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VOICE TRACKS

J

jrjaj

I have and always will HATE voice tracks, especially when the same jock does them for different cities. I think it's bad too when a jock appears to be on 7 days a week, because a voice track is used.

I understand all the bullshit reasoning for this idea. But why not just run buffers and jingles, instead of pretending there is a host. I't especially irritating when "yesterday's" weather forcasts are used to pretend they are that day's.

I always felt the same way about pre-recorded newscasts than ran all-night.

Who cares about "imaging" anymore?

Oh well, who cares about my image anymore?

But I'm not bitter!
 
Hard to believe, but the average listener thinks there is a live jock in the studio when it's really voice tracked. I know this firsthand, as I voice track the 5-6am hour of my weekday morning shift and the whole Saturday 6-10am shift. I have had many people comment "I can't believe you have to work Saturdays" or "How early do you have to get up everyday to be on the air at 5am?"
 
Hard to believe, but the average listener thinks there is a live jock in the studio when it's really voice tracked. I know this firsthand, as I voice track the 5-6am hour of my weekday morning shift and the whole Saturday 6-10am shift. I have had many people comment "I can't believe you have to work Saturdays" or "How early do you have to get up everyday to be on the air at 5am?"
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Back when I was still in the business, I also used to do voicetracking as an adjunct to my daily live show and yes, most people were fooled. The public, not knowing what voicetracking is, will think you're doing a live show, but most of the time it's just bland radio. The voicetrack announcers normally don't have the time to put any real content into the show and it sounds just generic...yes, they might as well not voicetrack at all.

As I've said before, the only truly good use of voicetracking I ever heard was done by late Jackson Armstrong at KB during their revival a few years back. But he poured his heart into it and it was just great to hearing him doing his act again. I wish KB had kept all his VTs and they could play them over and over again.

But overall, voicetracking sucks.
 
Some guys and ladies are very good at local voice-tracking (not talking about VT'ing Muncie, Austin, Scranton, Boise and Roanoke from hub-central in Syracuse.) Knowing how to localize and use the particular automation systems can make a big difference. As has been noted, radio has devolved so much over the past ten years that normal live formatics don't allow for much creativity in the first place, so in many (but not all) cases, VT'ing doesn't make much difference.
 
Sadly most listeners don't care if it's voicetracked or not. For good reason, live or voicetracked the last station I worked for didn't allow us to do enough content to make it matter.

As a listener I hate voicetracking. I feel that if I show up to listen someone needs to be there to do the show.

At the last station I worked for I preferred to do voicetracks. Being there live was boring, the computer ran the show with the jock inserting the same old insipid liners 5 times an hour.

I don't think listeners can be fooled by "positioning statements" nor do they care or even hear them. They will decide for themselves what your station is.

I love radio, when it's good it can be warm, topical, funny and relatable.
 
I worked at a station where I did some voicetracking around my live shift. I poured my heart & soul into trying to make it sound lively and interesting. The suits could have cared less. Unless voicetracking is done extremely well, (expample: Jackson Armstrong at KB) I think the public does know it is canned. There is one station here in Rochester that seems to be V. T. 24/7 and everybody I know that listens to it knows it.
Off the top off my head the only station that is mostly V. T. I can think of that is successful, ratings wise, and is a major player in the market would be WARM 101
 
More and more stations are opting for voice tracking , syndication, or automation. Even stations that claim to have local personalities. The only times I've heard local voices is during the mornings and perhaps sometimes afternoons. Again this is just another way for station owners to save a few bucks. I've got to the point now that when I'm on the road I just slip in a CD and listen to music I enjoy. I'm sure many other people are doing the same thing.
 
FWIW, most NPR stations are essentially voicetracked most of their day. Yet most people would consider them to be shining examples of "good radio".

As always, it's not the technology that's bad. Technology is almost always neutral. Instead, it's the way people choose to use technology that's "bad". Many commercial radio outlets have chosen to use voicetracking as a means of cost cutting to the extreme. With that attitide, it's not surprising that what's left isn't very good (in the aggregate).
 
I was at KB when the Armstrong voice tracks were used. I will agree that those were the best I've ever heard.

I guess I'm just mooning for the "good old days" of live radio.
 
John Jarrett said:
I was at KB when the Armstrong voice tracks were used. I will agree that those were the best I've ever heard.

I guess I'm just mooning for the "good old days" of live radio.
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Agreed, and you're not the only one!

Jackson Armstrong was the right guy for the job and he was given the freedom to do it.

My feeling is Jack always sounded like he was having a good time on the radio, it was something he loved doing. If the jock is good and he's having fun, it spreads to the listeners.
 
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