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Need Pro advice on Production sample.

R

RFGeek919

Hello :) I am really interested in knowing how my production sounds. If anyone wants to take the time to listen and give me some free advice I would REALLY appreciate it! I have volunteered at serveral radio stations since I was in Jr. High and always had an interest in it since I was a kid. I now volunteer at my local college radio and like to do production for my shows and the station. I use Cool Edit 2.0 and have added some sound bites, and effects with some hand editing to make the studder sound effect. I hope to somtime get into radio, and thats why I need some Constructive critisism. Here are some samples of my work from Recent to the oldest.

(recent production)
1.
http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=download&ufid=6B52B6E408DCF1B5

2. http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=download&ufid=A09BF94A169FD2E1

(older production)

3. http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=download&ufid=28CD53C422356B3C

4. http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=download&ufid=DBF6EFD13BBEF52C

Thanks, these are the better ones I have done. I feel that the vocals could be sharper and I could probly add more stuff to them to make it more energetic. Let me know what you think. Thanks so much for taking your time.. I appreciate any feedback. :)

-- RF Geek
 
If I'm supposed to be able to understand the legal ID, I can't.

KURE Ames maybe? (according to Radio-locator I'm right)

Whatever effects you apply, the words are the most important part of the production. They should never be lost in the effects.

You have a very tenor voice. That is both a good thing and a bad thing. It is good because you're different than all those baritones running around VO houses. It is bad because several potential clients will shun you because you sound like a sissy. I know a guy who has this problem. At first listen, people aren't sure which gender he is. You aren't as bad as that.

A DJ with the tenor voice is OK, but many advertising clients think that the bassy sound gets them better results.

In a nutshell:
- Be careful with the effects.
- Realize that you aren't the most attractive VO artist out there. You'll probably just have to live with it. One of the real pros might have real tips.
 
Thanks for your honest feedback. It helps when I can atleaset get some outside opinions. The things you said will help me with my future productions for sure! I enjoy what I do, and I am not bound to give up, even if I end up at a small community radio somewhere, atleast I am doing what I love.. that is radio. My voice has always been a bit higher than most, I could lower it, but probly will not be enough to compete against other jocks/voicetrackers. I don't intend to smoke, my health is worth more than that ;)
I think next time, I will have to make sure my voice is higher than the effects, I have noticed some words (like you say) get drowned in it.
Thanks again for the advice!

With respect,

RF Geek
 
I think next time, I will have to make sure my voice is higher than the effects
Click to expand...

Try a healthy dose of compression to help thicken up your voice. Try to focus on your strengths, maybe your strength lies in the "producing" aspect of imaging. There are tons of voices out there that need a good producer to help make them sizzle.

Have fun and keep up the good work.
 
Voices

Don't worry about your voice. If you speak clearly, enunciate well, get the emphasis on the right syllables, and can capture the spirit of the copy, you'll do fine. Voices that stand out and have a distinctive character are in demand. Casey Kasem is no basso profundo, but he's done OK. The delivery is the key. If you can sell the product with your voice, you'll get work.

You probably don't have a voice that's cut out for station imaging, so I think you should concentrate on commercials and promo material. Develop a "regular guy" persona. Take some acting lessons. Learn to listen to yourself critically and learn to use the talent you have. Sterling Holloway made a pretty good living at Disney and in films with a distinctive tenor voice.
 
RF,

Your production has some good points and some points where it can use a little work. To beef up your voice a little bit of reverb, EQ, and compression. Also just keep practicing your reads and vary your reads, some excited and upbeat and use inflection. As for the production side, repeating what was said above about not over effecting the voice to where it is un-understandable or adding to many elements to where it drowns out the voice. My other thoughts are that the pieces seem to have no momentum, add some more music and add some depth. It all comes with practice, I think you have a solid start on the production side. It takes time and practice, remember let your imagination run wild, and then put that in your editor to make the magic. On a side note, the elements sound a little dated, not much you can change there. just keep your ears open for beats and sounds that are cool. Also search out voice and production demos and try to imitate what you hear to build technique and ideas. Also take a look at www.audiomastersforum.org and www.adobe.com's userforums to network with other CEP/AA user. Questions let me know.

James lee
 
I unfortunately came too late to this party be able to comment on your production directly...

but... judging from some of the comments here.. here are a couple of suggestions...


to thicken up a tenor....

use a little bit of reverb with a high cut filter on the wet portion of the mix, and a VERY short tail. gate, and compress to taste. you may also want to use a little EQ before the compression if you are finding that you sound a little muffled (a wide band with about a 3db boost centered around 5k... and a narrow boost at 15k to add "air")

you may also want to pic up these fx......


http://www.uv.es/~ruizcan/p_vst.htm - x- cita---- be careful with the phasing on this one... but it is good for thickening vocal, and for use in mastering spots.


on the same site... bass expander is also pretty good.


http://mp3.deepsound.net/plugins_dynamique.php - this site has a ton of great stuff on it.... the maxbass,Baxxpander, multiband and a couple others are nice.....


look around on the net....tons of good plugs that can help out.....



scott h (a.k.a-fresnel)
 
would anyone care to take a listen to my stuff? This is an imaging demo i threw together, I'm a production/imaging director right now, but always looking for some tips and advice. Just a note this is not me as the voice, we have our own VO guy, also we are an oldies station and we try not to get right into peoples faces, i try to use humor a lot.


http://www.billsresume.net/radio/wmueller_breaker.mp3
 
So according to my webstats 16 people downloaded my demo, and no comments!? haha, come on guys I'm a big boy I can take it haha. I'd appreciate your feedback, thanks!
 
The only thing I would change is make the first liner ("we don't need special fx to make us sound good") a dry read.

Sounds good to me.

And yes, I was one of the 16.
 
Thanks everyone for your response, since the first post of my production I had created some new ones with the production tips in mind. I will post the new ones up once I am happy with them. I also appreciate the plug-in link for the cool edit programme, I will try them when I have the chance. I have been busy with alot of stuff, like job searches, shows, etc. Thanks again to everyone in the field for your valuable advice, I feel fortunate to have that, without boards like this, It would be hard to get the inside scoop in the world of professional radio. I will be back with some new productions soon.. hopfully!!

With much respect always,

-- RF Geek
 
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