October 1999 RAP

The Cassette

October 1999 Highlights

Feature: The Nature of the Beast

By John Pellegrini

Why do people persist in situations that they know are horrible? Why do people continue to work in jobs or careers that they know they absolutely hate? Why do people have so little faith in themselves that they wont lift a finger to improve their situation, especially when they know exactly what needs to be done to change things for the better? Is it a matter of courage, or is it something else?

Interview: Sandy Thomas, Voice Talent

By Jerry Vigil

So You Want To Be A Voice-Over Star. Thats the title of a new book by Sandy Thomas, a former radio production guy who decided to go for it all the way, and made it. Its been ten years since we touched base with Sandy. At the time he was just getting his free-lance voice business underway, and was off to a good start. In the past ten years, Sandy has built a voice-over career that many of us dream about. He had no special connections and no "voice of God." He just had a love for voice-over and a desire to make it work. His new book, So You Want To Be A Voice-Over Star, details the things Sandy learned along the way and provides a path for those that wish to do the same. This months interview gets a sneak peak at the book and some very frank feedback from a very successful voice talent that came up from the

Radio HED: Radio - The Great Media Multiplier

By Jeffrey Hedquist

Often we tend to think of radio as a stand-alone medium. While it can work effectively this way, more often it runs in combination with other media.

Its well documented that a radio version (not just a direct lift of the soundtrack) of a TV spot can bring to the listeners mind the TV spot, and daily you can hear dozens of spots directing you to advertisers web sites. Radio is a fantastic multiplier of the results of other media as well: newspapers, direct mail, billboards, magazines, point of purchase, skywriting...

Test Drive: Spark From TC Works

By Steve Cunningham

Multitrack DAW software keeps getting, well, bigger. Sixteen tracks! Sixty-four tracks! Two-hundred-eighty-two-and-a-half tracks! This is all well and good, but most of us spend our time working with good old two-track products. As a Macintosh computer user, I think its high time that somebody gave me a competent two-track product that takes advantage of the latest technologies. Evidently the folks at TC Works agree as they have developed Spark, a digital audio editor for the Mac OS.

Q It Up: The RAP Network Speaks - Interns Part 2

By Jerry Vigil

With today's consolidation come expanding workloads. Interns can be a huge asset today, but they can also increase the workload, too. This month we get the rest of our responses to last months question as Q It Up takes a look at what stations today are doing with interns and provides insight for those thinking about using them and tips for those who already have them.

Q It Up: Do you use interns in your production department, or have you used them in production in the past? If so, how are/were they most valuable to you? What tasks do/did they perform? What tips would you offer others about using interns? Feel free to add any other comments you might have.

...And Make It Real Creative

By Andy Capp

I've said it before, if you want to be a Production Director at a Top Ten market station, you can do it. If you want to write a hit song, you can do it. If you want to do a famous cartoon voice for the WB, you can. But only you can do it. Nobody's going to do the work for you, and work it will take. Do that lunch, write that email, do whatever it takes to be what you want to be, not what you have to be.

RAP Forum: The Producers

By Albert Berkshire

The other day I was involved in a brief discussion with another writer about maintaining a healthy relationship with your producer. Well, that discussion, brief as it was (about the length of a king-size cigarette), got me thinking about how I approach my day to day life as Creative Director.

Bill Meeks: 1921-1999

By Don Elliot

Ask me about Bill Meeks and Ill tell you about a Legend genius musician, artist, friend, father, the greatest salesman in the world, and one hell of a radio guy. Bill passed away September 8, 1999.