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Hey (current and former) radio guys
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Moosevoice
Club 300


Joined: 16 Nov 2012
Posts: 384
Location: Iowa

PostPosted: Wed Jan 15, 2020 8:50 am    Post subject: Hey (current and former) radio guys Reply with quote

Which of you are either current or former radio guys?
I ask because a VO coach recently told me that I've got a lot of 'radio sound' in my voice yet.
FD, I am still doing a morning radio show.

I'm wondering how you got the 'radio sound' out of your VO reads.
Thanks,
Moose
PS." It's 950. 10 til 10 o'clock!" Wink
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BruceG
Been Here Awhile


Joined: 01 Jun 2012
Posts: 257
Location: just south of Boston, MA

PostPosted: Wed Jan 15, 2020 9:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi Moose! I worked for 12 years part time in radio YEARS ago (left the biz in 2002). When I started my VO journey several years ago I found that I had the same issue, albeit not as pronounced (see what I did there?) as when I was still working in radio.

For me, practicing storytelling has helped me immensely overall. I've been working with my coach for almost a year-and-a-half and have seen measurable growth, especially with my reads for E-learning projects. I also try to do as much reading out loud as I can, every day, to augment the practice I do with narration and commercial scripts for my coaching sessions homework.

I hope this helps - comin' up NEXT, MORE hits from the 80s, 90s and TODAY!
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Lee Gordon
A Zillion


Joined: 25 Jul 2008
Posts: 6843
Location: West Hartford, CT

PostPosted: Wed Jan 15, 2020 9:43 am    Post subject: Re: Hey (current and former) radio guys Reply with quote

Moosevoice wrote:
" It's 950. 10 til 10 o'clock!"


You forgot the temperature. Rolls Eyes

This isn't the answer for everyone, but I think it helped me. Whenever possible, work without headphones. In radio, you pretty much have no choice but to use them, so you're always hearing an intensified version of yourself (especially if you're hearing yourself post-processing) and it tends to make you concentrate on your "sound" and not so much on acting. So, do whatever you can to forget about your voice or your sound and just concentrate on the message.
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Mike Harrison
M&M


Joined: 03 Nov 2007
Posts: 2029
Location: Equidistant from New York City and Philadelphia, along the NJ Shore

PostPosted: Wed Jan 15, 2020 11:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

What both Bruce G and Lee said. Especially Lee's suggestion and for exactly his reason.
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Mike
Male Voice Over Talent
I have taken leave of my sensors.

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Bruce
Boardmeister


Joined: 06 Jun 2005
Posts: 7921
Location: Portland, OR

PostPosted: Wed Jan 15, 2020 11:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Take stage acting classes or tryout for amateur theater. Through these you practice being a "real" person (usually) in front of 10 people, or more if you're in a play. In my experience theater actors make the easiest transition into VO.

I've found Toastmasters to be a great experience for myself and others. It teaches you to slow down, not over emote, engage the audience, and win them over to your side. And again they usually have a small audience which is who you're normally performing for in voiceover.

And of course a basic trick is to read to just one person. A friend, a loved one, a lover. Those people you care about would be quite turned off if you tried to talk "radio style" to them.

Luckily, early in my radio career I had an experienced jock pull me aside and suggest I should stop "puking", or playing with my voice. It was a big help.


B
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Moosevoice
Club 300


Joined: 16 Nov 2012
Posts: 384
Location: Iowa

PostPosted: Wed Jan 15, 2020 1:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bruce wrote:


Luckily, early in my radio career I had an experienced jock pull me aside and suggest I should stop "puking", or playing with my voice. It was a big help.


B


But that's the thing is I haven't 'puked' in...well, ever. My Morning radio show is very much a 'conversation' type show.
And with all honesty and humility here, I don't think my stuff 'sounds radio'ish'

moosevoice.com, 'demos' if you wanna give a quick listen and, please, tell me if I'm way off base.
thanks
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Bruce
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Joined: 06 Jun 2005
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Location: Portland, OR

PostPosted: Wed Jan 15, 2020 2:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

This is super simplification, but what often makes a radio voice a radio voice is diaphragmatic pushing while you talk. It makes you clearer and better understood when there's competing audio on the air, but it's not needed for a natural or conversational style read. I've known voice talents that have a deep buzzy part to their voice which is enhanced by diaphragmatic push, and the best thing they can do to sound natural is lose that. Only use the mid and upper ranges. Don't push so hard.

On your demo you headed in the softer direction in three of the last cuts. I'd try demos with more of that style.... maybe something super soft, sexy, or sweet up front.

You know what's really "funny" here, is when I listen to several national commercials on TV or radio, at least half are read in radio or carnival barker style. Heck at least half of my demo clips are announcery, often as a parody of the announcery style, but still, elevated in power and tone.

I guess the lesson here is develop and promote a more natural read so you can expand your offerings, but keep the more driven read because you will always make money off of that too.


