Blog 2013

Seasons Greetings...Happy Holidays...or Merry Christmas; whatever term you choose to use, this time of year is my favorite time because I can bring out the 'Santa' voice lol.  I really like putting on my Santa voice and I've gotten some really nice responses to it, as well.  It's funny how came to be: I was at a Holiday party a bunch of years ago when a 'Santa' commercial came on tv; the actor had a great voice, so I started to recite the commercial (I'm sure the 'eggnog' had alot to do with that...lol).  A few people looked at me and said: 'Wow that was good'.  So I worked on developing my 'Santa' voice.  

As with normal voice delivery your diaphragm plays a big part; however, for a 'Santa' delivery, it comes from much deeper than that. The best way I can describe it is:  'Right from the gut.'  

A short time later I voiced and produced a version of 'Twas The Night Before Christmas' you can listen to it by clicking HERE.  Everytime I listen it brings a smile to my face, maybe it'll bring one to your face, too.

All the best to you and your family this Holiday Season and a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year.

by Rich Brennan

    As I get older, each year, Veterans Day takes on a new meaning.  With the world as it is, these days, the military often conjures up the worst possible scenario: a grieving family crying as to why their loved one won't be coming home; or, a service member crying:  why me?  However, that's NOT necessarily the case; there are millions of reasons why someone joins the military; some want to follow in dad's footsteps, some want to persue employment in a field that can only be had with military training; some want to take advantage of the education that's available and some just want to feel what it's like to 'blow stuff up' ...lol (just to name a few).

    Contrary  to what you may have heard not everyone joins the military to go to war.  In fact, no one (that I know) has ever wanted to go to war.

    My own reason, of joining the military, was because my parents couldn't afford to send me to college; so, like many of my friends from the neighborhood I enlisted in the U.S. Navy.  As with alot of 18 yr old kids coming out of high school, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with my life; however, I had a liking to numbers so a bug was put into my head about being an accountant.  I took the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery test (ASVAB) and missed qualifying for the accounting field by 7 points.  What I did qualify for was:

Torpedo maintenence

Gunners Mate (care and mainenance of guns...lol)

Radioman

Electrician....and a few others.

    Thinking of what I could do with torpedo and gun maintenence and radios when I got out, I chose the electricians field.  Having completed all of my schooling I served, my 4 years, as an electrician. Some of my (now) Navy friends went on to make careers of the Navy, others did not.  

     Aside from being grateful for the education and world travel that I've gained, I'm grateful for the discipline, the sense of responsiblity and respect I learned from my military experience: something that's greatly lacking in todays youth.  It's that lack of responsiblity and respect that has created a sense of entitlement for people who (simply) haven't 'earned' what they think they're entitled to.  And it's because of my military experience that I was hired (and now retired) from being an electrician; which has afforded me the option of a second career as a voice talent/audio producer.  

The military shouldn't be looked down on (or frowned upon) as a life choice; but, as an experience that could enhance and enrich ones life:  It did for me.

Happy Veterans Day.

by Rich Brennan

I was given a :30 radio promo for KWKM (Power 95.7 in Show Low, AZ) for one of their Halloween events.  Right off the bat I had an idea, in my head, as to what was going into the production; spooky sound effects/music etc.  After recording the voiceover I started inserting various production elements.  When I was finished it sounded ok, but …there seemed to be ‘something missing’; you know that feeling, right?  So I said to myself…”this could sound better”.  I went back and started playing with some other production elements and found some that made the promo sound much better, even some that enhanced what I already had in place; I even replaced the music lol.

In production, there are no mistakes; only Happy Accidents.. lol (Thanks to Bob Ross for that term).

It works like that for most of my productions; experimenting with various production elements can make a finished production sound so much better; and it makes the client very happy, too.  And that's what really matters.

by Rich Brennan

Fall.  A picturesque time here in the northeast; the leaves will be changing, the temperatures are falling and that means it's time for the cold and flu season.  Being in the voiceover business- this is my most nervous time of the year because, when I get a cold, the first thing that gets affected is my voice:  Sore throat, hoarseness, coughing, etc... I'm pretty sure you don't want your audio production sounding like theres a frog crawling around in my throat, do you?  I didn't think so...lol.

Home studios are booming right now and the ability to write, voice, produce and deliver broadcast quality material without leaving the house is a beautiful thing.  However, at some point you'll have to go out and make contact with the world and that's where the risk of catching a cold comes in; and that's NOT a beautiful thing.  lol

I’ve already stocked up on ‘Airborne’ (they give your system a shot of vitamin C); so, the minute I feel that 'itch' in the back of my throat or hear a scratch in my voice, I’m prepared.  Every 8 hours I'll disolve a tablet in about 8 oz of water and down it; I also load up on lozenges and drink hot beverages.  Washing my hands more than usual is a plus, too.

Because, 'After it's all done and over with, what you're left with is:  JustMyVoice'

by Rich Brennan

When talking to people about what they do for a living, I've found that folks (often) have no clue as to what 'voiceovers' are.    lol...It happens all the time.  I mean, really, it's not one of those mainstream jobs that everyone aspires to:

"I'm a doctor"; "a fireman"; "in law enforcement"; "finance"...etc.

"What do you do? "

"I do voiceovers." 

"Voiceovers?  Cool...uhhh what's that?"  lol

That's usually about the same time when I"m asked..."Where are you from?" lol

Voiceover; voice over; or, voice acting is the phrase associated with hearing someone speak and not being able to see who's doing the speaking.  Whether it's live or recorded (notice I didn't use 'pre'? lol).  I point out radio and TV commercials; documentaries; animations; on-hold messages and any other recorded material where you don't actually see the person speaking:  That's voiceover.

Then...I usually get:  "...yeah...now I can hear it, just by the way you're talking."

by Rich Brennan

When I first heard George Carlin talk about this it made perfect sense to me.  Pre, the most mis-used word in the English language; you see it all the time in print and hear in commercials:  Pre-heat; pre-register; pre-lit; pre-recorded; pre-board (I really like that one); pre-wired…and so on.  My favorite is when I heard on a TV commercial for an electric wheel-chair- “…if you pre-qualify…”  I love that line.  So would that mean that if I don’t ‘pre-qualify’…I can still ‘qualify’?  lol.  Afterall, pre-qualifying means that you have to qualify….before you qualify, right?  It’s a 2-step process.  lol. 

Sure…you can preview something and have a premier or be considered prehistoric and even list something as being ‘pre-owned’; although that’s just another term for USED.  Putting ‘pre’ in front of a word only complicates things. 

Gone forever are the days of keeping it simple.

by Rich Brennan