The Ultimate Guide to StationPlaylist with JAWS for Windows

You may have a collection of music and an idea for a radio programme, but feel uncertain about how to bring the two together. Perhaps you have been invited to record a show for a station from home, or already present regularly and would like to understand more of the software you use. The Ultimate Guide to StationPlaylist with JAWS for Windows is a substantial, practical text book which takes you from those first questions to the detailed work of preparing, presenting and managing programmes.

The book has two main parts, with 58 chapters in total, followed by an appendix explaining the forthcoming StationPlaylist 6.21 changes. Part 1 provides a gentle introduction in which we learn by preparing a programme, beginning with installation and customisation before building and playing a small playlist. Part 2 provides a comprehensive reference to the StationPlaylist products, their settings and their associated tools. Throughout both parts, the JAWS scripts are explained alongside the features they support, so that the broadcasting task and the keyboard techniques needed to carry it out are taught together.

A Book for the Work You Want to Do.

You do not need to own the whole StationPlaylist suite to benefit from this book. If you have Studio Standard and want to choose some songs, insert station identifications and play them in the order you have prepared, the opening lessons are written for you. Creator is not required for those exercises. You can learn the work which matters to your own programme and return to other products when you have a reason to use them.

There is also a route for presenters who want to record spoken links for a station using Remote Voice Tracker. The book explains the presenter’s work separately from the station administrator’s responsibilities, including what the station supplies and what its permissions allow you to change. You do not need Studio or Creator on your own computer to follow that remote route. Basic familiarity with Windows and JAWS is expected, but previous knowledge of radio automation is not.

For existing broadcasters, the later chapters provide room to investigate a setting, improve a technique or understand a part of the station’s operation which has previously been someone else’s responsibility. Station managers can explore scheduling, library maintenance, remote preparation, streaming and continuity. Trainers and support workers can use the practical lessons as a teaching sequence, while experienced presenters can consult individual sections when they need a reminder or want to try something new.

Part 1: Learning by Preparing a Programme.

We begin with a few recordings and a manageable task. After installing and registering the relevant software, preparing the JAWS scripts and checking the necessary settings, we build a small playlist in Studio. We insert an identification and songs, save the programme, open it again and practise playing it. Along the way, we establish what a playlist contains and why the item you are examining with JAWS may be different from the item which is currently playing.

The next lessons develop that first playlist into a short presented show. We preview music before choosing it, search by artist and title, correct track information, move or remove an entry and save a second version. We then introduce reminders, presenter notes, timing information, a jingle cart and the microphone. Each subject arrives when there is a practical reason to use it, giving you time to understand the work before adding another feature.

Voice-tracking has its own introduction in Chapters 10 through to 13. We explain what a recorded presenter link is, how it fits between songs and how to choose between local preparation in Studio Pro and the separate Remote Voice Tracker route. The exercises progress from recording and checking a first link to fitting speech around the music, reviewing transitions and verifying delivery. Edition requirements are identified where they matter, so a reader using Studio Standard can distinguish the initial playlist exercises from the later Pro recording facilities.

Part 2: The Complete StationPlaylist Reference.

Part 2 develops those foundations and explores the StationPlaylist products in depth, including Remote Studio. Studio is the application which plays the programme, either under a presenter’s control or as part of an automated schedule. Its chapters cover playlist navigation and editing, playback, carts, hour changes, timed events, audio inputs and outputs, recording and the detailed choices within its Options dialogue. The explanations connect those choices with their effect on the programme, including what happens when an hour is too short, an event becomes due or an external feed needs to be played.

Creator prepares playlists according to the station’s plan. The book works through organising the audio library, editing track information, preparing transitions with Track Tool, building categories and spot groups, designing rotations and assigning schedules. It explains how separation rules influence the selection of music, how playlists are generated and checked, and why a record of what was scheduled is different from a record of what actually played. Playlist editing and recording are then followed through to the point at which the programme is ready for Studio.

