Is it true that BBC radio faders are the 'wrong' way round?
Richardcoulter
Posts: 30,314 Forum Member
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I was recently told by a friend who owns a radio station that the audio faders for radio stations are usually silent at the bottom and that the volume incrementally increases as they are moved upwards until the maximum at the top.
He went on to say that this is completely the other way round with BBC equipment. The reason given was that if someone died (literally) on air, then they are more likely to push the faders upwards as they slumped over the desk and died and, in turn, that this would eventualy mute the transmission of what was happening!! It does seem to be a bit far fetched.
A] Is this true.
B] Is the reason given true, or was he pulling my leg?
C] Is this the same for sound and/or vision for BBC television channels?
He went on to say that this is completely the other way round with BBC equipment. The reason given was that if someone died (literally) on air, then they are more likely to push the faders upwards as they slumped over the desk and died and, in turn, that this would eventualy mute the transmission of what was happening!! It does seem to be a bit far fetched.
A] Is this true.
B] Is the reason given true, or was he pulling my leg?
C] Is this the same for sound and/or vision for BBC television channels?
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Comments
Not nowadays though.
This is the reason I heard for it.
Bear in mind when the BBC started there was no right or wrong way. It was decided when quadrant faders and then the more familiar ones came in that that was the way to do it.
Now that equipment is not made in house then the way the commercial kit is made is used.
As noted it is easier not to fade something up that shouldn't be heard with the old BBC way, which is likely to be the reason. Especially if wearing a dinner jacket....!!
Tony Blackburn, Kenny Everett along with Johnny Beerling played a big part in how the early Radio 1 studios were based on those on board the original Radio London.
I suppose it is better not to broadcast something that should be broadcast as opposed to accidentally broadcasting something that shouldn't be.
It’s many years ago in local radio where I was doing an folk music OB with a BBC desk
And a commercial desk hired in …….
Let’s say I had to have my wits about me to get a balance !
Dinner jackets and shirts with cufflinks, common when the first quadrant faders were installed, was the reason given on the old BBC Evesham courses.
I can remember Diddy David Hamilton's first week on ILR Radio 210, after two decades at BBC R1/2. Quite a lot of things being faded up and down at the wrong time etc!
He did mention on air that everything was 'upside down'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXJKxF4BM-k
There's a link to a thread further up that you posted asking the very same thing 5 years ago lol.
I thought the BBC liked to customise/build their own equipment. Is this a way to cut costs or for another reason?
How many faders do they have? I initially read your first sentence as "five faders" lol.
Yes, I bet that was confusing. Perhaps they ought to have a button to let the operator decide. After all, you can switch TV equipment between standards
It's been a long time (decades) since the BBC built their own equipment. Manufucturers also used to indulge them with significant modifications to equipment they were selling. Those days have gone.
However, you can trace the origins of many UK broadcast equipment companies (some of which have been swallowed up by larger firms) back to the internal depts of the BBC that once built equipment.
The same is true for the commercial broadcasters. Clyde Electronics came out of the radio station. Hallam gave birth to Audionics? Metro Radio's engineering team to Canford Audio....
There's an awful lot of things on DS that have all been said before!
Anyone else remember using those? It was a real challenge after learning radio at uni on a normal desk.
I went round one of those stations, possibly Brighton, many years ago. Starting a disc using a slip mat and a rotary fader looked almost impossible, the reel to reel tape deck was next to the desk and made quite a clunk when it started as well so the presenter had to dip his mic at the same time. Light years away from the set up at BH.
They 'open' from the top down as opposed from the bottom up. I was told. this is because the micro switch at the bottom of the fader could be accidentally triggered and your mic could be accidentally live or you could start a record(see I told you I was old!) on the turntable and then when you came to speak, it was already half way through. But with BBC fader you couldn't accidentally trip the micro switch if they had to be pulled down from the top to operate.
It was the days when I worked an old Mk3 desk in local radios I expect things have moved on since then.
I've heard various explanations offered, but there doesn't seem to be an official one.
This only applied to radio - BBC TV faders, for vision or sound, always went the proper way.