This is part of an occasional series of broadcasting memories. I started work at Radio New Zealand in 1981, one day late. It’s a long story. I’d applied for a job as a radio studio operator, and been through two interviews. I got offered one of three positions by post and wrote back, yep, a… Continue reading My first day at RNZ
This is part of an occasional series of broadcasting memories. From 1985-1987 I worked for Radio New Zealand as a broadcast sound engineer. This was as a member of Radio New Zealand’s Wellington outside broadcast (OB) section, led by Trevor Barker, and later Tony Burns. One of the jobs we had to do was horse… Continue reading Off to the Races
In the 1980s I attended the farewell of a colleague from RNZ. After we’d all had a few beers she shared the story of a ‘certain manager’ who offered her a lift home saying ‘it would be good for her career’. Another women – also a former employee – said ‘Oh my God, he did… Continue reading Men, Don’t be a Harvey
Today we were warned that SoundCloud might close within 24 hours. Late in 2015 (while at RNZ) I recommended strongly against hosting audio content solely on SoundCloud. Based on the numbers at the time, I predicted they would need to be acquired with 18 months to continue. We didn’t do it. I’d already built a… Continue reading It is not just about SoundCloud
This is satire (for the avoidance of doubt, fake news being what it is). The Australian Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, has announced that his government will soon pass legislation to enable Australian businesses to innovate at a rate far beyond that possible in other western countries. The legislation, being drafted at present, will suspend the laws… Continue reading New Australian legislation to ‘bootstrap’ innovation
This story is a reprint of the article I write for Audio Technology Magazine in 2001. There is also an earlier version published in Studio Sound Magazine in 1996. Compressors are used everywhere. There are many flavours available in both analogue and digital forms. Some are designed to produce a ‘certain’ audible effect in order… Continue reading Parallel Compression revisited
This story was originally published in the April 1996 edition of Studio Sound Magazine. The technique described here is more commonly known as parallel or New York compression. A later version of this was published in 2001. IN AN IDEAL WORLD each stage of the recording / transmission / reproduction chain would have an equally wide dynamic range capability.… Continue reading Master Class: Parallel Compression
In a previous post I shared about the identity crisis I had after being made redundant. I got a lot of feedback that the post was useful, and so I thought I’d share some things I found helpful while job hunting. While I was in the fortunate position of having a very public calling card,… Continue reading Tips for finding a job after redundancy
The old New Zealand Herald site was getting a bit tired, having had its last design update in 2012. It didn’t support mobile well, and the old CMS was, I suspect, becoming quite inflexible. That constraint was probably the reason behind their insights section being hosted on a different technology stack (Ruby on Rails). But despite that… Continue reading Website Review: The NZ Herald
Like many people I’ve read Pride & Prejudice, but none of Jane Austen’s other novels, so this year I resolved to put that right. I start my journey with the first book she completed for publication. Northanger Abbey has an interesting history. It was sold to a publisher in 1803 for £10, but never published. By… Continue reading Book Review: Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
Richard Hulse 