SOME OF RICK ALLEN CREATIVE'S RADIO IMAGING SECRETS & STORIES
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Production Tip: EQ’ing A Voice Track To Cut Through On The Radio
One of the biggest misconceptions about achieving that “bigger than life” voice in a radio promo or sweeper is “the more bottom end in the voice track the bigger the voice will sound.” Most of the time the only thing that gets bigger when you boost the bass frequencies is the mess you end up with. Here is a screenshot of the Wave’s 6 Band Renaissance EQ Plug-in. If you don’t have the Wave’s bundle, don’t panic… by understanding the concept of this EQ curve you can duplicate the effect with just about any other EQ. The basic idea behind it is reducing the bottom end below about 250hz. Then giving the voice track little boosts at several frequencies that are important in human speech. These are right around 500hz, just below 2k, between 4 and 5kz, and around 10k. This leaves plenty of sonic room on the bottom end and in the valleys for the music and effects to cut through with punch and power without fighting with the voice track. Try it and experiment and you’ll see how this is a great way to make your sweepers cut through the music while still blending with it.
Rick’s One-Two Conclave Production Panel Punch
Rick Allen spoke on two different production panels at the 2006 Conclave Radio Convention in Minneapolis last July. The morning panel was a small group of experts each speaking about specific digital recording systems. Rick was there to discuss his experience and expertise with Pro Tools. The afternoon session was a general discussion about current trends in radio station imaging and how to cut through the clutter and drive your message home to the listener in entertaining ways. While the Conclave seems to be attended by mostly medium and small markets, Rick found it interesting that almost 100% of production people at the morning session used Adobe Auditon at their stations. Audtion has grabbed a big piece of the broadcast market by being powerful yet fast and easy to use for the type of task needed to produce radio spots quickly.
Production Tip: Setting Your Delay For A Voiceover Stereo Spread Effect
Do you want your mono voice track to jump out of both speakers while still delivering the message clearly - even when played back in mono - play around with these delay settings. The screenshot is of the Adobe Audition Delay Plug-In - but these settings will translate to any platform. The effect comes from the short (but slightly different) delay times in both channels. You still want the original voice track to come through along with the delayed signal - so start with a 60% mix of dry voice track in each channel and adjust your mix from there.
Bikers, Bikini’s & Branding
The young lady resting in front of Rick - on one of his motorcycles - is sporting her new Continuous Climax tattoo. (Notice how Rick stands behind his work?) She claims to have the logos from all of the other RACS’ libraries tattooed on other parts of her body. Judging from the smile on Rick’s face she might be telling the truth. If you're into motorcycles take a closer look at several of Rick's custom bikes. They've all been built or customized by Surgical Steeds. Check out their web site at musclebikes.com and catch the story behind Rick's first custom bike by clicking on "exotic steed customs" and then "steed arabian."
The Prod God Production Dinner
It is a blast every year. For over 6 years - we've been throwing a dinner party - with the emphasis on "party." Wild things happen when you fill a room with free food, free drinks and people like Eric Chase, Jim Cook, Jeff Thomas, Kwazi, Ron Shapiro, Bryan Apple, Jeff Berlin, Robert Dudzic, Kelly Kelly Kelly and... well, you figure it out - look at the pictures! A big thank you from all of us at Rick Allen Creative to everyone who has flown out to join us through the years - and an extra big thank you to Kelly for all her hard work in organizing this thing. It's like hearding puppies and as much fun to watch! If you'd like an invite - just let us know. E-mail us to find out about getting in on the fun.
Creative Director - Rick Allen
goals I want to take as much pressure off the imaging guy as we possibly can. We're spending more and more time looking for new ways to organize the sounds to make them even faster and easier to use in the production studio.
greatest challenge New technology doesn't produce great promos and sweepers... people do... creative talent does. Radio has forgotten the importance of great imaging people at the local level. Right now, with few exceptions, the person in the production studio is taken for granted.
hobbies Anything new and everything old that has anything to do with audio, daydreaming, customizing Harley Davidsons, and one very special biker chick.
