Happy New Year to All

Well I'm happy that even though I was busy all throughout Thanksgiving and Christmas, I still managed to do several auditions a week. I'm looking forward to this week when everyone is really returning to their studios and getting back to production demands. My months have been rearranging demos, writing and recording new ones, and focusing on both IVR and phone work, as well as seeking an agent for kid voice acting roles. 

The fact that I'm looking into the lower rung of work and a higher niche specialty doesn't bother me at all. I am no longer going to follow the "guide-books" to success in voice over. Though basics may apply, like most of show biz I believe a lot of finding your place or voice if you will, is doing. I am focusing on continuing doing. I'm smoothing my regular "conversational" and "informational" voice as much I can, regularizing my corporate dry and more monotone delivery, and branching out into using my throat more in kids scripts and noises.

I've taken a special interest in getting work with children's learning apps. There seems to be a lot of new apps for learning on kids tablets happening right now. I'd love to grow with a few of those in either singing or fun instructional delivery of scripts. "Great job" and stuff like that is some of the scripts I've seen. If anyone knows a good agent suitable for those types of roles, feel free to clue me in. I'll trade you... something?

I'm happy that right now I am in a quiet space, with no computer issues or hissing, am using Sony Music 9 or Audacity for editing, and can do some pretty fast turn-around times. The output I've got is something like this - [edit] - Blogger is having issues uploading video, and doesn't have a sound upload yet, so if you want to hear my current mic configuration with the little engine that could "Behringer" preamp visit the below link. Let's prosper.

https://www.voices.com/people/FrankieTease

What is 'Broadcast Quality'?

I remember hearing the term 'broadcast quality' in radio back in '98, but that was a term related to analog and actual film. I've heard it a few times in conversations and seen it written recently in my studies, related to Voice Over. I've been really curious to understand what that might mean in our now all digital world of file delivery. 

First, it's my understanding that quality can be sacrificed at any point in the equipment set up and recording process. I know you have to have a good quality mic that is designed for vocals. I know that it should be xlr so  to usb  for recording on computers if you want a good quality (usb mics are not well liked). I also know that the preamp can affect the sound of your voice considerably, the recording volume, and finally what software you're mixing with. Wait. That's a misconception. According to tons of professionals, the software you're using will not lower the quality of your voice (unless you put a bunch of silly bad effects on it). I know feel there are other misconceptions and that the term 'broadcast quality' has actually change its meaning. This is important related to the explosion of home studio voice over vs. being in a professional whisper sound booth with thousands of dollars of higher end equipment. 

I went searching for what the industry is using this old term for and I found the following quote. "Editor In Chief Paul White replies: 'Broadcast quality' is a bit of a vague term, as much of the material that goes out on air now is data-compressed in some way (a bit like an MP3), so it doesn't really refer to a specific technical benchmark. I think what it means is that the material has to sound good on the radio and stand up well alongside commercial records, which in turn means recording a good performance and choosing a suitable range of sounds, then mixing it all carefully so as to avoid unwanted noise or distortion. [soundonsound.com]".

So, it really is about making sure there is no feedback, static or white noise, no red hot levels to create distortion your recordings (this isn't grunge rock), mixed with the specific configuration of each of our audio chains. I still think there is a mix of concepts around this term, but I'm going to walk away from my search with the conclusion that as long a I have a quality microphone, eliminate outside interference in the equipment and environment, don't add a lot of odd effects that could ruin the quality, (perhaps mix the levels to avoid any high tones) it seems I will have a quality recording suitable for broadcast. I'm sure the term 'your mileage may vary' 100% applies here, but its an interesting discussion.