I had a session scheduled yesterday with a large national client (MTV/Viacom). The session was one of those “maybe Monday or Tuesday” type bookings and when the client is of that nature, you make both days available to them. Comes with the territory. Anyway, it should have been as simple as: client sends copy, dials in on the ISDN line, talent reads copy, takes direction, reads copy again, studio in New York records talent, session ends…Everyone’s happy… It should have been that simple, but at 2:05 in the afternoon, I found myself thinking that had this day taken place earlier in my career, I probably would have cried…
I would have normally been at the studio in the early morning hours the day of any session just to make sure all my ducks were in a row and that everything was working. Only this time, I had just been there the night before and everything was working. I don’t make a habit out of dismantling my studio each night before I leave, so you should be able to get there an hour early, turn on the lights, adjust a few faders and then go get some coffee, so that’s what did.
I arrived at the studio right at 2; the session was scheduled at 3. I went in and noticed both of the ISDN lines were listed as inactive on the face of the codec, which is probably the worst thing the led readout can say when you walk in. I immediately stopped to analyze what I may have done to trip the phone line and started crawling around under the console looking for any snafu connections. When I didn’t find anything wrong with the wiring, I followed it back to the terminal adapter, which was flashing the “Hey buddy, I am not going to work today” light. I unplugged the phone line and plugged it back in. No dice. I rebooted the machine.. No dice. I started looking around for the hidden camera that was sure to be taping me as I grew more concerned, and was certain that somewhere in America was a TV audience laughing at my misfortune.
I left and went outside to check the line at the box.. No dice.. It was fine. So I went back in and picked up the phone to call the telephone company and… No dice. That phone didn’t work either. So I tried the studio line… No dice… Then the fax machine…you guessed it… No dice… Every single phone line coming in was dead. I found myself back outside looking into the sky expecting to find a guy hanging from a pole that I could yell at… No dice… I had no one to blame, no one to ask and no way of finding an answer.. Then the cell phone rang. It was the studio in New York looking to test the connection… Should I even say it again?.. Ok… Sure.. No dice.
I had to tell them I was dead in the water and there was no way that I could see getting the lines up and running unless they just magically came on in the next 20 minutes. The engineer said “Ok, I’ll call you when the client gets here” and hung up the phone.. At least my cell was working. As I said earlier, if this had been my first gig, or had happened to me a long time ago, I would have been immeasurably upset. But I have been around a while, and though disappointing, this was not the end of the world. By the time the client reached the studio in Manhattan, I was still in the dark as far as phone lines went.
When I talked to the client, he began to shrug and sigh and I could tell he wasn’t happy. At that point I offered to record the reads in my studio and just ship them up to him on an FTP server. Right away he said, “Yeah, that sounds great. Go ahead and get them to us, we’ll be finishing the video and when we get the reads we’ll toss them in and get back to you.” I was really relieved that they were willing to do this. Then I remembered why they were:
1) They had worked with me in the past were aware that my studio was up to network quality standards.
2) They were aware of how I read copy and how I responded to direction.
3) They were familiar with my abilities and knew that I understood the product, the script and what type of read they were looking for.
I don’t think I would have had the luxury of doing the production work in my studio had any of the above not been true. To me it is a mark that I have arrived somewhat, and that all of the effort I put into designing my studio was well worth it. I went on to record the scripts, ship the audio and nail it the first time. They were able to use my stuff and didn’t need to dillydally around waiting for me to record the scripts again. Now it was time to relax a bit. I guess I just got lucky. Or, years of hard work and experience were finally paying off. One way or the other the client is happy and I will live to read another day.
It is through these articles, where I share the day-to-day happenings in the studio where things go right and wrong that I hope to enable new talent to make better decisions as they move along in their journey down Voice Over Lane. I cant stress enough that if you want to step up from the minors in this business and you want to be able to run a studio from your house, you are going to have to make a commitment to practice the craft of voice over as much as you can, build the best studio you can and outfit it with the best equipment you can afford.
ISDN, as those who have it probably already know, is a high end product and technology used primarily by the higher echelon of voice over production companies. More often than not, when you are patching to a studio via ISDN you are linking with another studio that is well versed in the language and function of recording voice over. Generally most of the players in the ISDN game know exactly what they want during a session and are willing to pay upwards of $3.00 a minute in phone and long distance charges to get it. It’s much the same as people who drive $140,000 cars; they aren’t too concerned with the price of gas.
It is generally safe to assume that if you have a client who wants to dial you up, they are looking for a higher end product than say, people who dial in to a phone patch. The phone patch gang still wants good quality, but hasn’t or couldn’t make the leap into the ISDN arena. The people who continue to spend money on this 1990’s technology just demand a little more, and that’s ok. They should be able to.
One of the biggest complaints I have heard from other producers who utilize ISDN, is that many of the voices who market them selves as ISDN capable are actually far from ISDN capable at the time the studio would like a session. It turns out that many have a friend with ISDN, or have a friend that has a friend, that has a friend who has ISDN. Or the talent may have taken the time to contact local studios and check their rates for ISDN and their hours of operation then, when comfortable that they might be able to pull off a booking, they begin to market themselves as ISDN capable.
