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Getting Good Tape

by Scott Carrier

The whole thing revolves around good tape. Sometimes I start with an idea and then go and get the interviews and sfx, and sometimes I get the interviews and sfx and then decide what is the idea. Either way, I listen for tape that I like and then decide how to construct a story around it. I see narration as a way to connect and present good tape.

So, what is good tape? Man, I only know it when I hear it.

How do I get good tape? I'll say there are two ways. One is to talk with interesting people. I call this the Barbara Walters method. A story: I used to think that I had to be a good person in order to get good tape, but then I had job working as an engineer for a fat slob of a radio producer, immediately offensive, but actually quite competent at getting interviews with "big shots". This is when I realized that sometimes all you have to do is turn on the tape recorder. The second way to get good tape is to go fishing--you go to the water and look for fish with the understanding that you might spend all day throwing your line around and not actually catch anything. Then there is a third way, which is to become a better interviewer. I think the best interviewer on the radio is Terry Gross, and my theory on why she is so good is that she considers herself to be an equal to her guest, that is she approaches the person from the perspective, 'You are a human being, I am a human being, the audience is all human beings, and so we have these things in common.' This allows her to ask very personal questions, almost intimate questions, without offending anyone.

Why do I want to get good tape? Because it makes me happy. Because I learn something new. Because it breaks up my conceptions of time and space and makes the world seem new and different.

Where do I get good tape? Anywhere. But (this is important) it only happens if I have a microphone and tape recorder with me and I have the guts to pull it out and turn it on. Many times I just miss it.

Okay, let's say I have some good tape. How do I go about constructing a story around it? I don't have a method. I don't follow a set of rules. These things seem to work well for other people, and I wish they did for me, but everytime it seems like I have no idea of how to proceed. I listen, over and over again. I try to edit for the sense of poetry and music. Then I write what needs to be said in order to tell people why I find it interesting or important. I'd rather not do this part, the narration, but I've accepted the fact that the audience needs to be told some things in order to get their imaginations in gear. That's the whole thing in radio, getting the listener's imagination going. Once you do that, it's like they have a ring in their noses and you just pull them around until you are through. People have been listening to stories for millions of years, it's hard wired into our brains; people will choose a story over sex, over drugs, even over rock and roll. This is why the first line is so important. "Listen, Billy Pilgrim has come unstuck in time." "If you really want to hear about it...." And so on.

My basic rules:

Karma is instantaneous
Listen/pay attention
Don't freak out
Try to tell the truth
We're all going to die and it's all going to be forgotten

Scott Carrier is an independent radio producer and author of The Friendly Man.