Let me know if you find any bugs or glitches.

All of the money raised goes to help provide financial, counseling, and basic human services to fisherman effected by the Gulf Coast oil spill.

Demetri and his wife, both gulf coast natives, kicked off the fundraiser by donating $3000 of their own money.  If you’d like to learn more or donate check out the “Fill the Spill with Rock” page.

It’s wonderful out there and sailing solo is a very spiritual experience for me.  The Celtic religion believes in a concept known as “thin places.” According to the Thin Places website:

In simple terms a ‘thin place’ is a place where the veil between this world and the Other world is thin, the Other world is more near.  This meaning assumes the perceiver senses the existence of a world beyond  what we know through our five senses.

The Celts believed that thin places were locations on this earth that allowed them to be closer to their god.  These spiritual places exist not only in churches but all around us.  Some believe that Stonehenge was built on one such “thin” place.

The seas are my “thin” place.  When I’m sailing I have time to meditate, reflect on my life – both where I’ve been and where I want to go.  Being on the water gives me the time to remember what is really important in my life and what isn’t.  Sailing revitalizes my spirit, rejuvenates my soul, and reinvigorates my passion for life.  It puts me more in touch with myself and my beliefs and spirituality.   I’d say that’s a great definition of a “thin” place.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=CO7Qrt9QzbE

I decided to make some new stands for my studio monitors recently. This is a pictorial on how I chose to construct them.

My goals for this project were to get my monitors off my desk bridge to make room for a second video monitor, make stands that wouldn’t compromise the audio response, and that were heavy enough my three year old son wouldn’t knock them over. It also gave me a chance to test out the stain color I’ve selected for the new construction.

I chose to make my stands out of pine since I had plenty of it on hand.  I’ve made these stands somewhat oversize to accommodate an anticipated future upgrade to 8 inch monitors.  This design starts out with a sealed box for the base.  The box is made from plywood, glued and nailed together and then caulked.  I filled each base with 25 pounds of sand and then added the top and sealed it up.  I wanted to make a hollow post design so the cables would be hidden. After looking at square aluminum tubing and a few other options I decided to make my own posts from wood and save some cash.  There are openings at the top and bottom of the posts for the cable run.  After construction I stained the stands, then applied two coats of polyurethane.  You may click each photo for a bigger version.

I’m pleased with the results.  It only took a few hours to build them spaced over a few days and my cost was zero since I already had all the materials on hand.  Now I’m not an acoustical engineer so I don’t know exactly what I did to the audio response but I’ve been testing the sound as I write this post.  The bass response seems to be a bit tighter but other than that I don’t notice much difference from when they were on the desk bridge.  Anyway, it was a fun project and I’m glad I made them myself instead of buying some.

]]> http://www.hartvoiceovers.com/blog/2010/03/15/diy-monitor-stands/feed/ 6 http://www.hartvoiceovers.com/blog/2010/03/05/voiceover-booth-coming-nicely/ http://www.hartvoiceovers.com/blog/2010/03/05/voiceover-booth-coming-nicely/#comments Sat, 06 Mar 2010 01:59:22 +0000 Brian Hart http://www.hartvoiceovers.com/blog/?p=685 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.

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.

I referenced good copy in my article “How to Hire A Voice Over” to some extent with the intention of addressing copy later in a separate post.  Digital Newsgathering has beaten me to the punch with a great  piece called “Say What? Best Practices for Writing Voice Over Copy” that you should read before sending that script off for the VO.

Its all good stuff but pay particular attention to the section on timing.  It can be very hard to condense your message into 30 seconds and keep the pacing at a good speed but it’s critcal to having a great voiceover read.

It is also good practice to read your script out loud after you have written it.  You’ll find things that may seem clear on paper but don’t translate well in speech.  We also tend to write rather formally and your VO may call for a more informal approach.  For example I might write  “We are all going to the store”.  However you might not say we are in casual conversation, you might say we’re.  It’s those little details that can really bring out the character and enhance your message in great copy.

In addition to being a professional voice actor Brian Hart also offers copywriting consults and services.

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