You can see the red flags right away: Talent demos that say “ISDN available by request” and “Partners with local ISDN studio” probably shouldn’t mention ISDN at all. There just isn’t enough time in the world for “ISDN available” when it comes to projects that are canned on the day, or the week before they air. Voice over talent that have the chops and are able to connect on the fly with clients that utilize ISDN almost exclusively, need to be ISDN Ready.
The second biggest complaint I hear from producers is poor sounding ISDN connections. Many ISDN ready talent out there have managed to get the codec, hook it up correctly, and link it into their equipment so it functions properly, only to have all of the noise in their studio now transmit down the line. Producers who use ISDN prefer that when they dial you up, you sound like you are sitting in their studio – not in your living room.
A lot of producers are baffled that a talent would take the time to buy an ISDN codec and pay for the service only to use the unit in a noisy recording environment. It kind of defeats the purpose of using the ISDN in the first place. Producers who regularly book ISDN talent are only looking for quality sound. They are usually not audiophiles by any stretch of the imagination. Though by choosing to use ISDN, they do so for a few precise reasons:
1)They want to direct the talent live instead of trying to redirect through mp3 transfers and telephone conversations.
2)They want to record broadcast quality audio the first time around and in a timely fashion.
3)They want to be able to hear the audio as it will actually sound while they record the spot.
4)They want the talent and the audio signal to sound good. Period.
My gut feeling when taking these things into consideration, is that new talent coming into the industry without the proper guidance or technical instruction on how to design and operate a quiet, network quality voice over studio, is to advise new talent to avoid ISDN technology and the investment that comes along with it until they have gained some experience not only in voice over, but some basic sound reinforcement and audio engineering expertise as well. It just does not seem to me ISDN should be a concern for someone who is only into his or her first year in the business.
Not feeling completely glued to this conviction, I wanted to elicit another opinion that would either refute, further substantiate, or at least help to better explain my point when it comes to the true purpose and function behind the uses of ISDN as it applies to commercial voice over. I know I have a habit of standing on the mountaintop and shouting to the world the things I believe, so getting someone else to chime in with their opinion on the issues is probably good for me.
I was offered such an opinion by someone who is quite rightfully qualified to offer one; with that I give you the thoughts of one of the best known voices in America, Joe Cipriano – the signature voice of NBC Dramas, Fox Comedies, The Food Network and such shows as The Simpsons, Surface, E-Ring, West Wing, ER, Crossing Jordan, King of the Hill, Mad TV, Everybody loves Raymond, Family Guy and Yes Dear just to name a few…
“Hi Michael…
I don’t agree with your opinion that young people coming into the business should “wait” to utilize ISDN technology. It is the standard today for voice over work (90% of all voice-overs for Movie Trailers are recorded over an ISDN line) and because it is such a big part of the business, new comers need to learn the correct way to use it so that they start off properly. I would encourage you to teach new comers the correct way to use ISDN rather then warning them to stay away from it. I find that approach a more inspirational way to encourage up and comers and the only way to keep the integrity of quality in ISDN sessions.
My rule has always been to have the best source possible BEFORE it hits the ISDN line. Voice Over artists who are just starting to utilize ISDN should be coached in how to achieve the highest quality source audio, especially if they are building their own studios. Top quality microphones should be used (Neumann 87s, Sennheiser 416 or 415s) the best mic pre-amps (Avalon, Manley, Focusrite). If you are going to be doing ISDN sessions, your studio of origin should be BETTER or equal in quality to the studio you are hooking up to. Short cuts only short change the quality and dumb down the standard.
So, I don’t think a young talent needs to “wait” to get into ISDN…they should be enlightened as to how to do it correctly. Don’t you think?
As to booking beginning talent via ISDN. I don’t think a producer, when searching for a voice for their project, stops to think that because this is a new voice to them they wouldn’t book them via ISDN. ISDN is just the transportation, the Federal Express truck delivering the goods…the voice talent is the product. If they want that product, it doesn’t matter to the producer if the talent gets to their studio in a Chevy or via an ISDN line. – Joe Cip”
What got me interested in Joe Ciprianos opinions and ideas on the issue were his video podcasts, and the fact he runs a very high quality ISDN ready studio from his home.
In the video casts you get to watch as he participates in live ISDN promo sessions for two of the “Big 4” networks. The video podcasts are more than just quick glimpses into the world that is “network promo voice work”; they are completely demonstrative of what true ISDN sessions are like in reality, and certainly the way they are conducted in the high-end marketplace. I found it tough to not admire the pinpoint precision and timing Joe lent to the sessions.
To this point there have been few examples available to new talent demonstrating what it is like to watch a top-level performer work. So far I can think of no better example to point new talent toward than both of his video podcasts which you will find in Joe Cipriano’s blog.
What I most enjoyed about the video podcasts was though he was having fun; he was allowing you to look in on what it is really like, in an instructive manner meant to teach more that it was to amuse. He took the time, which shows that even while at the top you are allowed to care. I think it shows in his writing that he cares and would like to see the best for everybody that tries daily to get a break in the business. For that I thank him, and I thank him tremendously for his contribution to this article.
I know that my style of spreading the word can seem a bit pulpit or soapbox at times. Every now and then it is nice to have someone who can come along and temper my style of delivery somewhat. At least after a decade of standing on that pulpit, my message has never changed. Get trained, get good, get hired and get better. I really just want the best for the people who fall in love with this craft and hope that everything I write in some way helps someone along the line.
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