stuartbarrett.co.uk

Welcome to stuartbarrett.co.uk

Hello! I'm an imaging producer and radio presenter with nearly 20 years experience. I'm just one of those people who loves the media.

My friends and teachers in school thought I was mad when I said I wanted to work in radio but I've been very lucky and have been working for the BBC since 1988. I started working in local radio in Leeds and am currently the Station Sound Producer for BBC Radio Manchester. I've also worked for network radio in London and regional TV in Leeds and Manchester.

I'm not sure that I have enough news to write a daily (or even weekly) blog, so I thought I'd do the next best thing and write an ad-hoc section of news.

March 29th, 2008: Another award! The Ring-a-Relative promo that I produced for HWD Hospital Radio was awarded the silver medal at the Hospital Broadcasting Association award ceremony held at the Queen's Hotel in Leeds. The station also took bronze in the Best Newcomer category for Jordan Hemingway.

November 24th, 2007: I was delighted to win the BBC Local Radio Gold Gillard Award for Station Sound. The competition was very stiff with BBC London 94.9 and BBC Radio Gloucestershire also short-listed, but our entry from BBC Radio Manchester was selected by the judges as the overall winner. The final submission featured work from all the station sound team at Oxford Road including Toby Whitehouse and Kate Dinsdale (now working for Five Live Promotions). Managing Editor, John Ryan, was delighted with the award and also paid tribute to the guys at IQ Beats in Seattle who wrote and recorded the imaging package and to our voice talent Trish Bertram and Craig Kelly.

After the on-air talent (and perhaps the ratings!), I think that station sound is the most important thing to any radio station. Think about your favourite soft drink or chocolate bar - every single bottle or wrapper has the name on it. Notice something? The logo is identical on each one. Why? Because you identify with it. When you're thirsty or craving a sugar rush you subliminally grab the item you want from the counter simply by glancing at the logo. Would you notice if the type face was different or the logo changed? Certainly you would. That's what radio stations aim to achieve with their on air imaging and station sound. You automatically know who you're listening to because of the overall sound of the station. If you could write your product name down for potential customers to see, would you scribble it with crayon? Of course not, you'd print it on the biggest piece of paper you could and shine spotlights on it. That's what I try to do with audio. It's all based around a consistent station sound featuring strong musical imaging and one or two station voice-over artists.

I first started listening to the radio in the early 1980s. I remember the likes of Richard Skinner, Simon Bates, Janice Long and Tommy Vance on Radio 1 with Terry Wogan and Ray Moore my favourites on Radio 2. There was just something about turning on the box in the corner and hearing someone talking to you... so I thought I'd like to have a go. My first hands-on radio experience came at Batley Hospital in 1986 when I had a look around the studios of HWD Hospital Radio. It was in the attic up a couple of very steep staircases. They had two rooms - a fairly small record library/reception room/storage agea and a smaller studio. As soon as I opened the door to Studio One, I wanted to get my hands on the mixing desk - or at least the cart faders so that I could play some jingles! I signed up straight away and have been a member ever since. I'm now the Deputy Chairman of the Association and so much of my non-work time is taken up with hospital radio projects - things not dis-similiar to those that I do every day at work. I told you I was a radio nut!

When I'm not doing radio-related things, I enjoy playing snooker and pool (badly), spending money on CDs and gadgets (some of which I use), lo-tech website work and avoiding DIY.

Related links:

• BBC Radio Manchester
• HWD Hospital Radio
• Free CSS Templates