Category:Radio Free Fae
From Changeling Venue
Changelings (many upon their escape) looked to new and some old technology to get the word out on how to find others. Overwhelmed by TV and it's sources, Radio provides a semi-anonymous means for which "guerilla" style broadcasting can be weaseled into communications to get the fae together. It's hard enough to be alone.
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History of Radio Free Fae
Compared to radio in the Mundane world, Radio Free Fae got its start comparatively late, not getting off the ground until 1967. There are several reasons for this, the first being that changelings are not comfortable with new technology, up until the early to mid '60s, many of the Lost considered radio to be a "new fangled" thing (some went so far as to call it a fad). Secondarily, the concept of "Pirate Radio" was a relatively new thing, only becoming a reality for mainstream radio in the late 1950s, and it took some time for the concept to creep into the minds of the Lost. The final reason was purely practical: by the late 60s, radio equipment had become "portable" enough that it could be more easily moved from place to place (1).
The first broadcasts were relatively short affairs, broadcasting information that local changelings might need, gossip, or tidbits of interest, and then signing off for the night, all of which lasted only a few minutes. The shortness of the broadcasts was because of their unfamiliarity with the medium, as well as a fear that if they broadcast for too long, the Others would find them. After a year or two, as the producers became more comfortable with the technology, the short broadcasts stretched into programs, the idea of Radio Free Fae began to spread, and hosts began to develop their own personalities and formats. Many shows continued their "News you can use" format, but merely extended their length, going into more detail than before. Other shows focused on gossip, becoming "must listen" shows for those who wanted to be informed of the latest rumors and society news. Still other shows were combinations of these those, but with music interspersed between "general interest commentary". Music from the shows tended to be anachronistic, and never up to date. Swing music and classical music were both common.
The popularity of Radio Free Fae continued into the 70s. There were no "stations" , per se, but single shows broadcast at their specified times. The shows of the RFF were broadcast from different locations as often as possible, and this was done to hide the Lost from the Others who might try to locate them. But there were other reasons to be careful: governments license their airwaves. When a couple of shows dropped from the airwaves in 1976, some of the more nervous changelings assumed that the hosts of the show had been taken by the True Fae, when in fact they had been tracked down through their broadcasts and slapped with hefty fines. When news of this filtered to the producers of RFF shows, many simply gave up their shows. Having to hide from the Fae was one thing; but having to elude the mundane authorities was too much. A few intrepid broadcasters continued with their regular broadcasts, now aware that they had to be careful on two fronts.
As the 70s came to a close, the number of RFF broadcasts began to wane, and as the 80s dawned, only a very few shows continued. Their popularity among the Lost never faded, and those who were within broadcast range of a regular show were always happy to tune in, and this would often become a social event, with Lost gathering together to tune into a particularly popular show.
After the busts of 1976, Radio Free Fae producers began changing not only their physical location, but also their broadcasting frequency. At the end of each show, hosts would announce what the frequency of their next broadcast would be. Some would merely state the frequency, while others would create elaborate coded methods of doing so. Some time in the mid 80s, something new emerged. No one is certain who was the first to do it, but a RFF host signed off by telling his listeners the frequency for the following broadcast, and added that to tune in, everyone must stand on their left leg. She was just fooling around. But, when the next show was broadcast, that's exactly how it worked: if you tuned into the right frequency and stood on your left leg, you were able to listen in. If you didn't stand on your left leg...there was nothing but static. An additional side effect of this condition(2) was that the airwaves were willing to carry the signal to anyone who met the requirement, regardless of distance from the broadcast.
With the advent of the Agreement, more programs began to pop up, and slowly Radio Free Fae began to return to its pre-1976 levels, and so it remains to this day.
Clarifications
1. "Portable", means by 1960s standards. By modern standards, the equipment was still hugely bulky and difficult to transport. One could not fit the equipment in a car. It would be necessary to use a small truck. However, one method that was popular was to set up the radio station in a boat, and broadcast from the water, moving from lake to river to ocean. Another option was to set up in a truck and drive from place to place, stopping to broadcast, and then moving once again.
2. After some trial and error, it became apparent that repeating a condition too often would negate the effect. If a condition was repeated within 30 days, anyone who tuned into the frequency would be able to listen.
Notes on How to do a Broadcast
Some things you'll want to have for your show, to make it sound like "real radio".
- Theme song
- You'll probably want to create a theme song, or opening sound montage for your show. You can create a theme or intro in much the same way that you create your show. You'll simply want to ensure that any music or sound bytes you use are "legal". Look for Creative Commons licensed sound effects (they do exist) and music. Additionally, you may want to create an "outro" (closing music or sound montage) for your show.
- Identification
- One of the hallmarks of Radio Free Fae, is the constant change, not only of the physical location of the broadcast, but of the radio frequency as well. In addition to this, is the condition for listening in. You might say "Next week, the program will be heard at 107.6FM, if you touch your left ear with your right hand", and next week, if the would-be listener does not tune in while touching their left ear with their right hand, they will hear nothing but static. Your character being someone who wants to have people listen to the show (if not don't why are they doing it?), they will want to ensure that the condition is something unusual (you wouldn't be likely to be doing it by accident as you turn the dial), but not overly difficult.
- Show ID
- Remind your listeners at regular intervals, what show they are listening to. On the Radio, they regularly identify the station and the show, but since you don't have a "station" for your show, you will just want to state the name of your show. On radio, they will repeat the station identification after a set of songs, or when coming back from commercial. If you don't have a music based show (and you're not having commercials...which you probably aren't), you'll want to find a way of working in the reminder.
