The Production Line

Here's another picture for my scrapbook of BBC memories - it's one of the sound mixing desks on which my workmates and I spend much of our time churning out radio programmes.  This is a DHD digital console in one of our small "workshop" studios.  We mainly use these desks to balance the sound levels on interviews and discussions, either live on air or pre-recorded.  Sliding each fader - see thumbnail - back and forth adjusts the sound level (volume) of whatever audio is being controlled by the desk channel it corresponds to.  This saves our listeners from having to keep adjusting the volume on their radios at home or in their cars in order to hear what each person is saying.  I was at the controls of this desk for four hours this afternoon, and then transferred to a similar one in a larger studio for a further three hours.  Sometimes it can feel a bit like working in a sausage factory, but without the sausages to eat at the end of the process...