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Invent a kind of break

By the end of this page the station says something of your own invention between records: here, a two-line poem about the moment at a quarter to every hour, in the voice of whoever is presenting. You write a brief rather than code, the station's model writes each one when its time comes, and the result can be exported and given to another station.

Kinds of break you write explains what such a kind can and cannot do.

You need a station on air with a voice, and a model writing the breaks (Give the station a model): Let a model write the talk breaks on under Settings → Words. A kind you write has no phrasings underneath it, so without a model it never airs.

1. Write the brief​

Open Voice → Kinds of break and press New kind of break.

  • Name: A poem about the moment. Only the console shows it.

  • On the format clock as: poem. Lowercase words joined by hyphens. A band names the kind by this word, so it cannot be changed after you save.

  • What it is for, written to the presenter as you would brief a person:

    Two unrhymed lines about this moment on the station: the hour, the record that just ended,
    the mood of the show. Nothing else, no introduction and no sign-off. If nothing comes to
    mind, say nothing.

  • Rules of its own, one per line: Never more than two lines. and No rhymes.

  • While writing one, the presenter sees: tick The record that has just finished. Leave the rest off for now; each one you tick gives the poem more to work with, and more to drift into.

Leave Switched on off and press Save. The kind is listed as Off, with No band yet.

2. Read it back, then switch it on​

Open it again and read the brief as the presenter will. The station's own rules are added on top of yours whatever you write: the presenter stays in character, names no record it was not shown and states nothing it was not told. You cannot write those away, so there is no need to repeat them.

Switch on Switched on and save. The list now reads On. If it reads Not airing, the model writing the breaks or the voice is switched off, and nothing airs until both are on.

3. Put it on the format clock​

Open Programme → Today, find Format clock and press Add band.

  1. Write poem as the Sort of break.
  2. Choose every hour at and set Minutes past the hour to 45.
  3. To keep it to the evening shows, pick days under on or leave them empty for every day.
  4. Save.

Back on Voice → Kinds of break, the poem now says On 1 band.

4. Hear it​

At a quarter to the hour, when the record playing then ends, the presenter says the poem. Voice → What it said lists it like every other break, and any the model declined and why.

Not what you meant? Change What it is for and save. The next one is written from the new brief. One already in the running order can be written afresh with Write it again on its row on the Desk.

5. Give it to another station​

On Voice → Kinds of break, the export button on the poem's row saves it as a file, and Export all saves every kind you have written in one.

On the other station, press Import and choose the file. Before anything is written it shows what it would do with each kind: New, Keep mine or Replace for one it already has, and Not allowed for a word that station uses itself. Press Import. Everything imported arrives switched off, so read it back and switch it on there, then give it a band on that station's clock.

With Claude​

With Claude connected and allowed to Read and manage (how), Claude can write the brief with you and set the whole thing up:

Make a new kind of break called "From the vaults": the presenter recalls taping songs off the radio as a kid, prompted by the record that just finished, in two or three sentences. Leave it switched off and show me the brief before you save it. Then put it on the clock at twenty past every hour on weekends.

Claude creates the kind switched off and adds the band. Read the brief back on Voice → Kinds of break and switch it on there, or tell Claude to. It can also export your kinds, or preview an import, and tell you what the import would do before it does it.

If it goes wrong​

  • The band says nothing can produce it. The kind is off, or the station has no model writing the breaks, or no voice. A kind you write needs all three.
  • Saving is refused over the word. The station already has a kind of break by that name, such as news, weather or talk. Choose another word.
  • The poem names records, or rambles. Say what you do not want in Rules of its own, and tick less under While writing one, the presenter sees.
  • Some quarter-hours pass with no poem. The model declined: nothing it wrote passed the station's checks. Voice → What it said says why. A brief that tells it when to say nothing makes that the usual reason.
  • Delete is refused. A band on the clock still names the kind. Remove the band first.

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