March 2002 RAP
March 2002 Highlights
2001 RAP Awards Finalists Announced
Feature: Getting Desperate
By Steve McKenzie
Theres something about hunger, and desperation, that brings out the best
in us. When you dont know how youre going to pay your bills, when you dont
know how youre going to make it, you start thinking: "What now? What can I
do to improve my situation, improve my skills, improve my career, improve my
life?"
Interview: James Alburger, Voice Actor/Coach and Author,
San Diego, CA
By Jerry Vigil
Everybody wants to be in voice-overhave you noticed? You get calls from
complete strangers who have never seen a microphone who want you to tell
them how to "get into voice-over." Fortunately, there are people like James
Alburger that we can send these people to. James has a long career on both
sides of the microphone, and a few years ago, he left a long-term position
as a television producer/director to teach voice acting as well as run his
own commercial production facility. This months RAP Interview gets some
great tips for anybody wanting to improve their voice-over skills and
perhaps improve the size of their free-lance bank account as well.
Test Drive: AudioEdit Deluxe from Mystik Media
By Steve Cunningham
Mystik Medias AudioEdit Deluxe is a two-track editor that is compatible
with a long list of file types. Its feature set is modest but complete, and
it comes with a $40 price tag and a free 15-day trial.
Q It Up: The RAP Network Speaks - Your Multi-track
DAW--Likes, Dislikes, Wishlist
By Jerry Vigil
Q It Up: What software or hardware do you do your
multi-track production on? Audicy? Cool Edit Pro? Vegas? Something else?
What are your likes and dislikes about the multi-track system you use? If
you could have any system available, regardless of cost, would you keep the
same one you have now, or would you get something else? What would you get
and why?
Library Review: The Evergreen Library from Valentino
By John Pellegrini
All that is old is new again, to paraphrase Ecclesiastes. Hip and trendy
are another way to describe recycled. The old musical genres of long ago are
now the hot new thing. Every generation "discovers" some previous
generations favorites and makes it their own. Note the resurgence in
popularity of swing music. Everyone is jitterbugging their way across the
world. Can the Charleston and the Foxtrot have their day again, too? What
about the Waltz or the Minuet? Nostalgia is always big business, and if
youre looking for a music library that can bring you a massive number of
different musical styles and elements of the past, then The Evergreen
Library from Valentino just might be what youre looking for.
Radio Hed: Old Dogs/New Tricks
By Jeffrey Hedquist
As creators in the most powerful communications medium, we sometimes dig
ourselves too deep into the radio commercial niche. After a while, our
commercials start sounding like commercials. Developing skills in other
kinds of writing can add breadth to your radio.
Feature: Just Like the Common Cold
By Ed Thompson
The sales rep walks into my office and hands to me a production order
with all the copy points necessary to create another "creative" ad. But,
before she leaves, she adds, "Oh! And the client wants to record it too!"
[Insert "Psycho Theme" here.] My amazement never wanes. After twenty years
of listening to radio followed by twenty more working in radio, another
client will badly voice another ad and the circle will be unbroken.
...And Make It Real Creative:
By Trent Rentsch
Sanity is over-rated. There are so many things we have to fight to keep
it, but what does it give us in return? A clean desk, matching socks and
rotated tires, thats what! As far as Im concerned, sanity is a party pooper
that insists on napkins, coasters and unspiked punch. Im looking for a real
party animal, one that throws the rules, convention, and cans of creamed
corn out the window, one thats going to bring the nutcase out in me. Which
is why I decided to follow the white rabbit down that hole.
Monday Morning Memo: Chaos: A Higher Level of Order
By Roy H. Williams
You hope to attract and hold the attention of another. Your goal is to
fascinate their mind. You are a teacher, a minister, a romantic suitor or
possibly an advertiser. Is there a successful model for attracting and
holding human attention that you can study? Indeed there is.
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