Anatomy of Radio Spot Production, P.1

A little while back, our friends over at the Mascola Group came to us with a cool new idea for their Big E campaign.  They wanted an upbeat, gospel music-driven music track that reflected the fun and excitement that people feel when they go to the Big E every fall, but it needed to be tailor-made for the voiceover (or VO) content of the spot.   

Once we had cast our VO talent, it was time to start on the music.  First, a chord progression was created at a pace that would fit enough instrumental & vocal elements to keep the music interesting, for not only 30-second radio spots but also 15-second TV commercials.  Engineers/"Music Bed Extraordinaires" Bill Ahearn and Chris Lennie played & recorded all of the instruments on a music bed that features drums, bass, piano, tambourine, and a little B-3 organ for good measure... and then the fun really began!

After putting together a music mix, we brought in 4 amazing singers to be our "Gospel Chorus" and bring the spot to life. Our singers - accustomed to performing live and singing within the genre - absolutely nailed it in a couple of takes, and the music (with vocals) was ready to be laid back against the VO audio. 

Recording and mixing voiceover audio with pre-existing music and vocals can be tricky.  The music needs to have time to "breathe", and the VO needs to sound natural; not choppy (like it was over-edited or altered in post-production just to fit within a music bed).  Chief Engineer Bill Ahearn found a perfect balance between the different elements though, and the end result was a catchy, high-energy, joyful "call & response" dynamic that features some shout outs to some of our favorite aspects of the Big E: the rides, the games, the Llamas, and of course the donut-bacon-cheeseburger. 

Seeing our work show up on TV is always cool, but this one was extra special for us because of our involvement with the campaign's production from several different angles. 

The Big E runs September 13-29.  We can't wait to "Take a ride on the magic slide" and party it up at the Mardi Gras parade... hopefully we'll see you all there!