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clearchannel Houston

what is voicetracking?
how does one get a job as a voicetracker?
does one need to be full time to be a voicetracker?
how long does voicetracking take?
can one person voicetrack a lot of stations at one time?

and now...back to my gig as a window dresser....
edie
 
Voice-tracking is the pre-recording of a shift on a music station. Some stations use their full-time personnel to voice-track a weekend shift, or even a weekday shift if their position entails other responsibilities. A 5-hour shift can easily be voice-tracked in an hour or less, and the average listener could never tell the difference (if done properly). When people refer to voice-tracking in a derogatory way, it's usually in reference to a full-time jock in another market doing a non-live shift that would otherwise be covered by a local full-time jock. It's something that's been around for years, but has become far more common with the switch from analog (playing materials off of cds/carts) to networked hard-drives. For a full-time jock in a market the size of Houston, it used to be a good way for a jock to supplement their income by outsourcing their talent to a smaller, often regional, market... but recently the compensation has been cut to the point that it barely makes it worth the time/effort.
 
bobbybooey said:
Voice-tracking is the pre-recording of a shift on a music station. Some stations use their full-time personnel to voice-track a weekend shift, or even a weekday shift if their position entails other responsibilities. A 5-hour shift can easily be voice-tracked in an hour or less, and the average listener could never tell the difference (if done properly). When people refer to voice-tracking in a derogatory way, it's usually in reference to a full-time jock in another market doing a non-live shift that would otherwise be covered by a local full-time jock. It's something that's been around for years, but has become far more common with the switch from analog (playing materials off of cds/carts) to networked hard-drives. For a full-time jock in a market the size of Houston, it used to be a good way for a jock to supplement their income by outsourcing their talent to a smaller, often regional, market... but recently the compensation has been cut to the point that it barely makes it worth the time/effort.
Click to expand...

While we all appreciate your comments, and probably agree with your summation, I'd suspect that Ms Golightly was pulling our respective legs.
 
Voice-Tracking

It's funny in a way but you're so right about how old voice-tracking is. It's been used for decades in the unionized big markets on the east and west coasts, where engineers do all the hands-on button-pushing and the DJ's just sit there talking.

They figured out a long time ago that the DJ didn't even need to be there. He could pre-record all the breaks, music intros and back-announcing and let the engineer make it all come out sounding good on the air. The really good ones would even include time-checks, and count on the engineer to roll the tape at the precisely correct moment.

That kind of voice-tracking never caught on in Texas and other Right-to-Work states, because there's no union to require an engineer in the control room. DJ's have to do all their on-air production. Now of course they don't need an engineer to do voice-tracking. It's all done in a computer and listeners can't tell the difference.
 
Look at Wolfman Jack. He used to record his shows and they would air weeks later in other markets. No one noticed because he was good at it and no one cared either. Although, that doesn't change a lazy ass vt'er doing the bare minimum and sucking up the airwaves for an extra $300 a month. If it's done right and it's entertaining... no one gives a rip.
 
edie golightly said:
what is voicetracking?
how does one get a job as a voicetracker?
does one need to be full time to be a voicetracker?
how long does voicetracking take?
can one person voicetrack a lot of stations at one time?

and now...back to my gig as a window dresser....
edie
Click to expand...

Outhouse...I mean Outlaw Dave is getting bored.

Tooner
 
I'd rather have Bill Drake revived, along with his jingles from the 1960s and 70s than the current fad of voicetracking. Voice tracking is just the same idea Drake had for automated programming, just updated to today just as lifeless as it was then.
 
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