Remote Voice Tracker gives a presenter access to the station’s prepared programmes for recording and permitted editing. VT Server handles the station’s side of that connection, including accounts, access and the transfer of material. Streamer takes an audio feed and encodes it for delivery to an Internet streaming server; the book explains when this separate application is useful, as well as Studio’s own streaming facilities. These different responsibilities are described as parts of a complete working arrangement, so you can understand where your own task begins and what needs to happen afterwards.

Remote Studio has its own chapter for presenting live from another computer while Studio Pro at the station plays the recordings. It explains the station and presenter setup, listening and microphone routes, playlist control, local and station carts, and handing the programme back. The 6.21 appendix brings together the forthcoming changes and distinguishes them from improvements already made in later 6.20 builds.

The reference also covers metadata, listener requests, time and weather announcements, logs and reports, audio processing, external control, importing traffic and music logs, monitoring and recovery. Break Notes receive detailed attention, from creating an accessible reminder or instruction to using commands within a scheduled programme. The final chapters bring the products together in complete broadcasting workflows, including a prepared music hour, a live show, an unattended day, remote voice-tracking and a timed news feed.

StationPlaylist and JAWS Explained Together.

During a programme, knowing which recording comes next is only part of the job. You may also need to check how much time remains, find out whether the microphone is active, hear a warning before a song’s vocal begins or review a request while other audio continues to play. The book introduces the relevant JAWS script commands at the point where that information becomes useful, explaining their purpose, where they work and the feedback they provide.

This approach extends to playlist reading, column navigation, global playback commands, cart identification, voice-track preparation, presenter notes and Break Notes. Speech, sounds and braille are considered as different ways of obtaining information while you work. The text distinguishes commands supplied by StationPlaylist, Windows and standard JAWS from those added by the StationPlaylist scripts, helping you understand which part of the system is responsible when a command behaves differently from what you expected.

The procedures are written for someone working from the keyboard. They explain how to reach a feature, move through its controls, review information and check the result. Broadcasting terms are introduced in straightforward language, with examples of why a feature might be useful and what changing an option will do. Where a control needs a different approach, or behaviour depends on the product edition, version or station configuration, that distinction forms part of the explanation.

Written from Practical Broadcasting Experience.

My name is Brian Hartgen, and I write the JAWS scripts for the StationPlaylist products. I am also the manager of Team-FM, an Internet radio station which uses the StationPlaylist suite in its daily operation. My experience of preparing programmes, maintaining the scripts, supporting broadcasters and managing a station has shaped the questions addressed in this book. Those questions often concern the small details which make the difference between recognising an option and knowing how to use it during a programme.

I want the book to be useful both while you are learning and when you return to it during your regular work. That means taking time to explain the relationship between features, the consequences of a setting and the checks which help establish that a task has succeeded. You should be able to work through a lesson at your own pace, practise it with your own material and come back to the explanation whenever you need it.

How the Book Is Delivered.

When you purchase the book, you will receive access to a secure area of our web site where it is provided as a downloadable text book in Microsoft Word and HTML formats, with no audio. Headings, written keystrokes and step-by-step procedures let you read at your own pace, search for a particular subject and return to an individual explanation while working with StationPlaylist. The book stands on its own and does not require access to any earlier training material.

You can use Part 1 as a sequence of practical lessons, saving your work and repeating an exercise until you are comfortable with it. Part 2 is there when you need the fuller explanation of a feature or want to investigate another part of the system. The contents below show the current chapters, main sections and subsections, so you can examine both the starting route and the depth of the reference before deciding whether the book meets your needs.

Full Table of Contents.

The following contents reflect the complete book: its introduction, both main parts, all 58 chapters and the 6.21 appendix. Each chapter is followed by every section and subsection in manuscript order. The appendix is grouped under Part 3.

Part 1. Learning by Preparing a Programme.

Part 2. The Complete StationPlaylist Reference.

Part 3. Appendices.

Release and Pricing.

The Ultimate Guide to StationPlaylist with JAWS for Windows is available now. The cost of the book is £60 or $80 US, with delivery in the Microsoft Word and HTML formats described above. You can use the payment button below, or email brian@hartgenconsultancy.com to request an invoice.