Mike Russell chats to J.R. Russ a man with much experience in the radio industry from being on the air in major US markets to management, consulting and voice over production.
Sung Intro Jingle
Did you notice the new sung radio jingle at the start of the podcast? More about that and details on how to get your own coming next week!
Competition Winner
I made a phone call to Ron Hancock of Shreveport, Louisiana, USA the winner of July’s contest to win 6 fully produced radio jingles using any voice from Music Radio Creative. It was a pleasure talking to Ron about his online radio show Rock Remembered and he’s even written up a little bio for me (with a very old photo attached – I don’t look that young any more!) Ron was delighted to hear the news of his win and said some very kind words which you can listen to on the podcast.
At the end of the phone call I dissected it and gave you a demonstration of how radio stations ‘produce’ their callers to sound ‘over the moon’ about winning a competition. So the next time you hear a caller on the radio jumping up and down because they’ve won a CD you’ll know the trick radio producers sometimes pull to get that effect!
Mastering Character Voice Overs
Five times radio production director and experienced radio consultant J.R. Russ chats to me on this weeks podcast. You may know him as JR the cartoon character voice available to order online instantly for your radio jingles, sweepers, intros and commercials.
He tells us that what you can now get for a couple hundred dollars (Adobe Audition, Pro Tools) is like a 50,000 dollar studio setup of the past – anyone can now be a radio producer, voice over or audio content creator from the comfort of their own home. On the podcast, JR answers these questions:
- Is it easy to be a voice over artist?
- How do you get voice over jobs?
- Are there voices that you especially enjoy emulating?
- How do you start voice impersonating a new character?
JR also goes on to offer advice on new starters in the radio industry with a warning that there are less jobs and more people who want those jobs. Traditional radio over recent years in the USA and UK seems to have become less creative and it’s difficult to start out in a local radio job when most radio stations today are networked.
The way forward, JR suggests, is to get into podcasting, creating a talk show or online radio station. The internet is providing a platform for people who want to broadcast. You can listen to JR’s own online radio station Movie Ticket Radio and I want to invite him back on a future podcast to talk more about it and find out how to set up an internet radio station.
How to Record a Podcast with Guests in Multiple Locations
The straight forward answer is to connect using Skype but how do you post edit an interview and make it sound like the guests are in the same room. I give a short tutorial on how I do it in my latest YouTube video. Remember to subscribe to my YouTube channel for more tutorials like this in the future.
Sung Jingles Next Week
Download the podcast next week for a sung radio jingles fest. If you’ve heard the new podcast intro on this episode and would like one yourself you cannot afford to miss next week’s episode with all the details on how to get in on our first ever jingle singing session. Subscribe to the podcast if you haven’t already as places will be limited!
