WHEN Nikki Lyle puts on her headphones, checks that her playlist is in order, adjusts her microphone and all the while hoping the internet connection doesn’t fail, she is all set to broadcast her live, weekly two-hour Monday lunchtime show from home for Celtic Music Radio.
But the farmer’s wife sometimes has unexpected on-air interruptions, including her five dogs barking if someone approaches the 300-year-old farmhouse and one occasion when a sheep escaped from a field.
“The sheep had wandered in off the hill into my garden, which is my pride and joy,” said Mrs Lyle, a presenter with the Glasgow-based charity station, run by music-loving volunteers who are currently locked out of their studios because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“I was worried other sheep were more than likely to follow so I had to get the animal back into its field immediately.
“So, I lined up two tracks, one by Skerryvore and another from Katee Kross, to play back to back. This gave me enough time, thankfully, to dive outside, get the sheep out of the garden before it could do any damage and persuade it to return to the field.
“Then I ran back into the sitting room to resume the show. The joys of live radio.”
Mrs Lyle, who started her show two years ago, is one of the team of radio presenters doing a remarkable job keeping the programmes on air throughout the recent lockdown.
Thanks to the expertise of its technical team Celtic Music Radio, with an audience of about 75,000 listeners per month, has been able to run schedules uninterrupted.
Mrs Lyle, whose Scart Farm, near Bridge of Weir, Renfrewshire, has been in her husband Dougie’s family for a long time, said: “I can be cleaning the barn one minute, the next I’m in the sitting room presenting my show, farmyard sounds included.
“The station’s technical guys are brilliant: they set me up to go out live using just a laptop, a mic, a mouse, a monitor and all I have to worry about is the internet connection holding up.
“I love doing it and if I have any problems I just text them for help.”
One of the technical support men vital to the current set-up is IT engineer, Andy Hood, who designs networks for data centres – and he built a studio in his garage at his East Kilbride home to present live shows.
“My home studio consists of a mixing desk, an old but powerful laptop, a big screen, a second monitor, a free playout system and sound cards,” said Mr Hood, whose show goes out on Friday mornings., though he has been standing in on other slots as well “I insulated the walls, laid flooring, put foam panels on the walls to dampen the sound and wired the network from the house to the garage because a solid, reliable internet connection is essential.
“I had a couple of mics lying around, as well as headphones, so after three weeks or so I was ready to go.
“It’s a perfect set-up as the studio is laid out exactly the way I want it to be.”
He and other tech team members have selflessly helped fellow volunteers to go live from anywhere provided they have an internet connection.
“That’s what we have done for Nikki,” said Mr Hood. “She has a laptop and a USB mic and internet connection. We have a software mixer on the laptop to control the mic fader and playout system: there are great, free playout systems where you just need to give a small donation to use them.”
In Gourock, Fiona McNeill, with a Tuesday evening show for the past 18 months, is another garage broadcaster for the station “It’s a hop, skip and a jump from my kitchen to the garage,” said Ms McNeill, who is also a member of the folk/rock band, Reely Jiggered.
“I operate via a laptop, a mixing desk and a microphone and it works just great even when my mum comes in looking for something in the freezer“I’m really enjoying the experience of broadcasting live from home.”
Other presenters on Celtic Music Radio – whose musical output ranges from traditional to blues, folk to rock, Americana to country – are delivering music from kitchens and spare bedrooms.
Alex Jenkins, chairman of Celtic Music Radio’s board of directors, is extremely proud of the response from volunteers.
“Our reputation for being a strong voice for contemporary and traditional Scottish music, arts and culture, and all kinds of musical genres has been maintained, despite the pandemic,” said Alex, who pointed out that the station was urgently seeking sponsorship and advertisers to help it stay on air. “I am so pleased that despite lockdown, Celtic Music Radio has continued to provide a festival of music, day in and day out.“It has only been possible to offer 24/7 programming thanks to the commitment of the volunteers,” he said.
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