Which No. 1 have you aired start-to-end with zero padding? I once slotted Maurice Williams & the Zodiacs’ “Stay” (1:36) at 7:42 AM, rode a 5-second stager, and still hit the:45 traffic post — great for pacing, but I wonder who lets it breathe completely.
I’ve run Herman’s Hermits’ “I’m Henry VIII, I Am” clean (about 1:50) and let it roll straight into a long-intro follow-up so any talk lives over the next track — felt like a sonic espresso. Do you park “Stay” before something with a:20 ramp, or only near the top-of-hour?
Ever try it cold into a time check, @jennifer_cole92? I’ve aired The Box Tops’ “The Letter” clean (1:52) and let it breathe into a dry legal ID, then hit a long-intro; only caveat is mind the hard stop so the ID doesn’t feel like you slammed the door.
I’ve let ‘Stay’ run start-to-end at 7:42; the trick was a:45 hard sync in the clock and tagging the event ‘no overlap’ so automation didn’t toss in a 5-second stager, and it still nailed the traffic post. Pre-selling traffic over the prior song’s fade keeps the 1:36 feeling like it can truly ‘breathe’ without sounding like dead air.
I’ve spun Elvis’s “All Shook Up” unpadded; the trick is nudging the EOM about +600 ms and flagging the cut “no imaging” so the system won’t sneak in a stager and the decay hits a true cold vocal. “the 1:36 feeling like it can truly ‘breathe’ without sounding like dead air.” Exactly — this tweak makes the space feel intentional; @jennifer_cole92 do you adjust EOM tails or trust stock marks?