One of the great things about working in the field of audio production, recording, sound-design, etc. is the exposure we get to writers, producers, directors and even clients who have really great ideas and a strong sense of how best to execute them. If that's the Yin, then the Yang is that we also get to see the dregs of formulaic jargon that seeps it's way into the cracks of scripts with even the strongest foundation due, almost exclusively, to client mandates.

Phrases like, "for all your banking needs"- y'know last time we checked we didn't have a "banking need" other than perhaps needing one nearby that has...money.

Another great one is, "In the Twin Cities area see..." - that's a classic faux attempt to sound local, which only gets worse when some big voiced announcer from L.A. trumpets out (with great confidence), "Uh-deena" or "Whey-Zeta" for Edina or Wayzata.

"You ain't from around these here parts are ye, fella?"

Think about it - it's a local radio ad. We know where we live - if we don't know by now that we live in the "Twin Cities Metro Area", we either have an education system resembling that of Arkansas, or we've been kidnapped from points beyond and are wedged in the trunk of a late model Buick somewhere in the P2 East parking lot of Mall Of America. So, if you're trying to save lives of the kidnapped by telling them where to by a Lexus - we can only applaud your creativity.

There are many more examples of this, but the point in sharing these clichés is that we've seen some great methods of getting these things out of scripts while we're in session. Writers on occasion have said to clients, "I can appreciate that you'd like that in there, but the script is already long and do you really believe it will help you sell more of your widgets?" Another great one was, "what is the particular benefit to the listener of that phrase - are we talking to them?, or just to ourselves? - we can do either, but with only sixty seconds, it seems we would benefit most by talking to your customers". In both those instances, the client realized that the script was better left as is - leaving time in the spot for their important messages.

Line up for the two point conversion.

If you're looking for more insight into this issue and how some really savvy people are successfully committing "clichéicide" - read this blog entry from the folks at radioloungeusa.com -smart guys.

10-29-07 - "Attention Fellow Award Sluts" - Well, although our local Ad Awards show (cleverly called "The Show" - see entry below) just wrapped up the other week, we would be remiss not to remind you about a few things going on with one of our favorite shows, - The Radio Mercury Awards.

We've been first round judges here for the past four years and have enjoyed the chance to preview the work before it goes past the hallowed fire hydrants of the panel's top dogs.

If you're looking to get your own CD containing 84, yes 84, of 2007's most brilliant radio ads - hang tight, it'll be sent to you within a few weeks - but, only if you were one of the throngs of wannabes who entered your best radio spots into this cage match of ad contests.

If you didn't enter, but still want to hear some great radio chops, just call the folks at the Mercury's and see if you can wheedle one out of them - 212-681-7207.

Another radiocentric event that the Mercury's are into is the upcoming Pirate New York Creative Radio Seminar. If you're interested, you'll get to hear Terry O'Reilly, the award winning writer, director, and partner at Pirate New York as he lays out a half-day Creative Radio Seminar at - (man, do we love the twisted irony in this) - the Art Directors Club (you can't make this stuff up) on November 7th. If you want to go, give a call to 212.253.2920


10-29-07 - From the "we're a bit bummed for us, but happy for him" department, we'd like to wish safe travels and good luck to Jesse Kuntz, who's been darkening our door over the past few years doing voice-over work on a variety of radio ads and assorted projects that would be too numerous to mention.

Jesse got the chance to get into the Chicago market and decided that the "2nd City" would become his first home for awhile. Even with this move though, he'll still partially be here as he'll stay involved with The Actors Theater Of Minnesota and their production of "A Christmas Carol". Plus he'll maintain his local representation through N.U.T.S and Wehmann Models and Talent - so, if you need'em, we can always get him for you with an ISDN Digital Patch or Source-Connect voice-over session. Best of luck, Jesse.




10-24-07 - Sometimes it's not what you say....it's how you say it - or, in the case of these particular advertising faux pas - where and when you say it.

The article to which we've linked is an insightful blog entry on effective copywriting that, literally, puts contextual advertising (sorry 'bout this one) - in proper context. The photos seem rather improbable - but, even if it's just masterful PhotoShop work - it makes some great and poignant observations about coincidence.

Many thanks to Steve Hendrickson from LipserviceTalent Agency for passing this along to us.

10-18-07 In this day 'n age when it's become so easy to just iChat your cube mate who's 7.2 feet away, it's nice to get in some real face time with people whom we know quite well - but never meet. On a weekly basis we do an ISDN digital patch with Nova Productions in L.A. to record Mark Comstock , the voice-over talent for biggs, a Cincinnati grocery chain. We've "known" Mark for awhile, but had never met him - welcome to the 21st century. Mark was in town to catch up with his parents who live nearby in downtown Minneapolis so he popped on in to Babble-On Recording to say hi and hang with John Lukas for a bit.



