More Radio Shows: Cinematic Sound

by Erik Woods

Recently we printed a column by Scott Norman on his experience producing a film music radio show, and asked for more war stories from the broadcast booth. Here's one!

My name is Erik Woods and I host and produce a 3 hour soundtrack radio show called Cinematic Sound heard on C101.5 Mohawk College Radio in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

I started the show in September of 1996. At the time I had about 50 - 60 soundtracks in my collection (mostly Williams) and I felt that I could run a soundtrack radio show around my collection, just as long as I purchased a new release every week to keep the show fresh. At the time we were only broadcasting on Cable FM... which meant you had to attach your cable TV wire to your FM receiver in order to hear the show. As you could tell, my audience was limited to about 5 or 6 loyal listeners. The only real exposure at the time was when my show was played in the local pub, The Arnie. There, the four large speakers would blast the wonderful sounds of Williams' STAR WARS, Horner's WILLOW, and Goldsmith's FIRST KNIGHT to the lucky (or unlucky) listeners (some people just hate film music). Once, I stirred up a huge Star Wars debate while playing my Star Wars tribute show. The entire bar was buzzing about there favorite characters, there favorite movie, and favorite lines. That was the first big reaction to my show and it felt great.

As time went on my soundtrack collection grew and grew and the station manager (who loved the show from the beginning) told me that once we hit the FM dial that he was going to work the station around my show. He felt it was the most unique program he had ever heard. He told me that he was going to get some advertising for my show from local theatres and video stores. He is still working on it at the moment. Plus, he used my organization of the program as a learning tool for new volunteers at the station. They would sit in on my show and see how a ran it, what type of show prep I did and how well organized it was. So again more exposure for film music. I was thrilled.

So time went on and the station finally received approval from the CRTC to broadcast on the FM dial in May of '96. Well, by the time we would hit the air I was going to be out of school and working for a living. I talked to the station manager and he asked me if I would like to stay on and continue my show. You see, the station is primarily used by students who are attending the college. I said "yes" and ever since last summer, I've been broadcasting Cinematic Sound on Saturday's from 12pm - 3pm with a different show every week. My format has been based on the new CDs I buy every week. I try to include new released every week but some times I broadcast tribute shows. Examples would be a tribute to John Williams. For 3 hours all you would here is music from John Williams. Or a show based around a popular movie franchise like The Alien Legacy, or The Back to the Future Trilogy. I try to keep the show as fresh and interesting as possible and with out the many internet sites based around film music my show would be plain and boring. I would not be able to relay new news about up coming soundtrack releases, or just info about certain soundtracks with out the many dedicated film music fans out there with web pages.

But the most interesting thing about my show is the interest of film music fans who can't hear the show. Cinematic Sound has an official web site (http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/7070) created by myself. For six weeks now I've been running a vote. The subject; Your Favorite Soundtrack Of All Time. The response has been amazing. Over 100 hundred people have drop by the site, even though they can't hear the show, and have voted for there favorite soundtrack. They have expressed to me how much they wish they could here the show and how much they wish they had a show in there area. I wish that I could broadcast to the entire world if possible and actually this may come true in the near future. C101.5 is trying to gather some money in order to broadcast over the internet which would mean that Cinematic Sound could be heard by everyone. I hope that day comes soon and I thank everyone for there support and votes.

Now, on March 28th Cinematic Sound will broadcast it's first official FM show. After one and a half years of waiting, Canada (actually Hamilton and the Greater Toronto Area) will experience the best music ever produced on God's green earth... Film Music.

And now it looks like Cinematic Sound will be heard in syndication in a few months. My station manager has informed me that a couple of classical station are interested in a condensed 1 hour program... so as you can see film music interest is growing.

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We got some other replies from readers wanting to publicize their shows. Here's one:

From: Jim Metzendorf <JimM94@sprintmail.com>

Hello everyone! If you live in Northeast OH or Western PA, I'd like to invite you to tune in for "Cinema Sounds". Hosted by myself, Jim Metzendorf, "Cinema Sounds" is a film music program that can be heard on Classical 88.5 WYSU-FM. It airs every Sunday night at 9:30, and features a different composer or film each week. For a schedule of upcoming shows, check out my personal web page at http://members.aol.com/jimm94. Thanks for your time!

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