R.A.P. Interview: Steve Cook, Audio Oven/Five Talents Audio, Atlanta, Georgia
How long do you think it would take you to read the entire Bible, Old and New Testament, front to back? How long do you think it would take you to read it out loud, into a microphone, recording it for distribution? For Steve Cook, that was eleven weeks, at nineteen hours a day, recording the entire 1599 Geneva Bible for Tolle Lege Press. Steve's interesting background travels through acting and radio, and lands him in Atlanta, doing some very interesting work. A professional actor/sound designer with over 25-years' experience in New York, Los Angeles and Atlanta, Steve has appeared Off-Broadway with Esther Rolle in The Member of the Wedding, with Helen Mirren at the Tiffany Theatre in Los Angeles in Woman in Mind, and on television in the daytime drama Days of our Lives. Currently, he tours live one-man stage adaptations of his Witness The Bible audio drama series, as well as a tribute to writer/comedian Lewis Grizzard. He's voiced over 50 commercials and other projects for such clients as Ford, Home Depot, Delta, Gameworks, American Express, Circle K, Amtrak and Georgia Power. He handles imaging for several radio stations across the country. In 2008, he founded his own audiobook publishing company called Five Talents Audio, which creates live and recorded one-man dramatizations of the Bible for new and young believers. His latest release, Witness The Bible: Genesis to Jesus, is featured on radio stations nationwide and has just been named a permanent audio devotional resource on BibleGateway.com. This month's RAP Interview gets just a part of Steve's remarkable story. Be sure to visit his websites listed at the end of the interview for more, and check out this month's RAP CD for a sample of Steve's work.
Production 212: Advice For The Lovelorn (Yes, it's free... but worth it at twice the price)
by Dave Foxx
When I was in High School in Fort Worth, Texas, I noticed something about some of the popular girls. I'm talking about the really pretty ones who consistently had guys hanging around at their locker, lunchroom table and just about anywhere they would stop for a minute. Come Homecoming time, many would end up sitting at home instead of being the Belle of the Ball. I asked one of them once why that was and she said, "Because nobody asked me." Everyone always assumed that because she was so popular, she probably had a dozen or so people ask her to go. You might recall that as a young man (or woman), rejection was always difficult to endure, so because everyone thought she already had a date, nobody bothered to ask and she ended up sitting at home the night of the dance.
Test Drive: eaReckon's ANALOG87 Series of Processors
by Steve Cunningham
I love small companies, mostly because they're so... well, little, and because I spent a significant part of my past life working in them. Among my favorites are the really small, one-man outfits. Often the best combinations of value and sound emanate from garages, bedrooms, and the occasional rented office. This month we'll look at a set of five plug-ins that all come from one certified smart guy -- Philippe Decuyper, aka "PFozz", aka the sole owner and operator of eaReckon.com in France. And it is from here that this month's collection of plug-ins comes. The author pays homage to the gear on which he learned to record and the year he learned it by calling the collection ANALOG87.
Radio Hed: Create Commercials With Your Client
by Jeffrey Hedquist
Instead of just gathering information from your client and then going back to the station to create something to bring back to him, you can improve your chances of success by getting your client to participate in the process. (In this article, he/him/his could just as well be she/her/hers) This doesn't necessarily mean that he'll be writing with you. Start by reminding your client that his potential customers are bombarded with over 5,000 messages a day, that when people hear what sounds like a commercial, they don't pay attention and that they all have Advertising Attention Deficit Disorder. Now you've set the stage for selling him on the importance of crafting a commercial that doesn't sound like one.
...And Make It Real Creative: Your client is a liar.
by Trent Rentsch
A straight-faced, remorseless liar, who MIGHT tell you part of the truth, but bends it around lies so cunning that even Sherlock Holmes would have a tough time separating fact from fiction. Even worse, you cannot expect them to come clean, because the fact that they're lying would be as great a shock to them as it is to you. Trust me on this. I've known liars in my day.
Get the whole story! Subscribe to Radio And Production!