10-17-07 The big news this week, of course, is that Amelia is back from her trip to New York and Israel - so please stop by for all the fun buzz and great stories she has to tell. "L'Chaim"

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10-15-07 Every now and again a mainstream publication prints up a nugget regarding the recording and sound-design business. Most are pretty dull, but this month, there's a pretty funny and insightful article in Wired Magazine that covers the history of a particular scream sound effect that we've all heard a million times. There are a few telling examples on the site. It being the month of Halloween, you'll appreciate the particular effect.

10-12-07 Actor and Minnesota native Vincent Kartheiser paid us a visit a few weeks ago to record some ADR for an episode of the AMC original TV series "Mad Men". If you've not seen the show, it's a primetime drama about the cutthroat world that was Madison Avenue in 1960. Vincent plays Pete Campbell, a rising, young account executive (really, are there any other types?) We're hoping to see more of Vincent as the show has done very well to date. The episode we worked on here at Babble-On Recording was called "Indian Summer".

Well, the results are in, and it's more than easy to say that the 2007 iteration of "The Show" (held on Friday October 19th at The Depot in downtown Minneapolis) was dominated by Minneapolis advertising agency, Colle+McVoy.

The victory was so all encompassing, that the hot word on the street is that Diebold is under investigation for re-using the ballot boxes they sent to Florida for the '04 election.

Or, for those of you who prefer sports aphorisms - think '86 Bears, '27 Yankees, or even this years batch of New England Patriots. And, to continue this pointless exercise further - let's call John Neerland, "The Next Tom Brady".

(Excepting, of course any notion of a hot ex-girlfriend with an "oops" new baby in tow - we're exercising at least some propriety here.)

All kidding aside, since Babble-On Recording is a sponsor of The Show, we'd like to congratulate John and (all the other winners from Colle +McVoy) as well as the other agencies who did well at the event and who continue to support this important soirée.

Additionally, we'd like to point out, a few spots that were recorded here at Babble-On did very well in the oh-so-continually-overlooked Radio category.

A Detroit Pistons radio ad that Greg worked on with Scott Dahl of OLSON ended up with the coveted Radio Golden Chalice (alright, it's just a silly gold pushpin thing. And, while you can't drink from it ...it's still pretty cool).

And, a Cell South radio spot that André did with Mark Andersen of Martin Williams took home Silver. A continuing perk to this particular spot is that it managed to thread its way into the CA's as well - where most Radio fears to tread and rarely survives.

Anyway, have a glance at the few pics on the right that we felt were worth posting and, if you'll continue down below, you can take a listen to both the Detroit Pistons radio spot called "Test " and the Cell South radio ad, aptly named "Goodbye ".

Again, congrats to all. And, yes, we're posting this on Tuesday because, y'know......

...we figured our collective hangovers might actually have subsided by now.

Here's "Test"

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and, "Goodbye"

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As we mentioned earlier this month, we like to embrace causes and ideals that increase, as they say, "the social welfare of all". So when Martin Williams approached us about working with them on a radio spot campaign geared toward ending gun violence in Minnesota - we certainly welcomed the call.

First a little background: A study about ten years ago in the Journal of Trauma showed that a gun in the home is more likely to be used against a family member than against an intruder-11 times more likely to be used in a suicide, 7 times more likely to be used in a domestic assault and 4 times more likely to unintentionally injure. Peachy.

If that weren't sobering enough, here in our quaint Midwestern Metropolis there are some scary observations as well. “We’re being held hostage by the gun industry,” says Chief Tim Dolan of the Minneapolis Police Department. “Our kids are carrying guns today because they are afraid of other kids carrying guns.” Minnesota is “one of the worst” states when it comes to easy access to guns for those who shouldn’t have them. Turns out 90% of the guns used in crimes across the state of MN are also purchased right here in Minnesota.

When it came to producing the radio ads, the writer, Jake Lancaster, got right to the heart of two particularly pressing issues - easy access and accidental gun death. Normally with ads like this, there's a temptation to lay in a lot of heavy, threatening sound-design or eerie sound effect treatments to heighten the tension. But the scripts were so strong that, in this instance, less was definitely more - and the effect is chilling. The spots were anchored by Jonathan Adams, whom we recorded at VoiceTrax West in L.A. and his delivery is so even, so non-judgmental - that the sheer facts are allowed to puncture you with frightening clarity. Libby Collins, a New York talent, whom we recorded at Nutmeg Audio Post via Source-Connect rounded out the spots with the appropriate finish - not pleading or gushy, but truthful. Again, a nice instance of less definitely being more.

If you'd like to learn more about this cause, which by the way is supported by the NRA too, - go to the End Gun Violence website or visit ProtectMN.com

Here are the spots "James" and "Sarah"

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As many of you know, by and large, we use this scrap of cyber real estate to share the latest radio and TV spots we've worked on, info on the comings and goings of voice-over actors, or to posit something pithy about new audio techniques we might be scoping out.

