Good—that oughta hold you all for the next
364 days or so. If it sounds like I’m marking time with that one—well, marking
time is a big part of what this episode of Vasco
is about. Hot on the heels of the sitcom cliché of the Christmas episode, we
opened a new calendar year (1994, I think…yeah, that sounds about right) with
another cliché—the fake ‘making of’ episode. Looking back, I wonder if it
wouldn’t have been better to give the Vasco
listeners (both of them, and their friend who sat through half an episode
once when he was visiting one of them from out of town) a glimpse at how the
actual show was put together, instead of something about the fictional “Vasco”
sitcom that it revolves around.
Now I can rectify that situation
(somewhat). Here, in as much detail as I care to go into, and more than you
care to read, is a breakdown of what went into the making of an episode of Vasco da Gama. The first thing that you
need to know is that the show originally aired every other week, on Friday. Our
studio time was on Wednesday evenings, starting at 7 PM; we used one week’s session
to record the script, and the next to edit the vocals down, and add sound
effects, music, and whatever else we needed to add.
So far, so good. Here’s what our bi-weekly
schedule looked like:
WEDNESDAY
#1
7:00-8:30
PM—The Vasco team slowly filters into
the studio. Sometime in here, a read-through of the script occurs. Or it
doesn’t.
8:30-10:00
PM (generally speaking)—The episode is recorded, usually in sequence, with
stops and starts for retakes. The frequency of stops and starts has little to
do with whether there was a read-through of the script.
10:00
PM(ish)—Some of us go home; the rest of us decide to get an early start on the
editing for next week.
10:10
PM(ish)—After listening to the first few minutes of what we’ve recorded, we
decide to call it a night and make a fresh start on the editing next week.
WEDNESDAY
#2
7:00-9:00
PM—The group that had the studio booked before us is running late, or has just
shown up, or needs to have something ready for first thing tomorrow, or
something. Sometimes whoever’s in the studio hasn’t even booked it. It doesn’t
matter: they can’t be budged, so off we all go to the pub downstairs until
they’re gone.
9:30 PM
(maybe)—We’ve given that other bunch an extra half an hour, just to be on the
safe side. They’re finally gone, so the editing can begin.
9:45
PM—The first snafu of the editing session. As usual, it’s a doozy. Off to the
pub again to clear our heads and figure out what to do about it.
10:30 PM—Empty glasses, a sense of guilt at
leaving a job unfinished, and a sense of frustration at being given the cold
shoulder (yet again) by cute servers at the pub sends us back into the studio
to finish editing the vocals.
12:30 AM
(on a good night)—The vocal tracks aren’t quite edited, but it’s almost last
call. Back to the pub.
1:00 AM,
1:30…who knows at this point?—Back to the studio to finish the vocal editing.
There’s only a minute or so of the show left. How long could that take?
3:45
AM—Well, now we know.
3:45 AM ‘til
sometime after dawn—What goes on at this time is basically a blur. Sound
effects get made, or recorded, or both, or something; music gets selected, and
recorded, or edited, or something; more snafus happen; eventually, all of that,
plus the vocals, gets mixed down into something. Whoever’s still awake by this
point sleepwalks home to face a day that’s already half begun. Every now and
then, one of us gets halfway home with the finished tape of the show before
remembering that it has to be back at the station if it’s going to be
broadcast.
Guess making a fake “making of” was
a better idea, after all. Anyway, now at least you know you’re better off by
clicking on the link and listening to…
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