- Inter-show communication
- Something you often find on radio, are celebrities and other radio hosts doing what are called "bumpers" for a show. A Bumper is where a recorded promo for your own show is placed. You've probably heard these "I'm big celebrity and you're listening to the Name show, on Radio Station X. You can do something similar, by having other hosts record bumpers for you. You can ask them for something specific, or let them come up with their own Bumper. A suggestion for a bumper script would be something like: I'm Joe Changeling from My Radio Show, and you're listening to Great Radio Show on Radio Free Fae.
Types of Radio Shows
Here are some examples of radio show formats, to give you some examples of shows that might be heard on Radio Free Fae.
- Gossip and "Society" - where the host discusses the latest gossip, who's done what to whom and who was seen with whom.
- News - Where the host reads the latest news of the day, and sometimes delves into details and investigative reporting about breaking news.
- Politics - Discussing the latest political happenings.
- Storytelling - The host reads a story that they have written. Usually a different story each show.
- Music - Focused on music, often with some combination of other formats between songs.
- Advice - Listeners write in asking for advice on different subjects, which the host gives.
- Combination - Many shows are a combination of the above formats.
Positions at Radio Free Fae
There are many different jobs that Radio Free Fae would need have filled in order to operate. Here are a few examples. Not all of the below positions are needed for the running of a show. Larger productions (likely very popular ones) would have more positions than smaller ones. The necessary positions for a show would be a host, producer and engineer (and these can be doubled up if needed).
- Safehouses - Not all Freebooters* operate on a boat or a moving truck. Many are ad hoc operations, that are constantly on the move, but requiring a place to set up and broadcast. Safehouses are always needed for such operations to offer a location for broadcasting, but also beds and a meal. Even moving operations sometimes need to stop and take a meal and sleep in a bed (or shore leave for those ship-board operations). There are safehouses that are targeted directly at Radio Free Fae.
- Host - The public voice of a radio show. The on-air personality. Some hosts are also capable producers.
- Producer - The Producer is often the off-air personality. The producer will perform sound-engineering duties (levels, mic set up, etc), and is the one who will fade between songs, or play commercials.
- Driver - For truck-based operations, someone has to drive the the truck. Smart groups ensure that their driver is also a capable mechanic. For ship-board operations, the term is "pilot", and means much the same thing.
- Engineer - Someone has got to make sure that the equipment can broadcast, and that is the engineer's job. Connecting wires, setting up or adjusting sound boards, fixing microphones, these are all jobs that rely on the engineer. Without the engineer, the show cannot broadcast. Some engineers are also producers.
- Security - Whether employed by a safehouse to keep undesirables away, or in the employ of a ship or truck to do the same, some Freebooters find it advantageous to have their own muscle. Usually, its not enough for a security guard to be all muscle, but they must also be polite and good with the public, needing to eject trouble-makers in a polite fashion (one doesn't want to lose listeners). Naturally, not all operations can find a brute with a friendly attitude, so those that cannot often find that keeping a Public Relations person nearby often helps.
- Public Relations - A smile and friendly voice, in all situations, a PR person can spin anything in a positive manner. That's their job: to make sure that nothing - absolutely nothing makes the radio show look bad.
- Freebooters - A term for those who broadcast pirate radio shows. A term that the Freebooters use for themselves. Since the word originates as a name for a pirate, it soon became a glamorous title for a pirate of the airwaves.
Questions:
What are the mechanics behind the conditional frequency tuning? - There's no mechanic. It just works. If the show uses the same condition within 30 days, the condition does not work for that show and anyone can listen in. Storytellers are encouraged to listen to the shows produced by their players to determine if the condition is being re-used too soon.
What if I don't want to do radio? What if I want to do TV instead? - There are some good reasons why changelings might not want to do television: Radio is relatively anonymous: No one can see the face of the host. As a host, you can use any pseudonym you want to mask your identity (which, given that this is pirate radio, and thus technically illegal, would be advisable). Many radio personalities don't use their "real" voices, but have a tone and timbre to their voices that is used only on the air. This helps to hide who they are, both from mortal authorities and from the Gentry. TV doesn't allow this kind of anonymity. A tv host would be seen (it would be their Mask and not their fae mein, but the fact that their face would be seen at all would discourage many changelings).
As well, Radio is somewhat anachronistic compared to television, which fits nicely with the themes of changeling. Many changelings would be unfamiliar with television as a medium, but would definitely remember radio from their mortal days (and remember it fondly).
Radio Free Fae Links and Resources
Radio Shows
Please ensure that if you have a show listed here, that you notify grinningskull@radiofreefae.com about your show.
The Floating Castle - Broadcast from Harrisburg, PA and hosted by Monty Kurr
Lost in Translation - Broadcast from Muncie, IN and hosted by Mr. Book
Cypherseason - Broadcast from Las vegas, NV and hosted by Cypher
Krystal's Clarity - Broadcast from Los Angeles, CA and hosted by Krystal
The 13th Hour with Nycto Feraz.
The ROFLocolypse - Broadcast from different locations by DJ Miragel
The Gold Standard - Broadcast from Columbus, OH and hosted by Pierce Priestly.
Reality Check - Broadcast From Austin, Tx
Grush's Garage - Brodcast from Plains of the MidWest
The Glade - Broadcast from somewhere in California by Brock Harde
The ARFF - Australian Radio Free Fae, coming to you from White Snoop Dogg
Articles in category "Radio Free Fae"
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