Is This Thing On?? How Public Radio Reporters Do A Mic Check

There are countless ways to make sure you’ve got a good level on your microphone. You know the old SNL sketch with Tom Hanks as an Aerosmith roady. “Sibilance, sibilance.”

Mine is as boring as they get. “Check one, check one, check one,” like a broken record. 

To get some inspiration, I picked up some discarded sound clips from my fellow WPLN staffers to see how they did their mic checks. For some reason, I found it fascinating and hilarious.

“Test, test, puh, puh, puh, tuh, tuh, tuh.” — Emily Siner, very concerned about popping her Ps.

“Check 123, 123. Ahem.” — Chas Sisk, always the straight man.

“Alright, alright, alright, alright, alright.” — Bobby Allyn, who’s alright.

“Testing, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.” — Anita Bugg, who can count higher than the rest of us.

There’s other stuff on the cutting room floor too. Me burping. You’d be surprised how often that happens when I’m recording. It only made it on the air one time. A fair bit of cursing also ends up edited out of our vocal tracks. And countless takes don’t make the cut. We have a high bar.

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