While that's our bread 'n butter, it isn't all we do...

So, occasionally we like to share some of the other things that occupy our time behind the glass here on the twelfth floor of The Plymouth Building, downtown Minneapolis.

Good causes that benefit kids and families rank high on our list of things with which we like to associate ourselves. About a month ago we got a call from The National Institute on Media and The Family, an organization dedicated to (amongst other things) reducing "screen time" for kids. No, they're not advocating censorship, the elimination of the idiot box, or collapsing the web but, - they do believe in helping families make healthier media choices. (So, if you're 12 and reading this - go read a book or something...)

'Course, this is easier said than done. Once you pull the kids away from the screen,...great, what then? Enter something called, Alternative To Screen Time Products and a group of talented storytellers called Cygnus Storytelling. They live the mantra, "whoever tells the stories, defines the culture". Their idea, in collaboration with the National Institute on Media and The Family, was to create a CD of wholesome stories that could be listened to, repeated and played with by families with young children. So, instead of just piling one's progeny into the MiniVan, i-Pods and DVD players in tow, families could now have the opportunity to share time together listening to and interacting with each other in a creative and inspiring atmosphere.

The CD, entitled, "You Tell A Tale - Stories Told Through You", was a joy to record, produce and edit because of the different dynamics that were involved in capturing these artists, - artists who were naturally conditioned to the stylings of working live on stage - not in a voice-over booth. The final product was a collaborative effort as all the actors had to adjust to the idea of not projecting their voices as much, having to work from the frame of a basic script, and learning to meld, consistently, one performance to the next if they made a mistake from take to take. And, from our standpoint we had to leave a lot more air in the reads - which we never seem to be able to do when working on TV and radio spots.

Thanks must go to the actors, Tina Rohde, Kevin Strauss, Colleen Shaskin, Mike Mann and Jennifer Strauss for their dedication and willingness to toss familiar ways (in the booth, anyway) in favor of learning to tell their stories in a new way.

Sometimes we are all both teacher and student.

Here's, The Three Bear Rap, a sample from the disc that shows how a story can morph and become one's own with just a little ingenuity.

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Yup, it's Autumn. Harvest time. Soon, the markets will fill with apples, potatoes, squash, pumpkins and things like those funky little gourds.

Sadly though, our own Gordo won't be filling the radio airwaves this October as our beloved Minnesota Twins spiraled away like so many maple leaves - getting raked up, bagged and deposited 17 games out of first in the A.L. Central. Ouch.

Despite the fact that we won't get a chance to see Johan Santana striking out Vladdy Guerrero until sometime next Spring - there's still some interesting hardball on the way. So, while you're fine tuning your "Jeter Sucks" rally, and reassuring yourself with salves like, "at least the White Sox didn't get in" we thought we might review one of the highlights of the Twins season - their radio ad campaign that we worked on with Periscope right here at Babble-On Recording.

Not only is the "This Is Twins Territory" campaign of radio spots pretty funny - consistently so, in fact - it's also unique in how it caused us to approach the production process in a different and creative way . Unlike a typical recording session (where a voice-over talent will come in and read a script they've most likely never seen) - Bill Woodson, the longtime voice for this campaign, receives a scratch VO track recorded by Tom Witkowski, the writer for these spots. So, before ever stepping into the voice-over booth, Bill has a pretty good idea of what Tom is hoping to achieve.

Here's the scratch voice-over for the spot that would become "Walleye"

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While it's not exactly a lined shot to center (more like a pop-up with the infield fly rule in play), it does communicate a rhythm, cadence, and style as well as some pronunciation guidelines. Frankly it's a pretty big cost saver. Here's what Bill gave us once he got behind the mic -

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Tells you a lot about Bill's interpretation skills, yes? But, even with that killer delivery, the final nugget that brings the spots together is finding the most bombastic, pretentious and overblown music tracks that we can. It seems that everytime we pump up the absurdity, it only heightens what we mix with Bill's illustrious voice-over style.

In general, the majority of the spots in this campaign are meant to humanize the players - making them approachable as people, characters and ambassadors of the game. Considering the reality that some salaries now equal the GDP of a few Third World Countries, and that steroids, questionable off-field behavior and tainted records have become the fools fodder filling the screens of reporters laptops - the campaign is quite refreshing.

Tom said "Baseball is all about fun...the Twins realize that, and everything they do they want it to be about fun. Someone here (at Periscope) said once, the best kind of gauge of how they look at the (radio and TV spots) is if their seven-year-old thinks they're funny and laughs. then it's good - because it really is about that kind of family fun, lightheartedness and excitement."

Here are the rest of the spots from this years season:

"Canadian"

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"Cannon"

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"Everywhere"

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"Faithful"

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"How I Roll"

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"John"

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"Mantana"

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"Mauersota"

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"Muds"

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"Smells Of The Game"

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