Episode 153, August 11, 2014

Guest: Dave Courvoisier

Dan and George both in the same place!

George compares mics

Questions answered. Send them to [email protected]

0:01:10 Opening video

0:01:52 There they are in Santa Monica together.

0:03:00 Dan learns how to drive and park in Southern California.

0:05:18 Questions from the audience

0:05:46 Q: I’m using Audacity. What steps should I do after I record? 

A: If you don’t know what something does, don’t use it. George talks about a long discussion thread about mastering with

Audacity. He talks about settings. Use each tool separately and then listen to understand what each piece is doing. Levelator is a onestop, draganddrop that does something to files. It’s one size fits all. All these tools need to be tweaked by someone who understands audio engineering.

0:10:14 George comments on the process. Dan adds that there are better programs, like Adobe Audition or SoundForge, or on Mac, Twisted Wave.

0:11:30 TwistedWave has had an update that allows easy installation of “stacks (sets of

processing steps).

0:12:15 Audacity is like your first bike. It gets you around town, but there are better bikes out there.

0:13:50 Just because it’s free doesn’t mean Audacity is the right tool.

0:14:06 Q: There’s a lot of talk about ISDN alternatives. What about AudioTX? A: George says

AudioTX’s issue now is price, it has a “hasp” that you need but can’t replace, and it’s Windows

only. AudioTX is complicated to use for ISDN.

0:16:09 George shows all the boxes of parts needed to make AudioTX work.

0:16:35 George asks Dan if he was ever able to get AudioTX work on ISDN. Dan says, “Never.”

0:18:19 George points out ISDN gear is getting cheaper as ISDN dies a slow death.

0:19:19 Break while Dan and George “breathe on each other.”

0:20:18 Celestial Brothers moment from Grand Budapest Hotel.

0:20:35 They’re back.

0:21:30 Whittam’s World on shotgun mics. (Ep. 31:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQ31DZBQg4)

0:28:59 Back to the guys. Discussion about shotgun mics follows. It’s not the equipment that

will get you the work.

0:30:40 They move on the the Scarlett 2i2. They recommended it once, but now there are

some quality issues popping up.

0:32:15 Price and reliability. Beware of bargain prices—QC may not be there.

0:33:00 Because they’re so cheap, buy two, to have a backup.

0:34:26 Break

0:35:55 SpongeBob!

0:36:18 They’re back with Courvo. He talks about his career on TV.

0:37:50 Dave describes his VO career and how he found the VO community so supportive.

0:39:42 Dave’s book, “More than Just a Voice,” is now out. The book pulls together the best of

his blogs over the last seven years. Dave discusses.

0:40:41 Where the title came from.

0:42:26 How is the book arranged? Dave describes the chapter organization.

0:44:29 George asks where he gets his inspiration for his blog.

0:47:00 Dave’s next book is on social media, but stuff happens so fast. He does print on

demand.

0:48:09 Q: Does report on tragic news stories get outweighed by positive stories? A: Dave talks

about how he builds emotional calluses.

0:49:55 Q: How truetolife

is Anchor Man? A: Dave describes real life work.

0:51:29 Dan asks about Dave’s station’s social media involvement.

0:52:35 Q: You’ve said it’s a challenge coming from one form of entertainment to another. A:

Dave talks about the “patterned speech” rut that he’s had to get coached past. He’s had to

“detune.”

0:54:14 Q: Do you prefer oncamera

or VO? A: After 30 years, TV pays the bills, but when the

time is right…

0:54:50 Q: What surprised you the most in VO and what was total BS? A: The surprise was

how giving the VO community is. As for BS—early on, he started gathering equipment and get

caught up in the “tech.” Dan calls it “severe acquisition syndrome.”

0:56:07 Q: Any tips on managing a full time while building a VO career? A: Dave has a site on

how to do this. Ask him to join. You have to find the balance. He’s up until 3 in the morning after

the 11 o’clock news to do VO work. He misses work during the day because of his day job.

0:57:21 Q: Do you sleep? A: I do, but not your hours, 311.

He automates his tweets and blog.

0:58:22 Q: How do you like the audiobook of your new book? A: Dave found it pretty easy. Fun.

Coming soon.

0:59:10 Q: What software to you use to automate your social media. A:

https://www.socialoomph.com/

1:01:06 Harlan Hogan sells books! http://voiceoveressentials.com/ (see career resources)

1:02:00 MixerFace coming soon. Good for iPhone, tablet, windows or mac:

http://voiceoveressentials.com/content/MixerFace.htm

1:04:09 Dan’s wife calls.

1:05:10 Harlan’s books.

1:05:53 Announcements. Thanks to donors, including monthly ones. To donate, go to

http://www.ewabs.net/ and click on the DONATE button, in the upper right.

1:07:29 EWABS Essentials:

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=EWABS+Essentials. Check it out! Small bites

of great info.

1:08:16 Next week: Connie Terwilliger on Aug. 18

1:08:26 Aug. 25: Social Media Roundtable.

1:09:18 Labor Day: no show.

1:10:01 They’ll air the show recorded at Voice2014. “Live to Drive.”

1:11:08 Thanks to sponsors, Harlan, VoiceOverXtra, and Edge Studio. Edge has new ways of

producing demos. The goal is to launch the new Edge website by Voice2014.

1:12:19 Acknowledgements to the wives and staff.

1:15:22 George shows his new keyboard from eBay.

1:16:45 They sign off.

1:16:57 VoiceOverXtra spot. http://www.voiceoverxtra.com/

1:17:31 Voice2014 spot. http://www.voice2014.com/

1:20:11 End of Show.