Yesterday I received an email from a client who asked me if I had any favorite voice exercises I do before recording to keep my voice in shape. Here's what I told him.
I don’t have any particular voice exercises. However, I have learned that my voice is at its best in the morning. When my voice starts to sound a bit strained, I drink very warm water (not coffee – because the acidity will hurt the vocal cords). I also avoid whispering because that’s bad for the vocal cords. As a side note, I record every sentence at least twice. When doing my post-production, I use the best sentence (or grab a word from the other sentence if necessary). All breathing noises are knocked out digitally and I use a fade-in for popped P’s.
One of the best pieces of advice I’ve heard is when you speak about half as loud as you normally do, you’ll sound more natural. Of course, sometimes the customer wants a more upbeat delivery and I’ve got to throw that piece of advice out the window.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Monday, October 06, 2008
Preserving Austin music from the 60's and 70's
When I'm not producing audio at Audiobag, I'm working on a pet project of my brother's and mine. I'm digitizing tapes from the Sonobeat Recording Company library. My father, Bill Josey, Sr., and brother, Bill Jr. (also known by his radio name of Rim Kelley), founded Sonobeat in 1967. My brother left the company in 1970 to go to law school and my father kept running it until his death in 1976. The nine-year history of this little recording company in Austin, Texas produced over a hundred tapes of Texas' up and coming musicians ... folks like Johnny Winter, Eric Johnson, Gary Nunn, Rusty Weir, Allen Damron, and Cody Hubach (Willie's good friend).
I am amazed at not only the variety of artists Sonobeat recorded, but also of the talent they had. I believe Sonobeat recorded almost every worthy musician living or spending a little time in Austin from 1967 to 1976. And what impresses me most is the transition that was going on from the early fraternity rock sound of the Sweetarts and Lavender Hill Express to the harder "Austin" blues rock sound -- the Stevie Ray Vaughn sound, if you will. Even the Sweetarts and Lavender Hill Express moved into a more progressive sound with Lady and Country Music's Here to Stay. Music was changing in Austin in the late 60's and early 70's and Dad was there to record it for history.
If you'd like to read and hear more about Austin music in the 1960's and 1970's, check out the Sonobeat Historical Archives website my brother and I put together.
I am amazed at not only the variety of artists Sonobeat recorded, but also of the talent they had. I believe Sonobeat recorded almost every worthy musician living or spending a little time in Austin from 1967 to 1976. And what impresses me most is the transition that was going on from the early fraternity rock sound of the Sweetarts and Lavender Hill Express to the harder "Austin" blues rock sound -- the Stevie Ray Vaughn sound, if you will. Even the Sweetarts and Lavender Hill Express moved into a more progressive sound with Lady and Country Music's Here to Stay. Music was changing in Austin in the late 60's and early 70's and Dad was there to record it for history.
If you'd like to read and hear more about Austin music in the 1960's and 1970's, check out the Sonobeat Historical Archives website my brother and I put together.
Saturday, October 04, 2008
Putting customers at ease
Probably the biggest reason we get phone calls at Audiobag is the caller wants to know there really is someone behind our website. They call to talk to a real person. They want to know that when they click that "Submit" button during the online purchase process, we'll send them a product. So how do we make prospective buyers feel comfortable with purchasing from us? We make ourselves very accessible, we give instant feedback, and we have customer testimonials on our website.
We offer several ways for people to contact us. We have a phone, of course. We have a couple of important email addresses (one is for immediate help and the other is for general inquiries). Using email auto-responder, we give an automatic reply to any email sent to our help@audiobag.com email address, followed up by an email from a real person. We also use SKYPE (just add "audiobag" to your contact list) for instant chatting or to call us.
We also give lots of testimonials with names and URL addresses on our website just in case a prospect would like some references. For all of our efforts, we've never had a customer cancel an order, knock on wood (my grandmother had such an influence on me).
If you're in business and you want to make customers and prospective buyers feel comfortable, make it easy for them to contact you. In fact, make it easy for them to call you by your first name. I love it when people say, "Jack, I was calling about ...”
We offer several ways for people to contact us. We have a phone, of course. We have a couple of important email addresses (one is for immediate help and the other is for general inquiries). Using email auto-responder, we give an automatic reply to any email sent to our help@audiobag.com email address, followed up by an email from a real person. We also use SKYPE (just add "audiobag" to your contact list) for instant chatting or to call us.
We also give lots of testimonials with names and URL addresses on our website just in case a prospect would like some references. For all of our efforts, we've never had a customer cancel an order, knock on wood (my grandmother had such an influence on me).
If you're in business and you want to make customers and prospective buyers feel comfortable, make it easy for them to contact you. In fact, make it easy for them to call you by your first name. I love it when people say, "Jack, I was calling about ...”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
