Beginnings are hard, let’s all agree on that. There, now that we’ve gotten past that nastiness, we can proceed, right? The problem is, that’s really not much of a beginning. I mean, all I did was express a questionable opinion, then try to force you to agree with me. Hardly a compelling start, now, is it?
The best commercial I saw recently was 6 seconds long. I was watching some conspiracy video on YouTube that was two hours long and my feed was interrupted by a spot, which is always infuriating. The voice on the spot asked “what does ambiguous mean?” then the Google logo appeared and it was done. The commercial was over before I could hit “Skip Ad”. It was effective, short, and it came and went so fast I remembered everything.
These days when I’m not writing, I spend most of my time doing voice work for radio stations all over the world. They all are English speaking stations and since that is my ‘mother’ tongue, I do pretty OK, 95 percent of the time. The leftover 5 percent can be troublesome.
Clickbait – intriguing headlines that lead us to click on a link. They’ve been used for generations…long before we were clicking.
On the Soundstage this month, several smokin’ concert promos, some Canada Day imaging, and another collection of creative commercials from our readers!
The R.A.P. Q It Up Panel takes on this question on the keys to VO success: Q It Up: Whether you’re doing voiceover full-time or supplement your income with VO on the side, what are the things you’ve done that have contributed the most to growing your voice-over business?
Production demo from interview subject, Ron Drew; plus commercials, imaging and more from Rich Boerner @ WTKS Orlando, Craig Jackman @ CHEZ FM Ottawa, Darryl Missen @ B105 Australia, Joel Moss @ WEBN Cincinnati, Jay Greener @ WCFL Chicago, Jack Cone @ WSTR Atlanta, Garry D @ KHKS Dallas, Lonnie Perkins @ WIBC Indianapolis and more!
Commercial demo from interview subject, Dick Orkin; plus commercials, promos and more from Geoff Bowser @ SAFM Adelaide, Jay Greener @ WCFL Chicago, Tuna Jon Rose @ WBYR Ft. Wayne, Ross McIntyre @ CKKQ Victoria, Rich Boerner @ WTKS Orlando, Kurt Schenk @ WMAX Rochester, Jay Rose @ Digital Playroom Boston and more!
Production demo from interview subject, Scott Muller @ Fox FM, Melbourne; plus imaging, spots and more from Tom Woerner @ WFOX Atlanta, Bob Lawson @ WJMK Chicago, Jym Geraci @ WMXB Richmond, Ron Shapiro @ KIIS Los Angeles, Jon Hogan @ 92.2XS New Zealand, Dennis McAtee @ KKOW Pittsburgh, Matt Rawlings @ WFMS Indianapolis and more!
Production demo from interview subjects Bill Flowers and Steve Schneider @ Urbanwild Productions; plus hot imaging, promos and commercials from John Pellegrini @ WKLQ Grand Rapids, Andrew Frame @ WJBX Ft. Myers, Greg Williams @ WMC Memphis, Bill Schultz @ WKTU New York, Paul Bahr @ WLZR Milwaukee, Hal Knapp @ Z100 New York, Laurent Eveno @ Bel Air Productions Paris and more!
To complement the recent unveiling of ARC Creative Hub, which gives new and existing customers access to a comprehensive range of free software, Audient introduces a new online Tutorial Hub containing general advice on recording, mixing, mastering and technology in different music genres, and helpful tips for users of specific Audient products.
PreSonus is shipping its compact new AudioBox USB® 96 audio/MIDI recording interface, which makes recording at up to 24-bit, 96 kHz a breeze. Bus-powered and built to travel, the AudioBox USB 96 offers two front-panel combo mic/instrument inputs—ideal for singer/songwriters, podcasters, and guitar or guitar-bass collaborations. Simply connect a couple of mics and you have an easy-to-use stereo recording system.
By Steve Cunningham
While most of our voiceover sessions are simple affairs, elaborate dialog spots using multiple voices (and actors) can become complex. Different character’s lines may end up being recorded at different times and in different places. Scripts are changed and re-written to ...
