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!        

Steph's Summer Intern Blog Week 4

Week 4:  Things have been busy here at Tapeworks Recording Studio throughout the month of July! Here are some of the highlights of the past month:

     For the past two weeks or so, we have been working on audio for the Lego Galaxy Squad mini movie, which will make its grand appearance online sometime in the near future! Check back soon to find where and when you can view for yourself this epic bug battle! I was able to do some hands on work with this project, helping with sound design, or adding in sound effects. After watching Bill and Chris do this on other projects, it was fun to finally get a chance to try it for myself! Most of what I worked on was in the "bug battle scene," adding in explosion sounds, laser gunshots, and more, which was not as simple as it may seem. First, I had to identify where a sound was needed, then audition multiple sounds that could fit the scene. After selecting the perfect sound, I positioned and edited it in Pro Tools to synchronize with the video play back. However, not every explosion sounds the same, or lasts for equal amounts of time. So through the use of pitch/time shifting, EQ, and gain, I created multiple different versions of each sound file to develop a unique sound for each occasion, while still maintaining a sense of unity through all. All of us here at Tapeworks spent a great deal of time working on this awesome project! Who knew that Bill could speak bug along with bringing to life a world of creepy crawlies and massive aircrafts, tanks, and machines through sound design?! Meanwhile, Chris spent long hours hard at work composing the orchestral score that highlights the intense bug battle. It was a big undertaking, as it was an involved project with a very limited time frame, but it all was completed on schedule!

     There were several radio commercials that were recorded recently, including one for Lockheed Martin and one for Hartford Hospital. Most people do not realize the amount of time and work that goes into recording a radio commercial. There could be twenty different takes for a thirty second commercial, with the difference between each take amounting to a one word change, or a slightly different emphasis on a phrase. It all pays off when the final, perfect take is captured! (Or cut up and edited in Pro Tools later.)

      The next big upcoming project will be for the Big E. There are two different radio commercials that need to be recorded, along with a few different TV spots. The difficulty with this task is that each commercial involves voice actors, an original musical composition, plus the fact that each spot varies a bit from the last. So we shall see how this unfolds over the next couple weeks. This will be a really fun project, which you just may hear on your favorite radio station soon!

Featured Artist: Jason Roberts

      Famed organist Jason Roberts is a man of few words, preferring to let his extraordinary musical talent do the speaking for him. That being said, I was able to get Mr. Roberts divulge some information to me about his recent performance at St. Joseph's Cathedral in Hartford, CT, which was recorded by Tapeworks Inc.

       Mr. Roberts got his start playing piano as a child, which eventually led to organ lessons in high school. He recalled hearing the organ played in church his entire life and falling in love with the sound. The concert was sponsored by the Hartford AGO, an organization of organists which Mr. Roberts is a member of, that organizes conventions and concerts every year. The AGO selected Mr. Roberts to be a featured performer this year and on Tuesday, July 2^nd, he gave a spectacular concert to the packed cathedral. When asked how he went about selecting the material he performed, Mr. Roberts informed me that he wanted to perform a "variety of different things," which included a wide range of "dynamics [to] showed off the space." The vastness of the cathedral proved somewhat of a challenge when mixing the recording, when the engineers had to deal with incorporating the natural reverb of the space, while still preserving the clarity of the organ. Mr. Roberts said that the organizers had asked him to improvise which he did as well.

      As for future performances, Mr. Roberts will be a featured recitalist at the East Texas Pipe Organ Festival this November, before recording music for silent films in January and February 2014.

By: Stephanie Vaughan

Steph's Summer Intern Blog Day 3

Day 3: This morning I got the abridged experience of life as a secretary at a recording studio, an important step in any internship. As I turned on the computer at my new workstation, I was greeted by a somewhat disturbing desktop background of what appeared to be an image of a shark-bear creature jumping out of the ocean, left by the previous intern. Needless to say that was quickly changed. I was set up with my own email, Stephanie@tapeworksinc.com, and was shown how to access the online studio calendar so I would be up to date on all the sessions taking place here at Tapeworks.

            After a couple hours getting acquainted with the computer set up, I went into Studio A and sat in while Chris was recording a radio spot, with client Doug Bennett for Westchester Medical Center. Once the recording was completed, lunch commenced which consisted of chicken salad for the guys, while again I brought my own.

            Following lunch, I went back into Studio A with Chris and Doug while they finished producing the radio spot. The big discussion was what sound effect, if any to add to the spots involving a trip to the mall and golfing. After some deliberation, no sound effect was added to those commercials.

