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HoodMonkey Radio Automation Software
Most computer-based radio studios use a commercial quality software program to automate their station’s music, and to ‘voice track’ a DJ’s voice for overnight time slots and such. Some also use it to string multiple studios together for stuff like news and weather and sports broadcasts. Generally, the software is pretty expensive, sometimes going into the tens of thousands of dollars. Small stations that don’t have that cash, like community radio or LPFMs typically fall back to CD players or audio players like WinAmp (I saw one small station use a few Windows Media Player windows to player music — ouch..)
So one of my hobbies now is to create an open-source, Windows based radio automation package. The cost will likely be free, and even though most of the coding is pretty easy, I’m hoping on some help from programmers who stumble across the project after I release it on SourceForge.
Check out some of the higher-grade automation packages out there:
Audio Vault Radio Automation Software
Simian from BSI
Google Radio Automation Software
As you can see, the user-interface on those three are really childish and counter-intuitive. My theory has always been that the more difficult the UI, the bigger the premium support paycheck, so companies have more income for low selling products. I’m going a different route; free software with a easy to use UI.
Here’s my very rough draft of the ‘on air pane’ which uses an interface I stole directly from Google Chrome:
I just started it yesterday afternoon, but the concept is clear: clearly marked tabs provide instant presentation to different parts of the program, without weird-ass colors and childishly large fonts. The technical aspects, which are again stolen from Chrome, include each song playing through it’s own process (the audio library already does this, but I’m tweaking that) and tougher security.
So far it’s coming along nicely. The audio engine and GUI are really easy thanks to the following libraries: HTMLayout and the BASS.
If you’re interested in this at all, please let me know what you think.
5 Responses to “HoodMonkey Radio Automation Software”
Hi,
I work for a small radio station in Suriname. In my free time I look for an open source windows based radio automation system my station could use. There are a lot of such software out there, but none of them meet my personal liking. I would like to get my hands on a system with easy to use functions. With playback, schedular, smart playlist, walk a way functions and so on.
So I hope you’ll be able to finish yours soon. I look forward to the end results of your work.
Maikel
Thanks for doing this. Will your product be able to send commands to a switcher over a serial connection?
Hi!
I am very lucky that I found your site and I am looking forward to see the software soon. The Internet needs more of this kind of stuff. It’s very hard to find open source radio automation packages that is suitable for use.
Keep on with it!
/Anders, Sweden
What a fantastic idea for the small guys. How soon do you think you will have your work finished?
I have worked with SS-32 the Google Radio Automation Software, formerly Scott Studios, and some other automation programs. Out of the all of the programs I have ever used, SS-32 is the most user friendly. The left side is a has a colorful and large design because it is designed to be touchscreen. On the right is the side that can change from hotkeys as shown on the image on your web page to your library, voice tracker, log, audio editor/recorder or even the options screen. Also when you are working on the right screen if you have a break to go to or are ending a break the playlist is still up so you can control it. This is a great idea because I do not like having multiple windows open and I have to worry about missing a break. The colors of the screen are all customizable so you can have it more toned down with just different colored fonts for different types of tracks. For example: Blue for Music, Purple for Ads, and yellow for voice tracks. Just wanted to put my two cents in. And thanks for doing what you do…..
Tony