B
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todd ellis
A Zillion


Joined: 02 Jan 2007
Posts: 10479
Location: little egypt

PostPosted: Wed Jan 15, 2020 3:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

i've been free since 1997 - but, like bruce, i had a PD early in my radio days that badgered (most) of the traditional radio sound out of my voice. he said, "just talk. don't think about it ... just talk." i remember that all the time.
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Frank F
Fat, Old, and Sassy


Joined: 10 Nov 2004
Posts: 4421
Location: Park City, Utah

PostPosted: Wed Jan 15, 2020 5:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Choose (D: ) All of the above.

Talk to yourself out loud while practicing a read... while recording the script. Do NOT read it like you are going to do it for radio... tell the story of the script as if someone is sitting next to you in an intimate setting and intent on your every word.

Then, listen back to your "practice" reads before you do the actual recording.
Listen for the nuances of how you are saying a complete sentence and not a staccato variation of the text.

Our business is all about talking out loud what you hear in your head.

F2

Forgot to add: 20 years radio and total 47 years as a VO Artiste' (LOL)
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Last edited by Frank F on Wed Jan 15, 2020 6:51 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Dan-O
The Gates of Troy


Joined: 17 Jan 2005
Posts: 1636

PostPosted: Wed Jan 15, 2020 5:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

18 year radio vet. It took me 3 years of coaching to break it. The struggle to change was caused by pride, old demons, and fear of losing current clients. I thought I knew what I was doing, because of the accolades I received from my radio friends. What I came to realize is I had to become an actor.

Radio taught me so many bad VO habits while doing my daily production duties: rip-n-read script interpretation and making it sound slick to put lipstick on that pig of a read to name a couple.

Here's what I do know: radio and VO are completely different beasts and the only thing they share is the use of a mic. The level of intimacy, reflection, preparation, and control needed for an authentic VO vs a radio read is night and day.

Kudos to your coach and to you for seeking the way out.

Addendum: There is no right or wrong here, only the type of work you wish to pursue. I was doing quite well by all standards with my radio read. But the desire to work in promo, trailers and documentaries was greater than the financial risk I was willing to take by shifting my reads into a style my current clients simply didn't want.
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ricevoice
Cinquecento


Joined: 28 Dec 2007
Posts: 532
Location: Sacramento, CA

PostPosted: Wed Jan 15, 2020 8:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Same... 15 years on air, several years of coaching to break it. One thing that helped me to finally get it was to think of the microphone as someone's ear... not worrying about trying to cut through the music/sfx/processing/etc (and letting the engineer worry about that stuff) and just talking to someone. "Conversational" radio is still usually much more projected and affected than real conversation.
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Deirdre
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Joined: 10 Nov 2004
Posts: 13016
Location: East Jesus, Maine

PostPosted: Thu Jan 16, 2020 8:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Some people you know are significantly successful in helping people move thru "the radio read".
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Bob Bergen
CM


Joined: 22 Apr 2008
Posts: 937

PostPosted: Thu Jan 16, 2020 8:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I think you could substitute "radio" read with "conversational" read. I have never done radio, but my issue was nailing that conversational read.

Two years of vo classes and I still sounded like I was reading. I took a break from vo classes and dove into acting and improv classes. That was the trick. I had zero acting technique when I first studied vo. I knew not of subtext, intent, relationships, etc. Before acting training I wasn't comfortable at the mic in my own skin. I had no tools to make the words my own, as if they were extemporaneous, off the cuff. Since I was reading solo I never took into account a scene partner. That scene partner is there. Their lines and my relationship to them is in my head. But I still had to relate to that scene partner, even in a read for detergent or a sale of sedans. With solid acting training I had the skills to read vo copy in the same way I just shoot the shit with family and friends. I was able to infuse myself into the words.

I then went back to vo for another two years of training and it was night and day. But it took a lot of work. The first 9 months in acting class felt like I was spinning my wheels. Then, bam! I "got it." I connected with the technique being taught and was able to apply it to the script. The script is a skeleton. Our job is to give it a body. The body is made up of many layers of nuance and interest.

So my advice mirrors DB's. Study acting and improv! You cannot perform Shakespeare in radio voice. Or Arthur Miller, Mamet, etc.
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Philip Banks
Je Ne Sais Quoi


Joined: 20 Jun 2005
Posts: 11046
Location: Portgordon, Scotland

PostPosted: Fri Jan 17, 2020 6:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

This, just this!

Opening contribution from lead guitarist of The Carpenters! He's got you guys nailed!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teBV0EoJJY8

Of course we mustn't forget this ....

https://soundcloud.com/philip-banks/aircheck


Last edited by Philip Banks on Fri Jan 17, 2020 6:22 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Jack Daniel
Cinquecento


Joined: 23 Jun 2016
Posts: 574
Location: SoCal

PostPosted: Fri Jan 17, 2020 6:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Philip Banks wrote:

Opening contribution from lead guitarist of The Carpenters!


It's like he's a friend, just talking into my ear. With a hammer.
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