B
bigwoody
Guest
http://www.broadcastdialogue.com/magazine.asp
BOX? WHAT BOX?
by: TREVOR SHAND (KROQ)
This is for all the 20-somethings and 30-somethings working in the production departments at radio stations across the country. Guess what? It is up to you to help save this medium and continue to inject it with life and edge.
The 1970s are over, although your PD may not accept it. You’ve been blessed with the responsibility of taking radio to the next level – by escaping what has been done before and forgetting what was left behind.
The purpose of this is to inspire or discuss some ways of thinking outside that box, knowing that even if simply ACKNOWLEDGING to think outside the box we are more than halfway there.
DROPS
You know‘em, you love‘em. You know that clip from your favourite Simpsons episode (yawn) or that hilarious Christopher Walken bit from SNL that has found the perfect place in your promo? Well, guess what – drops are a crutch. Try throwing them out the window. Outside the box we go.
We work in a medium where literally, the WORLD is at our disposal thru sound. Why go to the moon when we can go and check out those ETs with the big black eyes through a wormhole at the far reaches of the Milky Way?
Maybe recreate a few seconds from a hot TV show with you mimicking the voices as best ya can and bringin’ your station or promo right into it. I GUARANTEE you’re way more memorable and effective than a stale drop currently airing on four other stations in town.
We all subscribe to the same prod libraries and steal from online demos. So come on, leave‘em behind. I dare you.
LASERZ...WHOOOOOSHESSSS...ZZZAAAAPPPSSS...OOOOOOOOOOHHHHHH...
Once again, tools of the 80s. Borrrrringgggg. Who are you trying to impress?
Listeners don’t care about those flashy robot sounds; .the head of your production department might, your PD THINKS he does. But guess what? Listeners remember what you say – and how you say it – then they want to hear a song.
Try leaving behind your cheesy two CD sets of beeps and whizzes and pop in a DVD of The Matrix and grab something from that and have fun. Either go movie trailer HUGE or captivate them with some shocking writing.
Everything else is kinda mediocre, sorry.
Station Voices
So, you’ve got the amazing opportunity of launching a new radio station and/or are seeking out a new station voice. Oookkay. This has got to stop. There are like FOUR or FIVE voice guys doin’ stations in every market across this country. The SAME four or five guys. What’s WITH that?
Check out a great site like voicebank.net and browse through hundreds/thousands of different voices that no one has EVER used on a radio station. How ‘bout try an agency that does work mostly with voice actors and find someone who can inject LIFE into your promos and sound like a real person for a change instead of the GOD OF THUNDER?
How ‘bout some more female imaging voices? This big voice stuff is fodder for days gone by. It’s become a stigma for radio, it’s what people parody.
Get off the freeway, you’re holding us back a few decades. Proof … Howard Cogan, the voice of Jack FM. He sounds NOTHING like a “radio voice”. He doesn’t say anything a “radio voice” has said before. People are drawn to that. That’s the stuff that wins awards, that’s the stuff that makes us passionate for what we do and makes us breathe into it. And when something breathes, it usually walks around, gets drunk and throws up on your shoes.
I hope this hasn’t offended you. You know what, I hope it did. We are ALL guilty of staying in that safety zone and being at the mercy of what a 43-year-old PD thinks is “HIP”; some of them truly get it, some of them TOTALLY don’t.
If WE continue to think outside the box and bring forth some “out there” ideas (a female imaging voice? You’re crrrraaaaazzzzyy) we’ll have more fun, the listeners will have more fun, and your PD…well, he’ll check with the consultants.
That’s a WHOLE other story.
Trevor Shand does freelance production and voiceover duties for Rogers Vancouver and Toronto. He currently lives in Los Angeles where he is the Production Director and promo voice for KROQ-FM. He may be reached at [email protected].
BOX? WHAT BOX?
by: TREVOR SHAND (KROQ)
This is for all the 20-somethings and 30-somethings working in the production departments at radio stations across the country. Guess what? It is up to you to help save this medium and continue to inject it with life and edge.
The 1970s are over, although your PD may not accept it. You’ve been blessed with the responsibility of taking radio to the next level – by escaping what has been done before and forgetting what was left behind.
The purpose of this is to inspire or discuss some ways of thinking outside that box, knowing that even if simply ACKNOWLEDGING to think outside the box we are more than halfway there.
DROPS
You know‘em, you love‘em. You know that clip from your favourite Simpsons episode (yawn) or that hilarious Christopher Walken bit from SNL that has found the perfect place in your promo? Well, guess what – drops are a crutch. Try throwing them out the window. Outside the box we go.
We work in a medium where literally, the WORLD is at our disposal thru sound. Why go to the moon when we can go and check out those ETs with the big black eyes through a wormhole at the far reaches of the Milky Way?
Maybe recreate a few seconds from a hot TV show with you mimicking the voices as best ya can and bringin’ your station or promo right into it. I GUARANTEE you’re way more memorable and effective than a stale drop currently airing on four other stations in town.
We all subscribe to the same prod libraries and steal from online demos. So come on, leave‘em behind. I dare you.
LASERZ...WHOOOOOSHESSSS...ZZZAAAAPPPSSS...OOOOOOOOOOHHHHHH...
Once again, tools of the 80s. Borrrrringgggg. Who are you trying to impress?
Listeners don’t care about those flashy robot sounds; .the head of your production department might, your PD THINKS he does. But guess what? Listeners remember what you say – and how you say it – then they want to hear a song.
Try leaving behind your cheesy two CD sets of beeps and whizzes and pop in a DVD of The Matrix and grab something from that and have fun. Either go movie trailer HUGE or captivate them with some shocking writing.
Everything else is kinda mediocre, sorry.
Station Voices
So, you’ve got the amazing opportunity of launching a new radio station and/or are seeking out a new station voice. Oookkay. This has got to stop. There are like FOUR or FIVE voice guys doin’ stations in every market across this country. The SAME four or five guys. What’s WITH that?
Check out a great site like voicebank.net and browse through hundreds/thousands of different voices that no one has EVER used on a radio station. How ‘bout try an agency that does work mostly with voice actors and find someone who can inject LIFE into your promos and sound like a real person for a change instead of the GOD OF THUNDER?
How ‘bout some more female imaging voices? This big voice stuff is fodder for days gone by. It’s become a stigma for radio, it’s what people parody.
Get off the freeway, you’re holding us back a few decades. Proof … Howard Cogan, the voice of Jack FM. He sounds NOTHING like a “radio voice”. He doesn’t say anything a “radio voice” has said before. People are drawn to that. That’s the stuff that wins awards, that’s the stuff that makes us passionate for what we do and makes us breathe into it. And when something breathes, it usually walks around, gets drunk and throws up on your shoes.
I hope this hasn’t offended you. You know what, I hope it did. We are ALL guilty of staying in that safety zone and being at the mercy of what a 43-year-old PD thinks is “HIP”; some of them truly get it, some of them TOTALLY don’t.
If WE continue to think outside the box and bring forth some “out there” ideas (a female imaging voice? You’re crrrraaaaazzzzyy) we’ll have more fun, the listeners will have more fun, and your PD…well, he’ll check with the consultants.
That’s a WHOLE other story.
Trevor Shand does freelance production and voiceover duties for Rogers Vancouver and Toronto. He currently lives in Los Angeles where he is the Production Director and promo voice for KROQ-FM. He may be reached at [email protected].