I haven’t posted much about the design and construction of my studio, mostly because I don’t want to give you the impression I’m unable to work for you.  I am available and ready for your project.  With that in mind here’s an update:

The new voiceover booth is coming along nicely thanks to the generosity of some fantastic people that know much more about acoustic design than I do.  The isolation walls and ceiling are done.  Over 300 square feet of acoustic insulation is on it’s way.  The new door should be delivered on Monday or Tuesday of next week.  It’s a heavy beastie but it has to be to provide the kind of isolation I want (and feel that you as my client deserve).

The Hart Voice Overs Booth

Today I got the flooring installed. Boy it looks pretty. And it won’t mess with the high frequencies in the voice range the way carpet does.

The new floor in Hart Voice Overs Vocal Booth

I’ll have the door system installed next week. The acoustic insulation should arrive in about another week. As soon as it gets here I’ll be able to treat the walls and hang a “cloud” on the ceiling. Then the new booth will be ready to go!

I’m very excited about the upgrade to this booth and I hope you, as a client or potential client, are excited about the great enhancements it will provide for your projects with Hart Voice Overs as well.

Is this how you properly place Auralex?

It sure did tighten up the bass response in my studio, lol.

Posted from my iPhone.

My friend Kara Edwards posted this on the VO-BB.  Cool and enlightening.  It’s the first time I’ve put flash on my site so no idea how it’s going to work.  If the embedded player doesn’t show up here’s the direct link: http://www.todaysbigthing.com/2009/01/20

“There are only so many combinations of notes that a musician can use. It’s inevitable that we’re going to run out of original songs eventually, hence this video. Even my beloved Journey is unoriginal. I’ve officially stopped believin’.”

photo credit: re_birf

How do you write good copy for voice over?

Writing for the spoken word can be dramatically different than composing a piece that is meant to be read.  Take a magazine article or newspaper and read it out loud and you will quickly see what I mean.  You have to think about the context, the target audience, the speaker’s point of view… and on and on.  A lot goes into good VO copy. Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve participated in several radio station builds over the years as well as building two studios for myself.

I’ve seen the good, the bad, and the ugly ways to hang acoustic foam.

While there are options for leaving an air gap between your panels and walls, for this discussion we’ll focus on placing foam panels directly on the wall.  Here are a 5 examples of how and how not to hang that expensive foam. Read the rest of this entry »

Australian John Sayers is one of THE guys when it comes to studio design and construction. He has built professional studios all around the world that are not only functional but also beautiful.

In addition to being such a great designer, he is also kind enough to help out the little guys and do it your-selfers. John hosts a wonderful forum at www.johnlsayers.com that is all about studio design and construction and is one of my main sources for research into studio construction. There is a ton of great knowledge and plenty of experts willing to help you apply it as long as you show them you’re willing to listen and learn.  Bookmark it. Read it. Use it.

John has posted a sketchup file of plans for a vocal booth designed to fit in the corner of a room.  (Click on the sentence to go to the post).  You need to install the free  Google SketchUp to view the plans.

John Sayers' designed vocal booth

John says the aircon ducting is an option.  Anyway, at first glance the plan looks fantastic!  Pay particular attention to the wall construction as well as the absorbers in the corners.

Two more thoughts:  If you choose to build this design or something similar you should create a build diary on John’s forum.  You’ll get lots of advice and expert help.  And if you do build on John’s design consider making a donation to his site to help him defray the costs of providing all the great information for free.

I’ve got lots I want to blog about but I’ve been so busy with studio construction and school work today I haven’t had the time. So just know I’ve got some good stuff coming this week  including the best ways to  hang acoustic foam and several cool iPhone apps for the sound professional.

For today, ponder this if you have a few minutes:

“The safest road to hell is the gradual one – the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.” – C.S. Lewis

I have installed a new plugin that will hopefully cut down on the amount of automated comment spam that’s hitting me without resorting to making you use CAPTCHA just yet.  If you have a problem commenting please send me a note letting me know.

Multi Track Mix in Adobe Audition 3.0

Panning

Let’s be technical for a bit – and I’m going to use tech terms and jargon in this posting so be prepared if you’re new to the production game.  This post is for all you creative services directors, production directors – whatever it is you call yourselves in radio these days.  Me?  I prefer prod guy (or girl) or if I’m feeling particularly cocky: prod guru.  Yesterday I was working on a piece with a very high production value.  Lots of compression, reverb, EQ, various whooshes, stutters and gizmos.  You get the idea.  I decided to spice it up a bit more with some creative panning and that’s when I broke one of Hart’s rules: Read the rest of this entry »

I read a quote this morning I found fascinating and I’ve been thinking about it all morning and how it applies to life.

False eloquence is exaggeration; true eloquence is emphasis. – William R. Alger