What a terrific article (“These Tools Won’t Break the Bank,” Oct. 5)!
Years ago I used to subscribe to a production magazine and they would tout the latest bells and whistles of the latest DAW. But in the real world, the stations I always worked at had limited or no budget for production gear.
Don’t tell me about the latest high end equipment. Tell me how to do high-end production with the equipment I have. An article like this is after my very own heart. How we can dazzle with what we have? That’s what prod directors like me want to know.
I suppose Pro Tools is probably the standard and everything else is gaslight; but I loved Syntrillium’s Cool Edit Pro 2.0 before Adobe got involved. I liked it because it was simple to use and I was able to churn out pretty decent production. I actually use Adobe 1.5 here because it so closely emulates the Cool Edit model. Adobe Audition 2 was horrible and 3 had just too many wacky features (I just want to produce spots, dig?).
The click-and-drag fade tool is pretty nifty, I have to admit. But give me back that Cool Edit Pro 2.0 any day.
Mark Ward
Production Director
Cumulus Wilmington
Wilmington, N.C.
Note: Read Curt Yengst’s three-part series on affordable radio production software at tinyurl.com/rwyengst.