            A little while later, Bill came in and said he had a little project for me. We went into Studio B and he opened up a session he had done with a singer-songwriter from Pennsylvania a short time ago. He gave me the task of mixing the fully recorded and edited song as an exercise in mixing. I love mixing so I was really excited! It was a simple tune, clocking in at just over two minutes, with the instrumentation consisting of piano, acoustic guitar, and voice. I experimented with different reverb, delay, EQ, and compression plug-ins, since they have some different plug-ins here than I never tried before. One helpful tip Bill gave me was to try to use different reverbs and delays on each different instrumentation group, to give each its own color and sound. Bill also showed me the PAZ Analyzer plug-in, which when inserted on the Master track, analyzes the frequency range of the entire song, showing precisely where it would be best to boost and cut certain frequencies.

            I have learning quite a bit about radio commercials in the past couple weeks. While I was driving to Tapeworks this morning, I listened close to each radio commercial and tried to imagine what the recording session for that spot went like. Also, learning those mixing techniques I know will greatly help and improve my mixes in the future!

Steph's Summer Intern Blog Day 2

            Day 2: My second day interning at Tapeworks was equally as eventful as the day before. The first thing I learned that day was how to make the coffee, an important thing for all interns to know. After that I went into Studio B and uploaded the organ concert onto that computer. Once it was uploaded, I mixed the concert on Pro Tools. It took me about an hour and a half to mix the roughly fifty minute concert. The most difficult thing about the mix was that there were extreme dynamics; parts of the concert were very loud, while other segments were almost inaudibly quiet. Through the use of automation and light compression/limiting, I was able to even out the contrast in volume, while maintaining the variation in dynamics to keep with the intended sound of the concert. Classical recordings are supposed to sound as natural as possible, so when mixing a piece such as this, it is better to not do to much to the original recording. I used light large church reverb on a few of the tracks to enhance the natural reverb of the cathedral in which it was recorded. I used a little bit of EQ, mainly to accentuate the highs and lows of the recording. I used a compressor on a couple of the tracks, which were not as loud as the others, to try to make them heard a little better.  Once that was done, I bounced it to the hard drive and went and sat in with Chris on the Lego project of the day.

            After lunch, which after much deliberation was decided on Chinese, I sat in on a radio voiceover for Crested Butte, a bike park out in Colorado. Voiceover actors Teresa LaBarbera and Craig Edelson came into the studio to record their pieces, while Brad Hartz was dialed in and recorded through ISDN up in Boston. The whole segment took about an hour from start to finish, with several changes to the script being made along the way. It was interesting to see first hand what goes into recording a radio commercial. Most people switch the station or just zone out during radio commercials, but ever since I have thought about the commercials in a different way. The time constraints, annunciation, inflections, and back ground music are all given careful thought, and crafted in such a way as to deliver the short message in as clear and enthusiastic way as possible.

 After the initial recording, I sat in with Bill as he worked on and edited the recording, by cutting down empty space, adding minimal effects, and background music. It turns out the members of The Dave Matthews Band ski at Crested Butte and allow the company to use their music in their ads. Once the recordings were all edited and mixed, they were sent off for review and we were done with them for the day.

            Mixing the organ concert was very fun to work on, and seeing the time and work that goes into recording a radio spot was extremely interesting. Two days in and I have already learned a lot! I am excited to see what next week brings!

Steph's Summer Intern Blog Day 1

            Day 1: The sounds of the grand organ fill the vast cathedral, giving no one in the room any doubt the concert has begun. First day as a summer intern at Tapeworks Inc and I am assisting in the recording of renowned organist Jason Roberts at St. Joseph's Cathedral in Hartford, CT. Upon arriving at the church, after battling the early morning Hartford traffic, I assisted Bill, the Chief Engineer at Tapeworks Inc., in setting up for the recording, helping run cables, check levels and the like. Once the concert began we were able to more or less sit back and enjoy, while keeping one eye on the meter levels to ensure nothing was overdriving or clipping. Mr. Roberts performed a beautiful concert for us all, and as confirmed by one very enthusiastic janitor, "The European organists have nothing on this guy!"

            After the performance, I helped pack up our equipment and wrap cables, before leaving the cathedral to travel back to Tapeworks across town. Once we got back to the studio, the all-important topic, as I was soon to find out, was the decision on where to get lunch. I brought my own lunch that day, but for Bill and Chris, the endless possibilities of where to acquire food that day was a difficult choice. However, in the end, Subway won out.

            Following lunch, I sat in with Chris and shadowed him on the latest project for Lego he was working on. This latest endeavor was for the newest Lego Academy training video. The project mainly involved adding sound effects to tutorial videos, which show viewers the possibilities of how to construct objects using the Lego kit. The way this is accomplished, is by searching through a folder stored on the computer for various sound effects that would fit the scene or image. I did not know much at all about sound design before this, and honestly never put much thought into how the sounds, besides the music and voices, got into videos. Watching this process made me more aware in the time and effort that goes into choosing, placing, and manipulating each sound effect in a video. 

            All in all it was a very fun and insightful first day! I cannot wait to see what awaits me tomorrow at Tapeworks Inc!

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