Keene State’s radio station, WKNH, celebrated the return of its physical media playing capabilities, dusting off its vinyl collection and turning back the clock.
WKNH Productions Manager Patrick Garcia explained that technical issues had initially led to the suspension of physical media broadcasting. During this downtime, the station focused on fixing and optimizing its regular broadcasting technology.
“Now we are at a place where we are blossoming with tech and ready to bring physical media back,” said Garcia.
He elaborated on the process of reintroducing vinyl to WKNH, along with other forms of physical media. “We’ve been sorting through all of our vinyl, removing the scratched and warped ones, alphabetizing and categorizing them. This has allowed us to set up our record players, as well as CD players and even a tape player that I brought in.”
Sorting through the extensive vinyl collection proved to be a daunting task, according to Garcia.
“This is a huge undertaking,” Garcia said. “None of our vinyl library has been maintained in probably a decade.”
With the return of physical media, Garcia hopes to “bring back the vibes to the radio station.”
The updates to WKNH extend beyond physical media. Ryan Rotigliano, general manager of WKNH, said he is spearheading efforts to expand the station and provide a creative space for students and faculty to express their musical preferences.
“Right now, we are also in the process of creating another studio space where we can focus on the hard copy stuff,” Rotigliano said.
He continued, “Another one of our goals is to have a digital studio so people can continue their shows as they’ve been doing them. We’ve also seen a lot of interest from faculty and staff who want to do vinyl shows. They, too, would have the opportunity to come in and participate.”
The task of sifting through and organizing the vinyl collection has been shared with general members of WKNH. During the station’s “vinyl night,” Rotigliano described the excitement and surprises that come with exploring such a vast library.
“You never know what you’re going to find in there,” he said. “Obviously, some vinyl is from big-name artists you’d recognize, but a lot of it was sent in back in the ’80s and ’90s.”
He added, “Some of the records have crazy names and titles. The general members loved looking through and being like, ‘What is this? What is that?’”
Rotigliano concluded with a timeline for completing the vinyl room. “Our goal is to have the vinyl room done and cleared out by winter break. We have a full executive board, and we’re chipping away at it as we go.”
Sophomore secondary education major Liam Slattery shared his enthusiasm for the revival of physical media on campus.
“Vinyl is great to collect, and I love the idea of physical media being something that truly never goes away,” he said.
Slattery added, “It’s very exciting. I think it’s really cool that we not only have the ability to play physical media but also preserve its history on campus.”
Parker Bartlett can be contacted at
pbartlett@kscequinox.com
