VO Coaching ...by Rick Gordon

Our very first Workshop held in Ottawa last weekend was a tremendous success thanks to a major contribution from the legendary Harlan Hogan along with other talented speakers and presenters. Everyone in attendance was thrilled at the opportunity to learn about the VO Industry from one of the best. Additional Workshops are planned and interested persons should make sure they are subscribed to this Newsletter for updates.

VO Workshops like any other informative course educate and inform both the participants and the Instructors as well. As a result for requests for more one on one opportunities I am pleased to offer VO Coaching to newcomers and experienced VO talents as well. My unique approach utilizes both Skype and Powergramo providing a recording of the entire session which will be available at no extra charge. Please click here for more information.

I will be contacting all CV members personally inviting them to offer their VO related services on a new CV page in the following categories: Coaching, Production, Copywriting, Books/DVD's. This is a free service to Platinum members.

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Welcome to Sound Ideas

Glen Campbell welcomes all CV Newsletter subscribers and readers with an exciting exclusive offer that you will not find anywhere else. Simply submit your name, mailing address. phone number and email address to Glen monthly...that's all there is to it. First he will offer to send you a Sound Ideas Sampler of many of their terrific products and you will also be eligible to win one of two great Production CD's, Captain Audio (450 sfx) or Mzzz Muzic (200 music tracks). Just click on Glen's name to submit. I have been dealing with Glen at Sound-Ideas for many years both in radio and in VO. He is very knowledgeable and professional about his business and is not a sales-hound if you know what I mean. Give Glen a call anytime at 1-800-665-3000 (within Canada) or 1-800-387-3030 (USA), 905-886-5000 (International). Check out their Blue Plate Specials every month for amazing deals!

Welcome to Sound Ideas Online The world's largest publisher of professional sound effects, royalty free music, and your source for a comprehensive selection of production music and production element libraries.Buy direct from Sound Ideas - our e-commerce Web site offers secure online purchasing of more than 200 different sound effects and stock music products for broadcast, post-production, multimedia, game development and other wireless and entertainment applications.

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When the price goes up the job has gone.........and so has the client!

Very recently a CV VO Talent was requested to record a project by a client who had used him before. The talent tripled the fee for a similar project thinking "Oh Boy!...they want me again ....I must be in demand....now I can make some real money". Guess what? Not only is he wrong in his thinking, the client found another talent and will likely never approach this VO talent again. So, he lost the project and the client, who by the way is running a huge international business.

Lesson learned? Don't ever go there. He had a new client, a big one, with many possibilities for additional work not to mention adding his name to his client list. Greedy? Yes. Wide awake as to the future? No!

Passionately hang on to your clients. If they come back to you again give them an even better deal to show your appreciation for the repeat business. It is easy to add on free extras which are impressive and cost you very little or nothing. For example, give him a free telephony welcome for his business or for his home use or a free web site welcome. Offer to add a little music or sfx to his project, he may not want it but will appreciate the offer. No noise, no fuss, Become his VO solution......make yourself so. Make your name synonymous with VO even if your client needs help in finding another talent. Do your best always to satisfy your clients. In the long run you will be repaid many times over.

Don't ever take a client for granted. Ultimately you will lose him....forever.
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Voice talent and ethics when it comes to controversial opportunities for VO work:

ETHICS & VO SPOTS

Every individual has their own morals, beliefs, ethics and values throughout the journey of life. Sometimes those same qualities are put to the test in the voiceover domain as golden opportunities for money and/or fame to voice certain spots present themselves. Numerous VO spots involving religion, alcohol, politics, smoking, fast food, adult content and war have certainly been around for a very long time. When it comes down to "drawing the line" for some, the choice is simple, as integrity rules all, making it a much easier decision. For others, however, it’s not that simple as the risk versus reward can be viewed quite differently. At the end of the day, it's a personal judgment call and everyone does have the right and responsibility to make their own decision as long as they are comfortable living with it…especially when audio can last beyond a lifetime (as video does).

Regards,

Dean

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An Interview with Jeff Hoyt

Here is a peek into the VO life of a very well known and successful VO Talent. Jeff Hoyt has just about done it all and offers some insight into long-term success in this ever evolving business. Just scroll down our Interview page to hear 38 minutes all about the GreaterRadio Guy as he chats with Rick Gordon.
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The Funnies

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Producer's Corner.
I have headphones, what do I need monitors for???

On many of the recording forums I participate or moderate on, this question comes up time and again. It almost reaches the status of Urban Legend in recording circles, but even more intermediate recordists don't seem be able to understand the limitations on the use of headphones in the studio.
Here's what headphones ARE useful for - critical listening for noises or other sonic aberrations on individual tracks or mixes, and monitoring during tracking where the use of monitors would cause unwanted bleed. That's pretty much it.

"Hey! You left out mixing....!!"

Funny how that worked out, considering the title of the article! The truth is, headphones ARE NOT good mixing tools -- as a matter of fact, headphones don't make good tools at all for ANY sonic decisions.....more

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For those of you that keep up with the ever changing file formats, you may have noticed an increase in non-MP3 audio files on the web. This is due in large part to high-profile sites/companies backing alternate technologies. For example, Apple’s iTunes uses a format called AAC, and Microsoft promotes the use of WMA.

Both AAC and WMA provide a higher quality audio than an MP3 of the same size. AAC and WMA also support more complex audio formats such as Dolby 5.1 and 6.1. The most common implementation of the MP3 supports only basic 2-channel stereo.

The future of the MP3 seems to hinge on a new enhanced MP3 format known as “MP3 Surround”. While currently available; it is not yet widely supported.

If the new “MP3 Surround” format does not start to gain a wider supported base, we may be witnessing the end of the MP3.

For those that like the details, very complete descriptions of the formats can be found on WikiPedia.

AAC http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Audio_Coding
MP3 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MP3
MP3 Surround http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MP3_Surround
WMA http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Media_Audio

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Email Glen: Glen McInnis