Radio Rockstars

Tamzidur Rahman takes a sneak peak inside ABC Radio

If you tune into 89.2 FM, you’ll find that it is home to audio celebrities like RJ Sharmeen and RJ Kibria. Other major RJs like Prottoy, Rehan, Shetu, Nilanjona, Joey and Samonnoy are also regulars at the station as well. One of the leading radio channels in Dhaka and on air for more than six years now, the station has garnered positive mass appeal and a loyal listener base. ABC Radio features many popular programmes like Kuasha, Prem Rog, Jaha Bolibo Shotto Bolibo, Hello 8920 and Hawa Bodol among other hit talk shows and live studio music shows.
Whether we are listening to this particular station or another, we are constantly kept entertained through music, commercials and discussions by the RJs. Generally, most of us listen to the radio while we’re on the go or busy doing something and therefore don’t ponder over how it’s all done. The music played over the radio almost always has a way of resonating with our moods, sometimes even the commercials play at just the right moments. From the perfectly timed banter of the RJs and appealing-to-the-senses tunes, everything seems to miraculously happen perfectly on this particular broadcast media. According to those who help bring ABC Radio to life, these miracles require a lot of intricate and hard work to fall into place.
Music is a very, if not the most, important aspect of any radio. According to Ehasanul Huq Tito who is a producer, a lot of thought is put into the music that is played over at ABC Radio and is subject to intense formulating and planning. Tito explains, “The music we play come from a schedule we draw up at the start of the day. Normally we go according to the schedule but in special cases we have to manually tweak it up a bit now and again. We use tags like ‘Rainy Day’ or ‘Sunny Day Songs’ on the scheduling software in order to come up with automatic list for the entire day. But then again, a computer cannot perceive emotions like humans do. So on days when clouds start gathering, we manually edit the playlist to integrate those special songs meant to be played on rainy days.
“Archiving is one of the most important processes, not only for radios but for all sorts of electronic media. Music is mostly collected from audio CDs, the internet, etc. But the most important thing to keep in mind is the quality of music. I, personally, prefer the WAV format because it gives you lossless audio. Because of archiving we have all the music in our databases organised according to several different categories such as artist, album, genre, release date, mood, type, language, etc. which are directly linked with software codes we use in order to create the aforementioned schedule. The music playlist then has to incorporate our advertisements. Though it is a smart system, it is very critical too.
“On the automatic playlist it is a usual trend for the songs to start gaining tempo as the day progresses – music played during morning hours are more serene compared to the upbeat pop played during the afternoon. Certain programmes are based on music requested by the listeners – that is something we have to keep in mind as well. The point is that nothing ever goes according to the plan. The scheduled playlist has to be tampered with almost every day for some reason or the other.”
Other than music, a lot in a radio depends on their radio jockeys. RJs play the most important part as they’re the ones who connect directly with the listeners. They singlehandedly carry the weight of the shows for hours at a time. But it is not to say that nothing else is happening. A single show requires a lot of preplanning, research and forethought. RJ Sharmeen is a local celebrity in the broadcast media scene with fans counting in staggeringly boastful digits. She hosts some of the most acclaimed shows like Prem Rog and Kuasha. Kuasha has gained so much momentum; that a book comprised of scripts of past episodes got sold out at the Ekushey Boi Mela this year. Talking about her work, the renowned RJ and Producer, Gazi Sharmeen Ahmed says, “The kind of work I do for ABC Radio requires a lot of creative freedom which I am given willingly. For example, I host as well as produce Kuasha which dramatises mystery thriller stories. I’ve been fascinated with mystery thrillers since I was a young girl. I always wanted to share with the world the beauty in such stories. We told a few classics like Bram Stoker’s Dracula and The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty. I decide what story is to be told in the programme and then let the script team know. Sometimes I assist them but as they’re much faster and more efficient than I am, they do a great job . Most of the story and narration is recorded prior to the airing of the actual programme by voice actors. I do the live narration over the pre-recorded material while interacting with the live audience, and sometimes even recapping stories for listeners who might have missed the first part of the show. I even coordinate and manage the commercial breaks as well.
“My other show Prem Rog is a comedy sketch programme featuring a fictional young man from Puran Dhaka. He falls in love every week with a different girl and talks about his fictional exploits with me. Though it focuses primarily on comedy, it has an educational angle as well. Through his stories we get to know tidbits and lesser known facts about Puran Dhaka. Then there are times when he mispronounces terms or uses made up words, which are corrected. I believe it is a very creative way to make the listeners aware of those words that they may have been using all their lives.”
“Another show I host is Hawa Bodol which is a programme focusing on Bangla Folk music. It is co hosted by Dr. Mahbub Pial, an Anthropology professor from IUB. It is a little research based and we have a lot of material to work with considering that there are about two hundred genres within Bangla folk itself. Dr. Pial has an extensive personal collection and he shares the music he collected from all over Bangladesh.
“When producing I try to come up with original ideas and concepts for my programmes. It is very easy to grasp the attention of the listeners using successful formulas. Although what I do is a little challenging I get to have that extra fun when working with novel ideas. It is hard work but good fun.”