as possible - if you go over, be prepared that the programmer in the Red studio may need to fade you out. However it is usually OK if you go a minute or two over (but not much more!). Better to go over than end early, as the person in the red studio may not be expecting to have to fill a couple of minutes before their show.
The End / After the Show
Don't worry about helping put away mics, cables and stands, let the engineers handle that. It's best to get out of the way after thanking the band when we're off the air, as the room can get crowded during setup and tear down.
Want something to do? If you started recording a CD in Red, retrieve it. Stop the recorder and finalize the CD, and write the name of the band on the CD sleeve (Denise starts the CD recording before the show, she may start finalizing the CD as well). If someone is in Red, it's OK to enter the room courteously and quietly to retrieve the CD. Sometimes, the programmer in red may have the CD finalized for you, but don't count on it. This CD is right off the board - it will be one long continuous track and will contain a little material from the previous show. (note: Denise no longer starts recording a CD in red, but feel free to take charge of recording the CD in red if you wish. You'll make the engineers happy if you do!)
if you are still feeling helpful, you can collect and wash any cups left in the room.
Final Checklist:
___ program log / enter show on playlist?
___ End of Show Credits?
___ CD From Red?
Miscellanea:
The focus of the show is *live* music, we generally try to avoid playing tracks from CDs, unless the band specifically requests it. Please, as a host, don't suggest this option to the band if you are in contact with them before the show.
other links:
Performer Information/Release Document
www.kgnu.org/kabaret - the main Kabaret website
posted by george at
11:36 AM
