Rich Van Slyke
by Rich Van Slyke
Imagine if you will the perfect day: you just got a new effects package, your computer is working perfectly and you have all day to produce two promos for the station in your cluster that plays your favorite music. GREAT! Then suddenly, the door opens, the lights dim, and you hear a Don LaFontaine voice over: “In a world, where ordinary men are overworked, and radio sales reps are always hot and demanding, one line brings fear into the hearts of the radio production guy or gal. And that line is:
“OK Everybody, Let’s Re-fresh the Imaging!” ….. ahhhhhhh (screams from the studio)
Well, don’t panic, cause I’ve got a few tips that will help you get the job done faster and make the new imaging sound great! So buckle your seatbelts, and fire up Adobe Audition. Here comes The Top 5 Secrets to Fast and Fantastic Production!
Secret Number One: Divide the pile.
There’s no way your going to have time to do an award winning job on every sweeper. So pick out a few that will really matter. The ones your PD is likely to focus on. The ones that promote your most important elements on the station. Morning show sweepers, music hook sweepers, Web site sweepers. Set those aside and plan on spending a lot of time making the sound perfect. The rest? Well you should make sound great, but don’t waste too much time.
I did an interesting experiment one time. I took two sweepers that were about the same length. One, I took 30 minutes to produce. I made sure all the effects were perfect, the music was just right, and the production flawless. Then, the second sweeper, which was the same liner, I whipped together in 10 minutes. I literally started the clock and when the 10 minutes was up, I stopped. Instead of carefully reviewing each effect and bed, I just grabbed the first one off the pile. Then I called in my PD and played both sweepers. I asked him, “which one do you like best?” He said the SECOND one, the one that only took 10 minutes! Which proves sometimes we waste a lot of time deciding which effect or bed to use when they all sound great.
The key is to avoid too much evaluation. And just focus on completion. Then, when it’s time to produce the ones you have selected to be award winners, you’ll have the time to go crazy and enjoy! I would do one of the award winners first thing in the morning. It will put you in a good mood to crank stuff out the rest of the day.
Secret Number Two: Make a trick list.
The idea here is to use techniques you haven’t used before, or haven’t used in a long time.
If you create a list of your favorite production tricks, and effects, you can speed right through the production of the new imaging. Instead of spending a lot of time trying to determine which trick to use on which sweeper, just go right down the list. The truth is, they all sound good and you’re using up valuable time when you are trying to figure out which one to use. To help you, here’s a list of cool tricks.
- Old fashioned jingle! (Find on the internet, use a short sing like “great radio!”)
2. Put words on the beats! (Use a drum loop.)
3. Shout! (Make it short and quick, layer the voices.)
4. Sound effects! (Drop in a boing, or a toilet flush.)
5. Song bite! (Grab one small piece of a song that sings “music.”)
6. Repeat a word with different voices! (Grab 3 other people at the station, have them say the same word, “hits” then line them up one after the other.)
7. Stop the music! (In the middle of the sweeper, stop the music for dramatic effect.)
8. Female whisper echo! (Have a female on staff whisper the line and use it after your voice guy as an echo.)
9. Psycho Panner! (Pan the vo on a phrase from left to right and back.)
10. EQ! (Filter out all the low end.)
11. Reverse Cymbal! (Find a cymbal crash. Now flip it around backwards. Use that as a buildup to a key word or phrase. Works great when you stop the music.)
12. Change the vo effect on the beat! (Every two beats, change from chorus to filter to flanger.)
13. Stereo VO! (Double the vo to 2 tracks, now pan each one hard left and hard right. Then, move one ahead a few 10ths of a second)
14. Beats! (Use just a few beats of a drum loop as a stand alone effect, leading to a voice.)
15. Distortion. (Best of used for very short phrases, use a filter to cut low end.)
Secret Number Three: Use song intros
One of the most time consuming things about refreshing all the imaging is finding good music beds. To do it quickly, grab a bunch of CDs from the PD and use the intros from the songs you’ll never play on the air. Mix these in with the beds you get from your production CDs/Web sites. Try to go through them quickly. Play only 2 or 3 seconds of each bed to see if you like it. Don’t waste time searching through each song. Just listen to the intros.
Secret Number Four: Ask your friends to trade. And use shells.
Once you have completed the above step, call up two friends and ask them to do the same. You will triple you collection of beds to use. That should be plenty for a new batch of sweepers. Do the same for drops. And custom effects you’ve created. Trade your list of tricks too. The idea is to gather as many different tools as possible, and then go through them quickly. And if your company or prod service provides imaging shells, don’t hesitate to use them! Using a shell does not mean you are not creative. They are perfect for getting things done fast!
Secret Number 5: Direct your voice guy.
A great way to refresh the imaging is to get different reads from your voice talents. Most voice talents will assume you want the lines delivered the way you always have. So why not mix it up a little by directing them! As consultant Ed Shane likes to say: “Johnny Depp doesn’t go on the set without a director. Why shouldn’t a good voice talent have the same benefit?” Direct them to talk a little softer, a little cooler, a little more relaxed. Then, have them throw in alternative voices. The trick is to use only short phrases of the alternative takes. Here’s a useful list of whacky voices to stimulate some ideas. Instead of wasting time thinking up different sounds, use your own list and get it done quickly!
1. Circus Announcer
2. Cowboy
3. Gay
4. Drunk!
5. Army Sergeant
6. Auctioneer
7. Beer vendor
8. Redneck
9. Ben Stein
10. Grandpa
11. Igor (sick & twisted)
12. Horse race
13. Intense Whisper
14. Sweet talk to a pet
15. Girls Gone Wild!
16. Sing!
17. Indian
18. Storyteller
19. Dumb and dumber
20. Natural voice
Now you have several new tools to help you refresh your imaging faster. But, don’t forget to pick out a couple to really spend a lot of time working on and make them sound perfect. These will be your award winners. And don’t be surprised if some of the imagers you put together quickly win some awards too!
Rich VanSlyke is a voice guy on WNOR, KDKA, WGRD, WKQZ, WKZQ, WKLR, WRXW, KZOZ, WIXO, KCBL, WSFM, KKPL, WRZK, and more. If you want some free stuff, drop him a line at richvs@bellsouth.net or go to www.richvanslyke.com.
