Current college radio jocks prepare and mix via their own laptops—a big iPod with a keyboard that can crunch numbers. But it’s hard to cue up actualities, or “sound bites” in radio-speak. I couldn’t find an open or college-budget “cart machine” (also called “soundboard”), so I whipped up my own in Max/MSP. The Mac-only application is linked below.
Stations once used magnetic tape cartridges (carts) to automate blocks of programming (before microprocessors and contemporary PCs), but the term stuck and was expanded to all sounds played on a show. Whether played haphazardly with iTunes or with a physical sampler or Instant Replay setup, this practice makes good radio.
Directions: Group your WAV and AIFF sound files by folders within the same directory. The app will prompt you for this “carts directory” on load. The player itself is self-explanatory.
Mac-only. Tested on 10.6 only. No guarantees, your mileage may vary, etc.
The bonus pack includes a few carts produced by/for WYBC Yale Radio (to start your collection).
