November 2003 RAP
November 2003 Highlights
Feature: Trends in Voiceovers - More Is Less, and More
FOR Less
By Tom Richards
Today's voiceover artist is expected to provide high-quality talent,
self-contained production services, and, thanks to lots of competition,
lower and lower rates.
Interview: Chris Rice - KRXQ/KSEG, Sacramento,
California
By Jerry Vigil
We often talk in these pages about where the next prod gods are coming
from and whether or not they're even coming. As it turns out, there are
actually quite a few young guys and girls out there doing some incredible
work and learning the trade faster than ever. One person to keep an eye on
is Chris Rice, Creative Services Director at Entercom's KRXQ and KSEG in
Sacramento, California. Here's a guy who started in market #171 and went
directly to market #27 in one leap. A listen to his demo on this months RAP
CD speaks for itself, and this months interview sheds some light on the mind
and methods of another one of today's talented young imaging producers.
Test Drive: Tascam DM-24 Digital Mixing Console
By Steve Cunningham
There are good reasons to use a standalone digital mixer instead of
mixing with a mouse. The obvious benefits are real faders and knobs, easy
monitoring with near-zero latency, and the ability to control your editor
with hardware. Most digital mixers also give you powerful parametric EQ and
compression on every channel, without loading down your CPU or increasing
latency and memory consumption the way plug-ins do. Tascam's DM-24 digital
mixer provides all the above goodies in a relatively small and inexpensive
package.
Radio Hed: Write a Really Bad Commercial
By Jeffrey Hedquist
Writers block often occurs because the voice of our inner critic is so
loud in our heads. You may not be able to ignore that critic, so just tell
him or her (and yourself), "I'm going to write a really bad commercial."
This is one way of removing the pressure to create a work of art (as well as
commerce).
Q It Up: The RAP Network Speaks - When Do You Do Your
Best Work?
Q It Up: Finish this sentence: "I do my best
commercials, and/or promos/imaging when" Please elaborate. For example, if
you do your best commercials when its raining, explain why. Basically, were
trying to find out what helps you do your best work. Is it environment, a
mental attitude, a special production library, a favorite plug-in, getting
the right info from the sales rep, a special brand of coffee, when the boss
is out of town? When does it all seem to be clicking for you?
Production 212: Here's a Thought
By Dave Foxx
One of the goals I have in writing this column is to give you ideas. Not
just ideas for the actual spots, promos and sweepers you produce, but ideas
to enhance your job experience, to make you more valuable to your PD and GM,
and to make your station the only place clients want to do business. To that
end, Id like to pass along an idea that I stumbled across a couple of years
ago that has proven to be a real plus for our station in several ways and a
major plus for me.
Feature: Entrepreneurship Calling? Consider This...
By Neil Holmes
You want to leave the station and take care of clients on your own great.
But is this an opportunity, or an idea? An idea is a belief, impression, or
opinion. An opportunity means the time is right. What's the difference?
Success or failure. It is not enough to have an idea for a new business, you
need an opportunity to implement that idea and make it a success. If you
decide to start your own business because you're annoyed with your current
job and you think, "I can do voice-overs," that's an idea. Having a client
list that will stay with you, and can support you on your own may be an
opportunity (it may not). When I started Voice Creative, I saw that many
stations were downsizing their air staff, and consequently there were/are
less voices for local production. That means the same voices doing car
dealer A and car dealer D. Is this the best service for your money paying
client? No. That is what turned Voice Creative from an idea into an
opportunity.
Way Off the Mark: Making the Listeners Work
By Mark Margulies
For many years, radio executives have spent hundreds of thousands of
dollars on research, which has resulted in one universally accepted notion:
the great source of audience tune out has always been commercials. But while
radio stations will allow research to dictate everything from budget cuts to
playlists, they aren't about to let research take away their bread and
butter. So, the conclusion everyone has always reached with regards to those
results was: the problem isn't the commercial itself, its the fact that the
commercials aren't any good. Better, funnier, more creative commercials
would keep the audience listening. Funny thing is, they're sort of on the
right track. Sort of. But the real issue isn't creativity; its the fact that
we create spots that make the audience work too hard.
...And Make It Real Creative:
By Trent Rentsch
Our Program Director recently asked me to teach one of our fledgling
Producers "how to make a promo." Outside: a smile, a nod, and a, "Sure, no
problem." Inside: "How the hell do I do that?" I didn't mean how do I teach
it, but more importantly, how do I create promos?
The RAP Forum: Pull the Trigger - The Article Your Boss
Doesn't Want You to Read
By Timothy Miles
This is a story about you and me and everything but the bit about the
banana sticking to the wall and me not wanting a raise is absolutely true.
You read this rag religiously. You check its website and others for jobs not
that you're actually planning on going anywhere, but just to know what's out
there thinking, believing, deep down, that you are, indeed, qualified for
that position somewhere else. You get Nick Michaels. You swallow Roy
Williams. You marvel at Dick Orkin. You read O Days email newsletter and
scream silently to yourself, "YEAH!" Pull the trigger.
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